0
0
Bring Me the Horizon
Sleep Token
Make Them Suffer
Daine
In the past five years it isn’t hard to argue that Bring Me the Horizon has firmly cemented their rise as one of the greatest acts of all time. A long journey, paired with many hurdles, has seen the band grow, change, and reshape; facing adversity as their sound has morphed through the years, losing, yet gaining fans along the way as well as regaining many that it had once lost, as elements of their old sound bled back through their music in more recent years, the band stating in recent interviews that despite the rise, they’re happier than ever but also constantly grinding away, not becoming complacent for a second. As a result, the band has been reaching new heights, growing into the monster that it now is today; something that was reflected through the demand for the bands recent ticket sales, which had led to the adding of dates on the bands, Down Under Tour; the first headline Australian tour since 2019. Kicking off the tour, the cold wait on a chilly April evening didn’t detour fans from lining up early for what would become a cryptic night for many, the highly anticipated show shrouded in mystery, and a stacked line-up fuelling hype for the show, another thing representative of the bands growth, the gig itself boasting supports that rivalled that of some festivals with the likes of, Daine, Make Them Suffer and notably, Sleep Token, who themselves have found immense success in recent years, experiencing an accelerated rise to fame, the anonymous cult rockers also drawing large crowds at the concert.
Opening shows however is never easy, and as usual this led to a disappointing turnout. An early start due to the venues time restrictions saw ‘Daine’ opening at 6pm, a timeslot marred by concert goers knocking off from work, with many unable to attend the earlier set as a result; an issue which also rolled over into, Make Them Suffer, who also succumb to this problem. A last-minute ticket release also dampening the mood slightly, with many attendees baffled, left wondering about audience turnout, as the last-minute drop was a seemingly odd decision due to the nature of the prior ticket sales and how extensive demand was. Despite this, that didn’t stop the supports from showing off; ‘Daine’ whose sound deviated from the rest of the line-up, provided a refreshing levity to start the night. Her gritty hyper-pop an escape for those ending their workday, the dance vibe of her tracks, which were more reminiscent of a warehouse raves, allowing many to unwind and get in the right mindset for the night, as a clearly fatigued crowd (most likely from work) made their way into the arena. The use of instrumental backing, delivered by ‘Daine’s’ two-piece band, elevating the performance, making what would usually be a DJ or backing track a much more immersive experience, creating a fuller sound that complimented her vocals, which mixed clean audio with heavily exaggerated autotune, a staple of the genre. Performing tracks, ‘shapeless’ and ‘CUT MY HEART OUT’ (some of my personal favourites), she hyped the early-bird audience, and hopefully gained new fans, which would be well deserved, as she is someone to keep an eye on! Before long the singer, confirmed the suspicion of many, inviting out Bring Me the Horizon’s front man, Oli Sykes, out for a rendition of the two’s 2021 collaboration, ‘SALT’, a moment which was met with much fanfare, as the smaller crowd cheered in excitement. Soon after the set was over, the crowd now a little more warmed up, however still quite docile, something that hopefully would change with the following acts.
Coming off their packed performance at Good Things 2023, Perth artists ‘Make Them Suffer’ blitzed onto the stage in their typical, high-energy manner. The band has become an increasing staple of the Australian Deathcore scene and their adding to the Bring Me the Horizon line-up left many fans more excited for the gig than ever! Recent shows from the group just showing that their fan base is ever-growing and support for the home-grown act is strong. Although delivering an incredible performance, unfortunately as discussed, the crowd was not there to backup it up; again, no fault of the band by any means but as mentioned before, the earlier set time on a Wednesday night left many struggling to make it to the venue in time, once again with fans expressing their frustration that they missed their set; just going to show how much of an impact they’ve made on the scene, with passionate fans biting to see them. Despite a smaller crowd, they made the effort and for those who caught it, they were not left disappointed. I think it’s a sign the band should feel safe knowing that they’re doing things right with an expanding fanbase and people eager to catch them! Potentially sooner than later, maybe at next week’s gig?!
