Every year, the BRITS team up with O2 in order to offer a week of intimate shows with big artist to support the British War Child foundation.
One of this year’s bands was the Sheffield based rock band Bring Me The Horizon. Following the release of their long awaited sixth full-length record ‘AMO’ earlier this year, the band announced some big festivals and tour dates for this year. Having changed their sound over the years from a death core into a broader heavy rock sound, the latest release was no difference, combining elements from metal, rock and electronica. This mix creates a unique and genre-less style and shows the artistic talent of the band.
As frontman Oli Sykes ruptured one of his vocal chords prior to the show that was originally scheduled for February, it was rescheduled for the end of May. Health the most important thing to look after!
The evening started off with a DJ set of Zoe London and an introduction speech from the representatives of the War Child foundation who have been able to raise half a million pounds with the intimate gigs so far. Following the speech, the lights turned off and two armed and masked figures entered the stage as the albums lead single ‘Mantra’ kicked in to let the crowd vanish in a huge stream of dust. Right from the start the crowd went mental enjoying themselves in a mosh pit in the middle of the venue. The excitement and energy grew even further when Bring Me The Horizon surprised the old school death core fans with ‘Pray For Plagues’, followed by ‘The House Of Wolves’. After a quick appearance of a huge Dani Filth figure taking over his part in ‘Wonderful Life’, ‘Diamonds Aren’t Forever’ kicks in with Oli chanting ‘We will never sleep, ‘cause sleep is for the weak’ echoed by the fans. ‘Shadow Moses’ created a more anthemic atmosphere followed by high crowd participation during ‘Happy Song’.
Slowing down the set and showing another more raw and vulnerable side of the band, Oli took some time to speak to the crowd about the changes of the band’s style from the beginning to now and how ‘Sempiternal’ was the first release that was followed by fans telling them they changed their lives. Since then, they wanted to write honest music about personal experiences that people care about and can relate to in order to change their lives or help them through difficult times. The speech was followed by an intimate acoustic version of ‘Sleepwalking’ which created a beautifully raw and almost haunted atmosphere.
With guitarist Lee playing the riff for ‘Sugar Honey Ice & Tea’ the atmosphere change completely and the crowd relieved the electricizing tension that was in the air, finishing off the set with ‘Follow You’. After chanting for encore, Bring Me The Horizon came back with ‘Chelsea Smile’ surprising the fans once more. Unfortunately, they experienced technical issues which lead to the decision that only one further song would be played which was a spontaneous but absolutely beautiful acoustic rendition of ‘Drown’ with Lee playing the acoustic guitar and Oli joining the crowd off the stage singing the song together.
It was definitely a special time for everyone involved. Both the fans and the band seemed to have an amazing time. The setlist showed all different facets of Bring Me The Horizon ranging from the wild and heavy deathcore side to a more personal, intimate and artistic side, catering to all of their fans equally. It was a great evening with great music, an amazing band and an amazed crowd, supporting the War Child organisation to raise money for a good cause.
Venue: The Dome
Band: Bring Me The Horizon
Support: DJ Zoe London
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A Special Time 