There’s no way to hide the fact that Bring Me The Horizon are now reaching the dizzying heights of the greats. They announced a short run of UK dates including London’s Alexandra Palace, which instantly sold out, and this was preceded by a three week run across Europe. On a last minute whim they added a few extra days to the end (a matinee and evening show in Birmingham) and a special opening night show in Southampton on Halloween. The night was something incredibly special (and this isn’t just the fact that my love for them is bordering on obsession!) Here are four reasons why the night was amazing:
- It was the very first date on the European tour
First nights of tours are always something special, the band are always energized and the set always seems fresh. Knowing that no other European city had heard this set was something really special. The fact that the band had done a month or so in America doesn’t matter, because you know ‘different continent’ and all but hearing these tracks and knowing people in the UK wouldn’t hear them in weeks was enough to make us smug for the whole show. The band were on top form as well; I would genuinely say that in my 40 shows (yes, Southampton was an anniversary) this was one of the best performances. - Mallory Knox supported
The whole Pvris/ Neck Deep support for the majority of the rest of the tour is great but who doesn’t love a bit of Mallory Knox? Just when we thought the headline tour was over and we didn’t know when we’d see them again, they just pop up last minute to fill the void in our hearts. Having headlined some pretty large venues themselves this support slot is a walk in the park for the band and like usual they play with the same energy that they always do. - It was Halloween
Halloween shows can be hit or miss- you either carry on like it’s a normal day and there are a few out of place beaten up zombies running around, or the the band join in and it’s like a mass fancy dress party. Mallory set the bar a little low with all white clothing and some dark makeup around their eyes, but Bring Me pulled out all the stops and did some weird bat style creation. Their intro was a story about a post apocalyptic world where Bring Me were forced to the gutters and, over time, fused with bats to survive and years in the future they returned to see how civilization had survived. It’s likely this intro will continue to other shows, but this was tailored to Halloween and the band donned the matching attire. - Doomed makes a live set appearance
We should have started this with spoiler alert but there’s one new track from That’s The Spirit in this tour’s set list and it’s ‘Doomed’. A large part of us wanted the new track to be ‘Follow Me’ but this might have been a little slow for the tour. ‘Doomed’ sounded even bigger than on record, although when the crowd try to reach the high pitched “I think we’re doomed/ I think we’re doomed” we did wince a little, but fortunately the band were just a little bit louder.
Overall the show was a complete and utter success and we’re counting down the days until we can relive it all over again!