At this point many who had unfortunately missed the first two acts due to various circumstances began rushing in; a few nearby myself out of breath once again expressing their disappointment over missing ‘Make Them Suffers’ set, an understandable frustration. This disappointment however was soon quashed, as the excitement in the room grew for the extremely popular support, Sleep Token, a band which has gathered an immense amount of interest in the past couple years, particularly off the back of their 2023 album, ‘Take Me Back to Eden’ with many outlets ranking the album in their top 5 of the year. A sentiment echoed by members of headliners, Bring Me the Horizon; myself meeting band drummer ‘Matt Nicholls’ in the who stood behind me in the crowd, as he quietly stepped out of the pit and into the general audience to check out the band for himself. It’s hard to deny that the hype surrounding this band is clear, and as such they delivered a performance which lived up to their growing reputation. With sombre yet powerful ballads they captured the attention of the crowd who were seemingly left in a trance by the atmospheric soundscapes of a band who is one of the most technically competent bands I personally have seen live, their performance tight, tied together by the powerful vocals of singer, ‘Vessel’, the crowd mesmerised by the performance, notably songs, ‘Rain’ and ‘Alkaline’, receiving intense adulation from the crowd. No doubt it won’t be long before we see this band back on their own headline tour… but for now, it was Bring Me the Horizon’s time.
After a short allowance for production, the lights dimmed across the arena. A far cry from the oddly sunburnt parkland of Reading’s, Richfield Avenue, surrounded by the hundred thousand odd crowd where I had seen the band debut E.V.E, ‘the state of the art advanced research engine’ in 2022, E.V.E had now progressed into her next phase of evolution; something which had started as a set piece for Reading & Leeds, now, as described by frontman ‘Oli Sykes’, “taking on a life of its own” and forming a narrative that would go on to influence both future performances and music; E.V.E’s new form now gracing the screens of the concrete landscape of Melbourne’s, John Cain Arena, a much more intimate setting, which while nice, didn’t have the same atmosphere as the bands larger performances, particularly those outdoors, such as R+L or Good Things Festival 2022. However, regardless of this, the audience was treated to a night to remember. With a new stage design and set list changes that deviated from the bands previous performances in recent years, many fans were left rejoicing at the return of old favourites, such as, Diamonds Aren’t Forever, Empire (Let Them Sing) and the fan sung, Antivist, with audience member ‘Charlie’ joining the band for the track (something they absolutely killed to the delight of the crowd).
The new set also adding to the experience, with the stained-glass effects reminiscent of a gothic style church creating the feel of a horror movie, creating an immersive feeling which drew in the crowd, making them feel as if they were part of a larger narrative or a theme park ride, something that the band has previously stated they are trying to achieve. The stage design also becoming a common theme in the band’s recent projects, as the bands recent video for single ‘Kool-Aid’ reflecting the same iconography, referencing a multitude of sources of cult like behaviour and revolution, from Jim Jones to the Russian Revolution, a concept which had initially begun to creep into the band’s music during the release of the 2019 single ‘Mantra’. Although putting on a live experience to remember, it was quite clear however that the previously mentioned issues of work fatigue seemed to factor into crowd participation. What would normally see multiple pits, walls of death and other typical metal gig shenanigans, was left with a rather stagnant crowd, which was met with some frustration of the band, who seemed disappointed by the lacklustre audience, who was failing to meet them on the same level of energy, again, most likely due to outside factors, and not the band themselves. Despite this attitude, it seemed like a night for singalongs rather than the high energy mosh of usual, the audience opting for singing along to the tracks at full volume, showing their appreciation to the artists, many revelling in the experience afterwards, a good sign that the rest of the tour will only grow from here; the band returning to Melbourne for a second and final show next week, which will be even larger than the last, one which a lot of audience members expressed excitement for, with many buying tickets to both nights of the tour, the later we expect will go all out!
In the moments post show, fans were left shocked. The discovery of the bands social media being wiped sparking speculation of new music, further creating hype around the tour. Cryptic posts, again containing iconography previously mentioned, offering just a taste of what may come, as the rumour mill churns, and excitement for this tour only evolves. One thing is for certain though… with a few nights left, this is a tour you don’t want to miss out on!
Photos: Andrew Faram
