Have you ever heard someone talking about how last-minute plans are always the best plans? Like when you and your friends just randomly decide to go out and do something together and it turns out to be one of your best memories?

Well, a couple weeks ago my girlfriend, Phoebe, and I got lawn tickets on a Saturday for an Ice Nine Kills and Falling in Reverse concert that following Tuesday. We didn’t even start looking for a hotel until the day before.

Then when Tuesday morning arrived, we hit the road for our three-hour voyage to Syracuse, NY.

Since we’re both of legal drinking age, we slugged a couple beers and drained a couple shots moments before our Uber pulled up to the hotel. This way we could spend all our money on tour merch instead of overpriced alcohol.  

It’s called financial responsibility.

Our Uber driver dropped us off right outside the venue despite being told to drop us off a 15-minute walk away.

Right away we hit a snare, when security made Phoebe throw away the bike chains hanging off the belt loops of her jeans because they could be, I don’t know, used as a weapon, I guess? The guy was a bit of a dick about it too.

Anyway, mere seconds after that, it started to sprinkle.

Then it started to rain a little heavier.

Then it started to DOWNPOUR.

The opener, Slaughter to Prevail, was almost done with their set while we were standing in line for merch getting drenched in rain.

All we had on were tee-shirts and jeans. Luckily Phoebe brought a flannel jacket that she used as an umbrella the whole night. I bought an Ice Nine Kills shirt, mostly just so I could have an extra layer on.

Between sets we had to ring out that flannel twice, making a flood on the grass below us. Our shoes were ruined, my belt was destroyed, and my wallet and its contents were in shambles from the 30 seconds I had it out to buy my shirt.

After waiting what felt like 12 years in the freezing cold rain, Ice Nine Kills made their eerie entrance onstage. I’ve been going through a huge Ice Nine Kills phase these past few months – even though I’m a bit of a fake fan.

All of the songs I know are on their last two albums, “The Silver Scream” and “Welcome to Horrorwood,” which all of the songs are about a particular horror movie. I love horror movies and it’s so enjoyable hearing all the references to each movie in their songs. 

Anyway, those were the songs they played and they absolutely KILLED it.

I’m seriously mad that it rained so hard and I couldn’t really get videos, because the show was amazing.

Not only was the music awesome, they had people come on stage dressed like characters from the movies, and recreating iconic scenes.

For instance, their song “Hip to be Scared,” is about the movie “American Psycho,” and has a section where they recreate the infamous exchange between Patrick Bateman and Paul Allen. They actually brought a guy on stage dressed like Allen, so when the lead singer, Spencer Charnas, and the crowd shouted “HEY PAUL!” Charnas would hack him up with a prop ax.

Their song “The Shower Scene” actually had Charnas and a girl walk behind a tarp with their silhouettes casted on it recreating the iconic shower scene from the movie “Psycho.”

They brought out a guy in a shark costume for their song about “Jaws” and had the audience chant “FUCK THIS SHARK!”

I could go all day about the references, but you get the gist.

I feel awful though, because Phoebe didn’t know any of the songs, and didn’t even get a lot of the references.

However, she still had a blast headbanging and jamming out with the rest of us despite shivering in the rain.

The headliner was pretty much the opposite though. Falling in Reverse is one of Phoebe’s favorite bands of all time, and I only knew a couple of their songs.

Even though I didn’t know most of the songs, they were performed great and the atmosphere of the crowd was immaculate. I even got to see my rather quiet and reserved girlfriend jamming out and singing along, which made it all the more fun.

Eventually, they played their newest song “Watch the World Burn,” which I actually know pretty well and I kinda went nuts to it. The light show, the crowd, the sound, it was all perfect and it was so sick to watch.

I got a video of my favorite part of the song, but the rain literally drowned out my phone so there’s a few seconds where the audio fades out completely.

They even had pyro on stage for the beat drop after he screamed “WATCH THE WORLD BURN!” and I was just in awe.

Toward the end of the show, lead singer Ronnie Radke, announced an attendance of 10,000 people at the show saying it was their biggest headlining show ever. It felt really cool to know we were a part of that. It also felt cool knowing that their biggest show was in my home state.

We made the 15-minute walk to the Uber pick-up spot with our flooded shoes and probably ruined the backseat of our Uber’s car, but we made it back to the hotel despite our sopping wet condition.

Of all the concerts I’ve been to, this was the first time I didn’t get tickets months in advance, and it was the first time I got poured on, yet it was the most fun of all of them.

I can’t wait to see Ice Nine Kills again to get the videos I rightfully deserve.