I had been hearing about how cool Saint Vitus is for years and always wanted to check it out. Created and ran by metal folks for metal folks it was opened in 2011 at a time when “No one gave a shit” about that kind of stuff. It quickly became iconic. I never got to visit the old location that was shut down mid-show in February of 2024. Until this visit, I had never been to NYC at all. I joined in on the collective cheer when it was resurrected in September and when I found out my favorite band was playing there during their 20th anniversary tour I bought plane tickets the day it was announced.
The day before the Reason for the Season I got to go see Dillinger Escape Plan at Saint Vitus, thanks to a very cool and generous friend. We hadn’t been off the subway long at all and I was scuttling along behind my friend like some horrible little bird when we stopped abruptly at what looked like a bunch of abandoned garages covered in graffiti. There was a black door that sorta blended in with the wall with a dude in front of it. We showed him our IDs and when he opened the door for us, we were greeted by a glowing red hallway with a curtain at the end. I had looked up the address on Google a few weeks prior and thought it was an old picture of an empty building, but that’s actually what it looks like when you get there. Walking in felt almost like entering another dimension. We were about two hours late and the sold-out show was in full swing. I stood at a safe distance loading up on Iron Maiden Trooper IPAs for $10 apiece. They filled those cups to the brim too! I got shoved around a bit as DEP, the final boss of getting your leg ripped off at a show, played a very fun, energetic and heavy set. I got covered in my own beer but was delighted by the show nonetheless.
The next day we arrived early and I got to explore a bit more. I got to try the Saint Vitus/ Killsboro Prince of Helles Lager which was super good, had a few of ’em. They were only $6.66 until 8pm. Really amazing to me that an iconic venue in NYC has great beer for cheaper than tall boys of PBR in Arkansas. $13 for a tallboy of children’s beer is friggin’ monstrous. All the bathrooms I went into were nice and clean and even had cans of air freshener in them, never seen that in a venue before. I stood around with two friends and we talked about how exciting it was for Inter Arma to finally play some songs off Sundown, the red glow of the venue making everyone’s shirts look cool. The group steadily evolved into a circle of 6 or 7 people. One guy said he’d never heard Inter Arma until this show was announced, and I told him he was in for a huge treat. I eventually wandered off to the smoking area with another beer to practice my idle animations. All the bartenders were cool and seemed happy to be there which was awesome. I love the smoking area at Saint Vitus, it’s a small area with ivy hanging from the roof and crawling up and down a brick wall with a nice view of the night sky. You can still see the stage too if you stand in the right spot. The whole venue has immaculate vibes and I totally understand the hype. The locals I spoke to while outside were also very cool.
This stop of the tour only had two bands, starting off the party was Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean from Massachusetts. I had missed them at Roadburn this year but since then had seen them in Little Rock and now NYC which was fun. They were awesome and heavy as usual. Fucking chained to the bottom of the ocean is also my favorite Thou song.
Inter Arma started out their set with 2000 years and Hallucinatorium. This was my 13th time seeing them and the first time I’d ever gotten the opportunity to be ensorcelled by any of the dirty hostile riffs from their criminally underrated first album Sundown. Up next we got two songs from the gorgeous and calculated natual disaster of their second album, Sky Burial. Any time this album is brought up I have to mention it’s my favorite album of all time or i’ll catch on fire. I was incredibly stoked to hear Survival Fires live again for only the second time ever. Following that, The Long Road Home meandered in beautifully, exploded and emerged into the first 30 seconds of Van Halen’s Hot For Teacher and then plunged into the SOMETHING IS COMING TO GET YOU riffs of An Archer in Emptiness, from their third album Paradise Gallows. The sounds of being hunted by something enormous continued with Citadel followed by the sorcerer-controlled maelstrom of Howling Lands both from their fourth album Sulphur English. Last and just as magnificent as everything before it, we got the undulating chaos of New Heaven (the song) and the strange ominous beauty of Violet Seizures from their latest album New Heaven. What a set! I’ve used every adjective I know! … I really love the guitar tone in New Heaven and getting to hear songs from it 2 feet from the bassist and guitarist is an ideal situation. I’m also impressed with how many songs the new guitarist has learned in a seemingly short amount of time, I first saw him with them in May of 2025 in Chicago, since then Ive seen the Sky Burial secret set at Roadburn, The Cavern set and now this. Can’t say I’m surprised though, dude used to be in Morbikon, who rule big time.
Once the set was over their drummer brought out the big stick/wizard staff that was used in minute 20:17 of The Cavern which was a nice touch. As everyone began to wander off I saw the guy who had said he had never seen Inter Arma before and asked him what he thought of all that, with awe in his voice he said “It was incredible”
