Bullet For My Valentine @Challenge Stadium, Perth(05/09/10)

Wed 8th Sep, 2010 in Gig Reviews

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The Cancer Bats flapped in to Perth to support two UK bands specifically, although their eclectic mix of hardcore punk and rock was probably lost on most of the crowd. Hopefully they managed to convert a few to the dark side.

Unfortunately they suffered a terrible mix. It was unclear if the drum kit was even miked up. Lynyrd Skynrd looking guitarist Scott Middleton was too loud and overbearing, making drummer Mike Peters sound like he was lost somewhere in the back lots of Claremont. The perils of being an opening band.

Still, they persevered and as their set continued the mix seemed to improve,or punters became accustomed to it’s shittiness. Either way during the third song, kids were all to happy to start up a circle pit to it’s punky rhythms.

Singer, Liam Cormier was quite encouraging and managed to keep punters’ attention with slow rockers like Darkness Lives and Hail Destroyer. They pulled out a cover of Beastie Boys’ Sabotage which was pretty decent, again probably lost on most of the skinny jean, tattooed, swept hair crowd. A good effort all things considered as they flew the coop to their own gig at Amplifier Bar.

A half an hour gap for punters to grab a bite or beverage and it was time for Bring Me The Horizon. Beneath a main-sail sized banner of their long awaited album the band took to the stage with a mighty cheer and launched into latest single It Never Ends.

While not the tightest band of the seven seas, Bring Me The Horizon made up for it in crowd participation. On more than one occasion front man Ollie Sykes parted the black fringed sea and had it smashing into itself; whirlpools and water spouts were a common sight.

Uber-fans of the genre will note the addition of ex-I Killed The Prom Queen axe slinger Jona Weinhofern moshing away and adding backup vocals here and there. Some of his vocals were a little flat unfortunately, replacing Sam Carter in the song The Sadness Will Never End proved that it is a tune evidently not for the faint voiced.

Sykes experienced a few mic problems, but with fans to assist, any missing vocals were replaced with ease. Drummer Matt Nicholls kept it all together, perhaps playing to a click judging by the truckload of techno samples and intermissions going down.

A notable mention would undoubtedly be the remixed version of Football Season’s Over playing through the PA at full blast morphing the stadium into a blue light disco. Sleep with One Eye Open was introduced in a typically overused fashion, Sykes asking the crowd to put their middle fingers in the air. Aside from some common cliches Bring Me The Horizon completed a short but sweet set, winding down with Chelsea Smile. No doubt fans will be eagerly awaiting their new disc.

Curtains drawn, it looked as if quite a make over of the main stage was under way, with several wheels and feet shuffling about. As soon as the lights were dimmed fans prematurely screamed; perhaps the sound guys deserve recognition after all.

What was witnessed next was a stage show of gigantic proportions. With a production setup that mimicked their arena gigging idols, Bullet For My Valentine took to the stage and blasted out Your Betrayal.

With guitar cabinets piled high and spotlights shining on their every move the gave the crowd a dose of the Fever and Waking The Demon. Vocalist Matt Tuck screamed like a welsh banshee and worked away at his guitar emulating good old ‘87 Hetfield. You could pick worse bands or icons to mimic but Bullet For My Valentine take it to the next level.

From Michael Paget’s unnecessary guitar solo, to drummer Michael Thomas’ ‘87 Lars Ulrich style kit and stage ramps, they had all the boxes of a big name arena show ticked. Just Add a dash of teen angst and modern flavour to their ‘tallica riffs and Maiden licks and you’ve summed up Bullet For My Valentine’s sound.

Actually the whole show was a little formulaic, but it all points directly to their success. Pulling at the heartstrings of teenage girls with ballads such as Tears Don’t Fall then creating moshpits with thrashy cuts
like Scream Aim Fire seems all in a days work for these welsh lads.

They gave fans more than enough to chew on, covering all their hits and punters seemed quite satisfied-ecstatic – at least if you’re referring to the under 18’s. The rise of Bullet For My Valentine is pretty imminent-whether you like it or not – and there seems to be an abundance of fans around to back it up.

Time will tell if they can reach the lofty heights created by their adored idols.

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