Inspired by artists such as Poppy and Bring Me The Horizon, American pop-punk artist Mothica (stage name of McKenzie Ashton Ellis) has been making music for nearly a decade. Back in 2015, she released her first song on SoundCloud, and since then, the singer has released a total of four albums. Her latest album, Kissing Death, came out this August, followed by a European headline tour. On September 18th, Ellis took the stage in Amsterdam for the first time, performing in the Oude Zaal (transl.: Old Hall) at Melkweg.
The night opened with support act Starbenders, an American glam rock band reminiscent of a modern-day Kiss. The band has been around since 2013 and currently consists of lead singer and guitarist Kimi Shelter, bassist Aaron Lecesne, guitarist Kriss Tokaji, and drummer Qi Wei. They immediately dominated every part of the stage with their effortlessly cool attitude and stunning fashion. Shelter, front and centre donned white goth make-up and a leather jacket, which came off later in the night as the venue heated up.
The first song of the night was ‘Blood Moon’ from the band’s 2023 album Take Back the Night. Shelter’s intense grunge vocals combined with the band’s heavy instrumentals made for quite a powerful opening to the night, which the crowd welcomed with enthusiasm. It must be noted how lovely the band interacted with one another, as well as the audience, making them a delight to watch as they performed the seven tracks on their setlist that night. For the track ‘We’re Not OK,’ Shelter switched out her guitar for a tambourine. “Is it too early to say I love you?” Shelter asked the audience, who roared back enthusiastically before she introduced the band’s new song ‘Tokyo’. Having her hands free now, Shelter had all the freedom and space to move around the stage for this fun song. Starbenders ended the night with the songs ‘Sex’ and ‘If You Need It.’ During ‘Sex,’ the spotlight was on Tokaji for a short but sweet guitar solo. While the band might have fit better in The Rocky Horror Picture Show than at a Mothica concert, they managed to excite the crowd, as evidenced by the enthusiastic applause during the final song of their set.
About 30 minutes after Starbenders’ set had ended, it was time for Mothica to take to the stage, after a spoken intro sounding out over the speakers. “It is time to turn your minds off for a good night’s rest.” Drummer Carter Vaughan and guitarist Alex Russo came on stage as the band, before Ellis joined them a few seconds later to a wave of loud applause. As this was the Kissing Death tour, she opened the night with several songs from the album: ‘The Void,’ ‘Toxins’ and ‘Mirage.’ Ellis’ outfit was stunning and the way she interacted with the crowd made her a mesmerising performer right from the start. Holding hands with as many fans as possible from the first song on through the rest of the night surely made the night of those lucky enough to capture her attention and adoration.
The fourth song on the setlist was the older track ‘buzzkill’ from the 2021 forever fifteen EP, which she followed up with a cover of Bring Me The Horizon’s ‘Can You Feel My Heart?’. While Ellis’ musical style is quite different from that of the English band, she made it work by truly making the song fit her vibe. Ellis’ stunning vocals and charismatic on-stage presence made it a lovely rendition of the song. Back to her repertoire, Ellis continued with ‘Afterlife’, followed by ‘VICES’ from her first album Blue Hour, which she introduced by saying that “this next song rhymes with spices”. It must be said how nice the atmosphere was in the crowd during every single song; everyone was fully focused on the artist on stage and loudly singing along to her haunting, personal lyrics.
The most beautiful moment of the night was Ellis’ speech about how she got diagnosed with depressive disorder and attempted to take her own life when she was just fifteen years old. She explained how hard it was for her to get on the plane to Europe, and how scared she was. As she shared on her Instagram right before this tour kicked off, she had to call an ambulance because of a major panic attack she experienced the day before she had to undertake the journey. It is impressive how open and vulnerable Ellis is with her fans, even while on stage, making sure that everyone who might feel or have felt a similar way, feels heard by at least someone. Before the show, Ellis had received red roses from a fan, having asked them permission to hand out the roses to fans in the crowd. So, throughout her song ‘forever fifteen’, which talks about Ellis’ suicide attempt, she gave fans roses and threw them to people further back. In return, a fan had come up with a fan project which led to everyone holding up small blue hearts, letting Ellis know how loved she is, and how grateful her fans are for the fact that she came to see them here in Amsterdam.
Ellis moved on from this emotional moment and continued with her songs ‘Exit Plan’ and ‘The Reaper’ after saying that she “wants to dance now.” She also took a small moment afterwards to introduce her lovely band before asking the crowd if they knew the lyrics to the next song, prompting the audience with a small portion of the lyrics to ‘Another High’ which everyone managed to sing along with. The crowd was enthusiastically singing and clapping along the entire time. After the song, Ellis stated it was time for the “last song” ‘Oblivion for Two’ before she went off stage in time for the encore.
The encore tonight consisted of two smash hits from her album NOCTURNAL, ‘CASUALTY’ and ‘SENSITIVE’. “It’s okay to feel a lot of things, being sensitive is your superpower,” Ellis said before hopping right into the final, heavily intense track of the night. While it could be said that the set was a little short at around 50 minutes, it was a show that was worth it. Mothica sang beautifully, interacted so much with her band and the crowd, and shone a light that although life can be dark, it is still worth fighting to keep living. Like a moth in the dark, attracted to the light, she and her fans will keep looking to find the beautiful things in life rather than stay ‘forever fifteen’.
