Saturday was yet another night when London was spoilt for choice when it comes to live music.
Five Finger Death Punch, accompanied by the likes of Skindred and As Lions, were bringing their energy to Wembley Arena. On the other hand, Bring Me The Horizon, Neck Deep and Pvris were giving the ten thousand people inside Alexandra Palace a night to remember.
Finally, in a tiny Camden pub called Our Black Heart, Bury Tomorrow were proving that being one of the best live bands around means small stages as well as massive ones. (But we're getting ahead of ourselves)

I wouldn't know how to describe Heck (formerly Baby Godzilla) - but it's not necessarily a bad thing. As soon as the first song starts, microphone stands and guitars are brought to the middle of the crowd - a crowd that looks terrified to say the least (or maybe it was just me). For the entire duration of a half hour long set, the English are going to climb on amps randomly put in the middle of the venue, on bars or on their merch table, they are going to give the microphone for someone in the audience to hold for them and, more generally, they are going to create chaos in a venue no one is sure is going to be standing at the end of the evening. Their music is energetic and great moshing material, but what most of the crowd (and myself) are going to remember is that for the best part of thirty minutes, we didn't know what on Earth was going to happen to us, or what the band was going to do. It was complete surprise and complete chaos. I still think that seeing Heck live is the musical equivalent of seeing a comedian live and praying they do not single you out, pick on you or get you to come on stage, but maybe it's what makes their live performance thrilling. You never know what's going to happen.

If you know me, even just a little bit, you know how much I love Bury Tomorrow. In the past year, I have attended two of their tours and have seen them live a grand total of twenty-four times. When the Stand For Something date in London was announced and I was presented with the chance of seeing one of my favourite bands wth only seventy four other people in the room, I didn't hesitate for one second and started fighting for tickets. (I mostly fought against my phone, to be honest, but hey, a fight is a fight)

They opened with the main single extracted from their latest album Runes, Man on Fire. As soon as the first notes echoed through the venue, the crowd gave their all and started moshing as one, crowdsurfing and stage diving to their heart's content. Of course, the band on stage enjoys the activity and the energy and always ask for more (even requesting a square of death during Knight Life). The set is fairly short and is mostly composed of fan favourites but it's an excellent one.

After seeing Bury Tomorrow playing their career's biggest shows during the Runes Tour in October 2014 and then, some of the smallest venues I had ever been to during the Stage Invasion Tour in April 2015, I had realised how good a live band they were. Of course, you need to be able to rise up to the challenge of playing for a thousand odd people, but you still need to know how to drive a pub crazy, and, in my opinion, only a combination of the two makes you a brilliant live band. Bury Tomorrow are one of them. Their musicianship is as excellent as always (despite the fairly poor sound quality of Our Black Heart) and their communication with the crowd always remains one of their biggest strengths.

This show is, for the Southampton based outfit, a way of closing the Runes era and to officially announce the Earthbound era by playing its title track and first single. As gnarly and heavy as always, Bury Tomorrow will, without a doubt, take the metal world by storm once again in 2016 and their fourth full length should send them following in the footsteps of the biggest bands of the genre.