Saturday 20 April
Supports: Sleep Token, Make Them Suffer, Daine
Bring Me The Horizon rounded up their mammoth Australian tour over the weekend with two sold out shows at the Riverstage. While weather deemed an issue for many Queenslanders for night 1 of the band’s epic production in the state, that far from deterred the many punters who lined up for hours (some even camped!) outside the Riverstage.
Aussie alt/pop songstress Daine received opening honours and she filled this spot with plenty of momentum for the evening ahead. While her sound did offer an overkill of autotune, ‘CUT YOUR HEART OUT‘ proved catchy as hell. Honestly, it was probably a little too techno pop/drum’n’bass for 80% of fans that arrived early, but it wasn’t too cringe to watch.
Following a quick changeover, Aussie metalcore dynamo’s Make Them Suffer hit the stage with much anticipation. Opening with last year’s hit track ‘Ghost of Me‘, metalheads were treated to a warm-up run of a circle pit before the main event. New key/co-vocalist Alex Reade absolutely crushed it on ‘Ether’ and it feels like her contribution to the band now makes them quite the ethereal experience to watch. Hearing the band’s latest release ‘Epitaph‘ live for the first time is evidence that Make Them Suffer are seemingly on fire right now and the world ain’t ready to see what’s coming.
Coming into today’s gig, I didn’t have too much knowledge of Sleep Token. However, from the band’s first entrance on stage, the UK alternative metallers had me in a trance and I can only describe their performance as quite alluring. From the staging to the production, Sleep Token had intrigued the masses with their masked personalities and yes, it did feel a little Slipknot, but you know what? Each band member (known as Vessel, II, III and IV) played their parts so beautifully and it was well-crafted. By the time, they closed out with ‘Take Me Back to Eden‘, it was easy to tell that the band had reeled a few more members into their cult that evening. Heck, I’ll even be getting myself a t-shirt.
Up until Sleep Token, Mother Nature did manage to hold off for a few hours. However, by the time we were all preparing for the imminent return of Bring Me the Horizon to the stage, the waterworks seemed to increase in pressure. Almost mirroring the feelings that were brought to the surface when the “Eve” avatar appeared on the giant screens at the five-minute mark, the intro led straight into ‘DArkSide‘ and ‘Empire (Let Them Sing)‘ and it was full speed ahead.
Frontman Oli Sykes sounded truly in his prime as he powered through many of the band’s recent hits from their current POST HUMAN: NeX GEn and SURVIVAL HORROR eras. ‘Mantra‘ and ‘Teardrops‘ back-to-back allowed fans to sing and mosh their hearts out, which offered one of the biggest vibes of the night. Latest single ‘Kool-Aid‘ acted as a teaser for something a little heavier, where the band segued into their Sempiternal era with everyone’s favourite ‘Shadow Moses‘.
I kept glancing into the circle pit multiple times during their set, and that area looked LIT. You know what? Bring Me the Horizon brought some of the biggest moshpit hype that hadn’t been witnessed in YEARS. It should also be highlighted that the lads on stage really feed off the crowd atmosphere in the pit and we love to see it. Seeing Oli anticipate the crowd’s response was exhilarating. While they may focus on music that is far from their Suicide Season days, you cannot deny that the band still carry that metalcore mentality and even brought OG metal club anthem ‘Diamonds Aren’t Forever‘ back onto the setlist.
The biggest moment and surprise of the night came with anarchist movement song ‘Antivist‘. “I am no longer known as Oli and you can now call me V…,” says a masked-up Oli Sykes and precedes to introduce Sleep Token’s IV to the stage to coerce fans to show IV what a true heavy pit looks like. At this point, the crowd was soaked, the rain was heavy and if you’ve never been to a gig in the pouring rain, I highly recommend it. That moment has honestly become a top 5 concert memory for me and likely cannot be recreated.
‘Drown‘ delivered wholesome fan movements with Oli sharing the barricade with the diehards, before motioning toward ‘Can You Feel My Heart‘. The encore felt like it came and went far too quickly, but not without one final dance to the slick pop punk jam ‘L0sT‘. I think I speak for everyone in that crowd tonight that felt the urge to go hard, especially when Oli introduces the song with, “Shake your dick!”
Even if you were expecting heavier elements from the band this tour, you can’t deny that Bring Me the Horizon brought their A-game to Australia in 2024. From circlepit moments to fan singalongs, there is very good reason why this band has united a community of emos and metalheads into one and the effect it has upon the rest of us is nothing short of spectacular.
Review by Tamara May
Photos by Reece Trudgen
