Bullet For My Valentine, BringMe The Horizon, Cancer Bats @Riverstage, Brisbane(11/09/2010)

Sun 12th Sep, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Toronto, Canada’s punk rock/southern metal mash up kings Cancer Bats may seem slightly out of the place on tonight’s bill with the two more mainstream metal acts, but the four piece receives a surprisingly strong reaction from the already bulging Riverstage crowd. Boasting one of the more compelling frontman in the hardcore scene in Liam Cormier, the skinny vocalist is constantly on the move, only pausing to fire up the crowd and call for more pit action. Helped by an almost perfect mix and a crushing guitar tone, songs off their latest album Bears, Mayors, Scraps and Bones slot in perfectly with older faves like the blues rock stomp of Lucifier’s Rocking Chair and the closing Hail Destroyer. There is no doubt that Cancer Bats have won over a huge legion of new fans here tonight with an unforgiving set and their ‘no prisoners taken’ attitude.

As huge screams of joy meet the lifting of their backdrop, Bring Me The Horizon it seems could almost be headlining tonight’s show, and as they hit the stage with their brand new single It Never Ends, the mosh turns into an ocean jumping bodies and swinging arms. However, while the kids in the pit probably don’t notice, vocalist Oli Sykes is way below par throughout their hour set, with the frontman’s voice basically shot as he misses countless notes and screams, reducing him to speaking a lot of passages as he gasps for air – which is most apparent during Suicide Season’s title track. The band themselves aren’t exactly the tightest either, and while this reviewer can appreciate their high energy stage moves, the riffs and more melodic guitar lines become almost indistinguishable when the Sheffield band turns up the pace. Finishing with Chelsea Smile, which has Sykes leaping off guitar cabinets before ending up the crowd, Bring Me The Horizon’s show poses an interesting question; is it more important to put on a powerful performance than worry about perfectly playing the songs? While there are a lot of bands that can pull off both, Bring Me The Horizon aren’t one of them, and their set ultimately suffers because of it.

Sounding infinitely more polished and professional then the act before them, Wales’ favourite sons Bullet For My Valentine roar onto stage to the anthemic punches of Your Betrayal as the crowd turns hysterical. Backed by Michael “Moose” Thomas’ powerhouse drumming, the band quickly dives head first into the thrashfest of Fever. Despite the tune featuring some of the worst lyrics you’ll hear all year, the five thousand strong here tonight lap up every word that comes out of Matt Tuck’s mouth.

While a lot has been said about Tuck’s throat problems in the past, the frontman is on pretty decent form during their set, but the dubious use of harmony vocal backing tracks on a couple of songs raises questions of how strong his voice really is. Regardless of this, the band have played their fair share of shows in the last few years and know how to put on a killer performance, throwing in songs from all three of their albums, with classic tracks from The Poison like All These Things I Hate and Tears Don’t Fall receiving the biggest cheers. The stripped down intro to semi-ballad Say Goodnight is fairly uninspiring and highlights the weaker aspect of Tuck’s voice, however the song dramatically picks up when the rest of the band kicks in and the massive guitar riffs plough through the mix. With the heavily requested old fan favourite Hand Of Blood closing out tonight’s show, Tuck and his band mates voice their genuine appreciation for the huge turnout and response at the Riverstage tonight.

Sure, they cop a lot of flak from the metal community for being too ‘poppy’, but Bullet For My Valentine certainly know how to put on a strong show, and having been recently announced that they’re returning early next year to play Soundwave Festival, you can only imagine that that Bullet For My Valentine’s success in this country will continue to rise.