Bring Me the Horizon. Live review.

Support from Empress and Crossfaith

Manchester Academy 2

29^th April 2013

With their 4^th studio album ‘Sempiternal’ being leaked two months prior to actual release our initial thoughts were that the Bring Me the Horizon were in for the rough earlier this year. It turns out things couldn’t have gone any better. ‘Sempiternal’ got pushed forward a month and made its debut at #3 in the UK album charts. To say that they achieved that when their album had been streamed illegally shows that fans really do remain faithful.

Hailing from Yorkshire, the band set out on a number of small dates to promote new album prior to this current tour. Bmth could easily sell out a big venue anywhere in Britain. It seems however, smaller ones bring out the more intimate atmosphere. Manchester Academy 2 has the pleasure of starting off the tour.

It’s 8:00pm and Yorkshire based band Empress are here to get the night going. The room is still filling out and luckily people stay to listen. There isn’t much interaction built amongst the crowd. However, It isn’t the worst set a band can play live, just a little wobbly here and there.

Techno-Metalcore band Crossfaith are a great choice to have as support. Having arrived all the way from Osaka, Japan the band are keen to get the crowd stomping. Pits appear as soon as it kicks into their first song and they don’t slow down for the next half an hour. They play a cover of The Prodigy’s ‘Omen’ and the room is filled with boundless energy.

Bring Me the Horizon enter with ‘Shadow Moses’, pits start to build up and cries of ‘This is Sandpit Turtle’ echo around the building. It seems like the band won’t be able to get rid of the lyrical joke any time soon.

Unfortunately three songs in during ‘Alligator Blood’ there are technical difficulties. The band play without realising most of the crowd can’t hear them. The momentum is rebooted once the difficulties are rectified and ‘Go to Hell for Heaven’s Sake’ gets the mosh pit erupting once more.

Towards the end of the set, singer Oli Sykes gets the crowd up on each other’s shoulders for angry ballad, ‘Blessed with a Curse’. The set list tonight shows that Oli Sykes can still provide both the screaming vocals and a melodic voice without the help of ex-guitarist Jona’s backing vocals.

The encore brought a wall of death whilst finishing with single from new album ‘Antivist’ Not the usual song to finish with but played live it creates aggression in the room. No feet are on the ground and middle fingers are up in dedication to the lyrics.

Despite the slight technical difficulties, Bmth put on a faultless performance. To say they are no longer playing with ex-guitarist Jona Weinhofen they still play a tight and detailed set with replacement Jordan Fish. At previous gigs and festivals, Aussie born Weinhofen was known to climb scaffolding and speakers. This time there is less craziness but the adrenaline still pumps around the room. Proof from their live set still remains that they are, at this moment in time one of the most influential modern metal bands in the UK.

You Me At Six plus supports Live review.

Date 28^th March 2012
Venue: Manchester O2 Apollo
Line-up: The Skints, Mayday Parade, Kids In Glass Houses, You Me At Six.

London’s own reggae/ska band The Skints come onstage just fifteen minutes after doors open. They bring the rap vibe onto the scene straight away singing so fast it’s impossible to hear what is being said. To play to a 7,000 strong crowd there for mainly You Me At Six, it is hard to please the majority. The only song that seems to get the audience moving is a cover version of Katy B’s – On A Mission.

Next up are Mayday Parade, the only American band in the line-up.  They are the first band to get everyone psyched for the night ahead. With microphone tricks, hit songs and a good interaction with the crowd they live up to expectations. The only disappointments are that they don’t play one of the better known songs ‘Miserable At Best’ and that the twenty minute set isn’t long enough.

Kids In Glass Houses have been on the rise since the fresh pop rock scene of 2006 and seem extremely grateful to be back in Manchester. Halfway through the set list, singer Aled Phillips appears to have a torch in his hands which is in fact the microphone stand. He uses it to separate the crowd and form a wall of death before the heavy guitar riff to ‘Fisticuffs’ fills the room and everyone goes crazy. The atmosphere in the room is on a high, Kids In Glass Houses are definatley crowd pleasers.

It’s been a great year so far for You Me At Six. Their 2010 album ‘Hold Me Down’ went gold earlier this month. ‘Sinners Never Sleep’ got a top ten spot in the album chart and three of the band members have their own clothing lines. They’re becoming extremely successful and this is their biggest headline tour to date. In fact so big that they added extra dates to the Manchester leg of the tour.

For the first time in a while the band have added effects to the show. From a silhouetted curtain drop to dry ice from the beginning it looks like the venue are in for a treat.

They kick off the set with intense, quick riffed ‘Loverboy’ and the energy stays put for the rest of the show. Josh Franceschi has a great stage presence about him and creates a special connection with the crowd. Halfway through, the band takes a break from the fast tempo songs and plays some of the slower ones. ‘Crash’ proved most popular with fans holding up lighters, phones and getting on shoulders.

Following ‘Crash’ is the encore, from the front to the back for the final three songs everyone in the Apollo is bouncing and singing along.  The only things people could possibly complain about was a lack of songs played from their first album ‘Take Off Your Colours’

You Me At Six show they want to move away from the pop route to a rock sound, they finish with ‘Bite My Tongue’ with Josh belting out the screaming part that belong to Oli Sykes and the crowd mosh pitting away. All in all it is a great gig with nothing to be faulted.