Live review : Bring Me The Horizon (Royal Albert Hall, London)
11:57As far as unique gigs go, this one takes the cake.
Since the release of That's The Spirit, on the 11th of September 2015 (a date that has, surprisingly, brought them luck), it is fair to say that Bring Me The Horizon have gone from strength to strength. Sold out arena shows, Brit awards, magazine covers, top of the charts - you name it, they have done it.
What was the next step for them?
A sold out Royal Albert Hall gig. Duh.
For a band like Bring Me The Horizon, who made their fame with a super heavy brand of deathcore (before moving on to a more alternative sound, that is), who is more likely to find itself on the cover of Rock Sound than NME, the Royal Albert Hall is not really a logical, natural step. If you walk around the building (which we have done a lot, considering we couldn't find where they were selling chips), you can see the portraits of artists who have graced the mythical stage - Noel Gallagher, Tina Turner, Adele only to quote a few. Not exactly the Sheffield mob's peers.
And yet, here they are.
Opening the evening are the Americans of Pvris. Since the release of their critically acclaimed debut album, White Noise, in 2014, they are also going from strength to strength. Their Royal Albert Hall appearance marks the end of a very successful first European headliner, and what an end it's been, my friends. Lynn Gunn's ethereal voice beautifully resonates in the building, and the atmosphere created by the trio is unique and special, mystical and spellbinding. As always, I am caught up in their universe, charmed by the performance. Saying I am in love would be an understatement.
After an interlude dedicated to cancer survivors (as the evening is a part of the Teenage Cancer Trust gigs), it is Bring Me The Horizon's turn to take the mythical stage. And they do it with an ease that blows my mind. Imagine being in a formerly heavy band and having to adapt your fast, metal infused songs with an orchestra? It sounds like a super hard task, and it probably was, and yet it doesn't show. The Sheffield boys look confident as ever as ever, showing off how far they have come since they have started, how hard they have worked to make this night special.
Setlist wise, the orchestra mostly highlights songs from That's The Spirit and Sempiternal, but also sees the come back of It Never Ends - the very song that got me into Bring Me The Horizon, almost six years ago. I used not to understand their music and to find it too heavy to my taste, and one day, It Never Ends popped up on my tumblr feed, I decided to give it a try and here I was. The song, despite being a single, hadn't found itself on a setlist in two years, and it was perfect seeing it make a comeback in such a way. Its Royal Albert Hall version makes it sounds like the soundtrack to some sort of movie depicting the end of the world, the apocalypse, armies of people thirsty for blood running for each other, that kind of atmosphere. To be fair, the entirety of There Is A Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It, There Is A Heaven, Let's Keep It A Secret already had that feel kicking about, but the string orchestra and the backing vocalists made it sound extra-apocalyptic in the best possible way.
The setlist also eatured the first ever live appearances of the beautiful Avalanche and the über-catchy, super radio-friendly Oh No as a stunning, yet surprising set closer. The crowd kept echoing and chanting its chorus (even outside!), making frontman Oli Sykes shyly say "Stop it, you're going to make me cry" (making me cry in the process, but I had been in the emo bin since Can You Feel My Heart, so, really, is it even worth mentioning?)
Every song sound ten times bolder, thanks to Simon Dobson's stunning orchestra, and after a couple of minutes, what seemed, at first, like an incongruous mix (metalcore and flute, anyone?) sound completely natural, like Bring Me The Horizon performing this way was long overdue.
And maybe it was.
Maybe it was time for a band in our scene to make waves again, maybe it is time we get there. We'll always be the music of the outcasts, the outsiders, the rebellious, but maybe we can also be the music of the hard workers, the people who made it, and maybe Bring Me The Horizon is the perfect representation of that. The best of both worlds.
Who would have thought that the little band from Sheffield would follow in the footsteps of Adele and Oasis and play the Royal Albert Hall, completely reinventing their music and showing the world that, indeed, there is a whole lot of talent, of thought and melody in what they do.
Evenings like those, spent marveling at a band I could have so easily missed out on, a band I'm infinitely happy I have a second chance to, a band I love with all my heart, are why I love music as much as I do. Promise.
After an interlude dedicated to cancer survivors (as the evening is a part of the Teenage Cancer Trust gigs), it is Bring Me The Horizon's turn to take the mythical stage. And they do it with an ease that blows my mind. Imagine being in a formerly heavy band and having to adapt your fast, metal infused songs with an orchestra? It sounds like a super hard task, and it probably was, and yet it doesn't show. The Sheffield boys look confident as ever as ever, showing off how far they have come since they have started, how hard they have worked to make this night special.
Setlist wise, the orchestra mostly highlights songs from That's The Spirit and Sempiternal, but also sees the come back of It Never Ends - the very song that got me into Bring Me The Horizon, almost six years ago. I used not to understand their music and to find it too heavy to my taste, and one day, It Never Ends popped up on my tumblr feed, I decided to give it a try and here I was. The song, despite being a single, hadn't found itself on a setlist in two years, and it was perfect seeing it make a comeback in such a way. Its Royal Albert Hall version makes it sounds like the soundtrack to some sort of movie depicting the end of the world, the apocalypse, armies of people thirsty for blood running for each other, that kind of atmosphere. To be fair, the entirety of There Is A Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It, There Is A Heaven, Let's Keep It A Secret already had that feel kicking about, but the string orchestra and the backing vocalists made it sound extra-apocalyptic in the best possible way.
The setlist also eatured the first ever live appearances of the beautiful Avalanche and the über-catchy, super radio-friendly Oh No as a stunning, yet surprising set closer. The crowd kept echoing and chanting its chorus (even outside!), making frontman Oli Sykes shyly say "Stop it, you're going to make me cry" (making me cry in the process, but I had been in the emo bin since Can You Feel My Heart, so, really, is it even worth mentioning?)
Every song sound ten times bolder, thanks to Simon Dobson's stunning orchestra, and after a couple of minutes, what seemed, at first, like an incongruous mix (metalcore and flute, anyone?) sound completely natural, like Bring Me The Horizon performing this way was long overdue.
And maybe it was.
Maybe it was time for a band in our scene to make waves again, maybe it is time we get there. We'll always be the music of the outcasts, the outsiders, the rebellious, but maybe we can also be the music of the hard workers, the people who made it, and maybe Bring Me The Horizon is the perfect representation of that. The best of both worlds.
Who would have thought that the little band from Sheffield would follow in the footsteps of Adele and Oasis and play the Royal Albert Hall, completely reinventing their music and showing the world that, indeed, there is a whole lot of talent, of thought and melody in what they do.
Evenings like those, spent marveling at a band I could have so easily missed out on, a band I'm infinitely happy I have a second chance to, a band I love with all my heart, are why I love music as much as I do. Promise.
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