Source: Promo Image
Bring Me The Horizon made some headlines last week for their performance at the NME Awards when Oli Sykes jumped on Coldplay‘s table and ‘trashed’ it. We weren’t there, unfortunately, but we did make it to their show at Electric Brixton the following day. This show was a little different, as it part of BRITs week 2016, with contributions going towards War Child, and it was far more intimate than the arenas they’ve been playing as of late.
Seeing Bring Me The Horizon always comes with a 50/50 chance, especially since they’ve incorporated more clean vocals, as some days (usually dependant on which date on the tour it is) Oli’s voice is just completely off. That’s why the backing track, though widely debated, is generally a good thing in the case of this band. During the first couple of tracks, we could barely hear vocals anyway, with it being overpowered by the much louder instrumentals, but it proved to be one of his better days.
The entire set was just an absolute pleasure to watch, the kind where you leave afterwards still thinking about how you wish it was longer. It was a combination of everything really; the performance itself, the crowd reaction and not to forget the visuals and effects. Bursts of steam, visuals on the large screen behind them or the fragments of lyrics all added up to create more than just some rock band performing on stage, but rather an all round great show.
This show very much paid tribute to albums That’s The Spirit and Sempiternal, both playing a large role in their recent mainstream triumph. This meant anthemic arena-sized choruses like ‘Happy Song’, ‘Sleepwalking’ and what Oli claims is his favourite from the new album ‘Throne’. Because these tracks were all so massive and compressed into such an intimate setting, it all felt even closer and more compact.
Also making an appearance in this show was the live premiere of what is essentially a really pretty song ‘Follow You’, and fitting to the lyrics was accompanied by fire visuals. Energy levels stayed stable and high, at least down on the indented floor where bodies remained shuffling against each other. Or when cued by Oli, like a leader of the pack, would open up into a massive pit or split up for a wall of death. Longtime fan favourite ‘Chelsea Smile’ and initial set closer ‘Antivist’ brought the crowd into frantic chaos, with the latter being the perfect anthem for angsty youth. The bar was raised even higher with encore ‘Blessed With A Curse’ and ‘Drown’.
Bring Me The Horizon performing as part of BRITs week is a concept that would have been scoffed at just a few years ago, but as cliché as it sounds; it really goes to show how far this band has come to prove themselves. No doubt these guys are just going to continue on their skyrocketing journey climbing rock’s modern day hierarchy.
