Bring Me The Horizon - Gig Review (Cardiff 22/09)

 There has been an awful lot of hype surrounding Sheffield rockers Bring Me The Horizon in recent years. With their slick transition from hardcore metalheads to more accessible sonics increasing their mainstream popularity, there are more eyes watching the band than ever. With an arena tour on the cards, now is the time for Bring Me The Horizon to stake their claim as the best live act in the UK.

The six-date UK tour in support of their pandemic creation, Post Human: Survival Horror has seen BMTH conquer the likes of Hull and Glasgow. The third date of their tour landed the six-piece act in Cardiff, specifically the Motorpoint Arena - a venue which has seen many prestigious artists grace its stage over the years.

With support from alt-rock duo Nova Twins and British veterans You Me At Six, Bring Me The Horizon were in good company and were bound to see the crowd warmed up nicely before their performance.

For many of the attendees, this was their first indoor concert post-pandemic, which meant their was plenty of bottled energy to expell and for Bring Me The Horizon, they were ready to reciprocate by putting on an awe inspiring performance, reminding fans why live music is so important. 

Opening with Teardrops, BMTH were intent on making a statement from the start. Frontman Oli Skyes incited huge circle pits from the beginning, showing pure crowd participation and a desire to cause carnage. MANTRA from 2019's amo followed from the powerful opener, where each band member, emblazoned in a suit and tie was given the opportunity to introduce themselves during a breakdown in the middle of the song.

The stage design saw some innovation being used, a translucent screen surrounded the band from song to song, projecting insane visuals whilst still being able to see the invigorating performance from behind it. As well as the ingenious use of the stage, there were dancers whom occasionally popped out to assist the band, each time dressed in eccentric futuristic outfits. BMTH delved into some slightly older material, albeit briefly, with the likes of Sempiternal's The House Of Wolves tearing the venue down before a flurry of newer songs took over the setlist. Parasite Eve sounded majestic live, with it being debuted on this tour.

There was a clear gulf between the heavier performances of the set and some of the pop-reliant songs which didn't captivate the audience as willingly. There were some exceptions however, 1x1 which saw Nova Twins return to the stage in collaboration with BMTH gave the concert a well needed boost, followed by latest single, DiE4u, which despite only being released a week ago had fans screaming along to every word.

A welcomed touch to the show was Bring Me's stripped back performance of That's The Spirit's Follow You, where Oli and band members Jordan Fish and Lee Malia took charge of the piano and acoustic guitar respectively and invited the crowd to embrace each other and climb on shoulders for what would be the most intimate and heartwarming moment of the night.

The highlight of the concert was the encore which saw a relentless run of Obey into fan favourite Throne and closing in style with 2013's Can You Feel My Heart. The mosh pits were at their best towards the end with fans giving every last ounce of energy until the show's conclusion.

Overall it was a night to remember, Bring Me The Horizon sounded excellent throughout and were seemingly excited to return to the stage after a overwhelmingly forced absence. However it is apparent that the band have parted ways with their back catalogue pre-Sempiternal and are concentrating on displaying their new material rather than paying homage to what helped them on their journey. If there is one thing to take from this tour is that Bring Me The Horizon are cementing themselves as a household name in British music and are certain to be headlining major festivals in years to come.

Rating: 8/10

Setlist:

Teardrops

MANTRA

The House Of Wolves

Medicine

Happy Song

Ludens

Dear Diary,

Parasite Eve

Shadow Moses

Wonderful Life

1x1 (w/Nova Twins)

DiE4u

Kingslayer

Follow You (Acoustic)

Drown

Encore:

Obey

Throne

Can You Feel My Heart