Whatever you thought of the poppier, super-synthed leanings of That’s The Spirit, Bring Me The Horizon have undoubtedly earned their seat at heavy music’s Big Table, and tonight is a celebration of a year that’s seen them cement their spot at the top of the UK food chain.
So, in light of that, perhaps we should cover tonight’s one minor gripe upfront: if Oli Sykes isn’t still miming on some of those new songs, he’s most definitely at least letting the backing track do a lot of the work for him.
In the grand scheme of things and given the spectacle of the show itself, it’s a small grumble that doesn’t appear to bother 99.9% of a delirious Ally Pally crowd, but it does make you wonder how he and the band will cope with what will likely be an increased reliance on clean vocals moving forward. We guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Regardless of all that, the show must go on – and what a show it is; from the flurry of pyro, confetti cannons and smoke screens that pepper the stage at various points to the retina-scorching visuals that spin and swirl across the monstrous, two-tier screen, this is as good a stage show as has ever been put in this venue. It’s an incredible sight from start to finish, and the band deserve kudos for managing to put on an extravaganza that matches anything rock and metal’s greats could throw out, making for an electric atmosphere that never lets up. Predictably, the setlist draws heavily from That’s The Spirit and its predecessor Sempiternal, with only Blessed With A Curse and Chelsea Smile making the cut from anything pre-2013.
Not that the sold-out Palace seems to mind: every single song, including newies like a crushing Happy Song and a pandemonium-inducing Throne, is greeted with the kind of delirium usually reserved for decades-old classics, while Sempiternal jams like The House Of Wolves and a spinetingling Sleepwalking only further cement that album’s deserved reputation as one of the best heavy records of the decade. Ultimately, whatever you think of the whole miming thing, this was supposed to be a celebration, and a celebration it most definitely is. What this band has achieved over the last 12 years is nothing short of astounding, and the scariest part is that it could just be the start.
