Check out the crazy photo gallery from tonight’s show HERE

With a sea of black shirts and piercings extending down and around the block, it’s clear that something big is going down in the Valley tonight. Residents look on in wonder, occasionally stopping the clusters of fans (and strangely enough, 10 year olds) to ask who’s playing tonight, as if the masses of Bullet for My Valentine shirts were no indicator.

The pre-show air buzzes with excitement, the crowd chattering happily outside and inside the venue as they filter through the doors. The Tivoli’s rich and regal interior of reds and golds stands in stark contrast to the black-clad masses, whose excitement is barely contained as they sing along to Jet’s Are You Gonna Be My Girl? playing in the background.

Capitalising on the steady rise of nintendocore acts such as Horse The Band and Enter Shikari, House vs Hurricane’s interesting blend of synth and hardcore seems more akin to a support slot with Bring Me The Horizon, rather than Welsh metal behemoths Bullet For My Valentine. Nevertheless, the Melbournians bounce around the stage with unrelenting energy, showcasing material from their debut EP Forfeiture. With guitar swings and keyboard headbanging, the six-piece are out to entertain: the highlight for this reviewer being guitarist/vocalist Ryan McLerie’s uncanny resemblance to a pornstache-wearing Raab Himself.

After the initial set-up and – œone-two, one-two’ by what seems to be Bert McCracken between albums, Welsh exports Bullet for my Valentine storm on stage amid the screams of hundreds of teenage girls. Ripping right into Scream Aim Fire, it is clear what the quintet are there for, with calls for circle pits kickstarting the destruction. Despite having only two studio albums under their belt, BFMV play as if they have two hundred, expertly powering through a lengthy setlist encompassing tracks from The Poison, the Hand of Blood EP and 2008’s release Scream Aim Fire.

2008’s Scream Aim Fire may have seen the band churn out heavier tracks, although this certainly came at the expense of screaming vocals. Having had issues with his tonsils in the past, these problems seem to be still plaguing frontman Matt Tuck, as he often passes the baton to growling bassist Jay. The crowd don’t seem to mind, however, and Tuck quickly returns to his vocal duties. Lead guitarist - œPadge’ is notably on par tonight, effortlessly winging his way through soaring solos and face-melting riffs, with percussionist - œMoose’ furiously drumming along.

The crowd reacts favourably to tracks such as Take it Out on Me, 4 Words to Choke Upon, and Hand of Blood, although this reviewer can’t help but cringe as an obligatory over-zealous douchebag hurtles a shoe toward the stage. Looking mildly unimpressed at being hit by the missile, frontman Matthew Tuck quickly forgets it as the band plough through Say Goodnight, Eye of the Storm, Spit You Out and Hearts on Fire.

Having witnessed the band play a significantly shorter festival set the day before, one can’t help but be vaguely amused at Bullet for my Valentine’s stage habits. Many in attendance may not know it (or perhaps are too ecstatic to care), but many of Tuck’s calls for circle pits, lighters and screams are perfectly timed, having been called for in exactly the same manner during their Big Day Out performance.

However, one thing vastly differs from their festival set as Bullet for my Valentine soon call for the crowd to sing them a song. The support for fan favourite Tears Don’t Fall is unanimous, but the band deliberately slides into All These Things I Hate, a crowd pleaser usually (and unfortunately) absent from their set-list. As lead guitarist Padge looks on gleefully, Matt Tuck alternates between singing and letting the stiflingly sweaty crowd do the work for him. Immediately after, Bullet for my Valentine launch into the widely requested Tears Don’t Fall, and even the fashionably disinterested pipe up and scream along.

As expected, the band prematurely leaves the stage as the Tivoli is plunged into darkness, with the crowd hypnotically chanting – œBullet! Bullet! Bullet!’ and – œone more song!’ Almost as if they had heard the girl behind me screech “come on, we know you’re not done yet”, they re-emerge to give us just that little bit more.

The screams reach fever pitch as Tuck, Padge, Moose and Jay launch into a mandatory encore, with Waking the Demon squeezing the last bits of angst out of the roaring crowd. Bullet for my Valentine then launch into their final song of the night, Forever and Always. Crooning might be an odd word to ever use in regard to a metal vocalist, but Matthew Tuck does exactly that, crooning and wailing his way through the encore like a black-clad, tattooed lovesick puppy.

The rosy haze brought on by their final song soon lifts, as Bullet for my Valentine grace the stage one last time, distributing guitar picks and drumsticks to the hoards of adoring fans. It seems like the show began only minutes ago, and even with hair askew, clothes dripping and piercings newly relocated, the crowd don’t seem to mind. As the exhausted and elated crowds proceed onto the street with merch and street team fliers in tow, I can’t help but think that if Bullet for my Valentine can produce this sort of mayhem and destruction with only two studio albums under their belt, there’s no telling where the welsh quartet will be in five or ten years.