After waiting in the longest queue I have ever seen for the O2 Academy, this date sold out in a couple of hours after tickets went on sale, I had missed the start of the Sights and Sounds [2] set. Still managing to catch 5 or so songs of them, I didn’t feel like there was much to be missed. A lacklustre performance by a band none of the crowd cared about. The songs were not to the standard of the rest of the bill and if they weren’t on the show and had given the other two bands a couple more songs each no one would have complained. It was a totally different story for the other support band, Pierce The Veil [9]. The vast majority of the crowd knew every single word and frontman, Vic Fuentes, had the whole venue in the palm of his hand. If it hadn’t of been 9pm when they finished, it could of easily been mistaken for a headline set. Highlights of an action packed set, heavy on songs from Collide With The Sky, included opening with ‘Bulls In The Bronx’ as well as ‘Hold On ‘Til May’ and ‘Caraphernelia’.
Just before Bring Me The Horizon [10] came on everyone seemed to get their camera phones out to take pictures, of what was a fantastic gig, this was a massive annoyance and did ruin it in parts. In a set packed with modern classics, combined with an incredible stage show with confetti, CO2 machines and a breath-taking light show, you get the feeling this will be one of the last times you will see this band in venues this small. Oli Sykes was at his charismatic best to encourage circle pits, walls of death, crowd surfing and just general chaos. His little quips of “punch someone in the ovaries” and “I want to see someone dead” during songs like ‘Chelsea Smile’ and ‘Antivist’ just caused mayhem on a stage usually reserved for smaller venues. With Oli being one of the best frontman in music today, the focus wasn’t really on the rest of the band, however for a lot of people this is the first time they have seen Bring Me The Horizon with an actual Synth/Electronics section which worked really well and hasn’t just added another dimension on the record but in the live show as well. Closing with ‘Sleepwalking’, his job was almost redundant due to the massive sing a long so loud it was heard over his vocals. Bring Me The Horizon is a hugely polarizing band but after this show, and the release of Sempiternal, they are the future of British metal whether you like it or not.
Sam Taylor
