Look How The Dark Horizon Tour Rocked The Rust Belt in East Moline

It was a packed night at The Rust Belt for the biggest rock show to ever shake the brick walls of the East Moline venue.

You can check out the exclusive pictures below thanks to our photographer Rylee Daniel.

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Before we get to talking about each band and the pictures from them, let's talk about getting into The Rust Belt.  We know it was a problem.  The Rust Belt knows it was a problem.  So we'll just set the record straight.

Doors were supposed to open at 5:30 but didn't open till 5:45 due to an issue with one of the bands.  Then, the bands required extra security with metal detectors or wands and pat-downs, and ID checks.  So while the team was working as fast as they could, missing that 15 minutes and adding in 2 extra steps to the check-in process slowed things down big time.

If things run as they are supposed to (or early as they do in many cases at The Rust Belt) everybody waiting is in for a full show like that by the time the first band starts instead of 40%.  (like the Skillet/Theory sold-out show)  It was a bummer and trust me when I say, The Rust Belt wanted you in there as fast as possible and were not happy with the situation either.  But unfortunately, that was the perfect storm that hit.

From Ashes To New

For those of you that missed the opening band, I'm sorry...but you missed a great show.  When an opening band gets 30 minutes (which is standard) and you want more of them when they are done, that is the sign of a good band.  Would love to get From Ashes To New back in town and give them more time.

They were also great to hang with before the show at the I-Rock 93.5 Live Lounge. You can check out pics of that here. Cool genuine guys that love what they do.  A great way to start the night.

Fit For A King

Having played and heard some of their stuff I was interested to hear them live.  And they sounded great.  Heavy and high energy.  However, for the 30-minute set they had, it all sounded mostly the same.  They had one song closer to the end of the set that stuck out because it was a change of pace during the set.

Motionless In White

This was the highlight of the night.  A great stage performance from a band that sounded awesome and put on a show.  Chris sounded amazing and they played a ton of songs everybody knew and those deep cuts the hard cord fans loved.  With this being a co-headling tour MIW had an hour on stage.  Would love to see a full headline set from them with a 90-minute setlist in the future.

In This Moment

The polarizing set of the night.  First, let me say, I love In This Moment.  I think their sound rocks. When you listen to the station, you hear them probably more than you will on any other station in the country.

This is probably why to me, it was a bit disappointing.  First off that picture above is what we got from our photos.  Unlike literally every other band that has played The Rust Belt there were no professional photos allowed from the front.  Which whatever, not a big deal.

Before going to the show I checked out the setlist hoping things have changed over the last couple of years.  But they did not.  Seven songs.  From Ashes To New, the opener, did seven songs in 30 minutes.  In This Moment was supposed to be an hour but really was more like 50 minutes with a couple of recorded tracks to start the show and still, only 7 songs.

I understand the pageantry and the costumes and the mystery of the show.  That is awesome.  Taylor Swift changes costumes 20 times a night too.  But she also plays for nearly 3 hours and those changes happen in about 30 seconds.  It just feels like they could make the process faster and get it up to at least 10 songs.

Finally, we all know Maria is In This Moment.  So let's see her.  Even without fog, she hangs in the back with masks on for 6 of the 7 songs.  It's a "show" but the star isn't present.  Avatar was a show that highlighted and featured every single member of the band through the night.

Oh and about that fog, whoever they are bringing along as their stage crew has a tough, tough job.  That is a ton of stuff to load and unload every night perfectly.  But they misjudged the fog at The Rust Belt.  With how narrow the venue is, with how hot it was, with it being the final act of the night, that fog was not needed.  There was already enough steam from the 2700ish people in the building.

Overall, In This Moment sounded great, but I wanted more.  More songs, more visuals, more of what makes them rock.

With all that said, it was still a fun night with good music and great people.  Nothing like selling out The Rust Belt on a Monday night.  As always, see you at the next one!