Piercings, tattoos and many, many fringes were the go at Billboard on Friday night, as fans were treated to a triple header of The Red Shore, Cancer Bats and headliners Bring me the Horizon.

The Red Shore kicked off proceedings for the night, displaying a well crafted set of both recent and past songs. Fans were quiet for the majority of the set, however after some encouragement from new vocalist Jamie Hope, punters finally kicked into gear, creating energy that would last the entire night. Whilst only playing a short set (30 minutes or so), The Red Shore proved why they are to be taken seriously, and proved why they have been good enough to tour with bands such as I Killed the Prom Queen and Bring me the Horizon in the past. Most notable was the head banging displayed from Jason Leombruni, Jon Green and Roman Koester, which appeared to be synchronised to perfection.

It seemed that many individuals had come to this gig in order to see Canadian act The Cancer Bats, and the fact that Bring Me The Horizon wee playing was simply a nice addition. Cancer Bats put on an amazing show, possibly showing up Horizon with frontman Liam Cormier providing one of the most energetic sets seen in a long time. Cormier appears to have all the traits that at true frontman should have- he’s entertaining, has passion, and a good sense of humour. This did not overshadow the amazing work provided by the rest of the band, with Scott Middleton proving why he’s an amazing guitarist.

It was a shame that the Cancer Bats were only given a limited set, as when they ripped out crowd favourite Hail Destroyer, it was obvious that the majority of Billboard did not want this band to leave the stage.

As soon as they did, the amount of people vying to the bar decreased with the majority of punters making their way to the stage. It wasn’t clear before the band hit the stage whether individuals were there simply to…uh…bask in Bring Me The Horizon front man Oli Sykes presence, however as soon as they hit the stage, it was obvious to all that almost every individual in attendance was there to witness an amazing gig- and mosh as hard as possible to prove this.

Sykes appeared to have some problems at the beginning of the set, with his vocals not appearing up to scratch as past performances, or even in comparison to Liam Cormier from earlier on. Whether this was due to nerves or a technical issue was irrelevant, as Sykes and co. put on a good show for the rest of the set.

When speaking of Oli Sykes, many seem to criticise his personality and the way he treats others ( there are numerous stories of Sykes starting fights at concerts), however the Sykes that spoke to the crowd on Friday night came across as both modest and incredibly friendly.

Taking note of the crowd, one would suggest that every single individual was giving it their all – the pit really did appear to be carnage. This obviously wasn’t good enough for Sykes. ‘I want to see some blood!’ he screamed, prompting the crowd to go insane. Unfortunately, some took his – œblood’ comment seriously, with one punter being knocked out. The fact that security appeared to tackle this man to the ground, check his pulse when he appeared unconscious, and then drag him out of the public view was a real dampener on the night.

Bring Me The Horizon played a mix of old and new, which seemed to be appreciated by Melbourne as it was obvious that old favourites was what they came to see. Regardless, Pray for Plagues and For Stevie Wonders Eyes only were crowd favourites of the night.

It seems to be a cliché, however it is always an amazing experience when attending a gig, and literally feeling the energy in the air (from both the band themselves and the punters infront of stage). This was definitely the case at Billboard, with one punter at the end of the night describing the gig in probably the best way possible. ‘Holy Shit. That was amazing’

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