Gig

Bring Me The Horizon - Review & Gallery 10th April @ John Cain Arena, Melb VIC

Tyler Lubke

Apr 11, 2024

7 min read

‍Bring Me The Horizon

‍John Cain Arena, Melbourne, VIC
April 10, 2024
Supports: Sleep Token, Make Them Suffer and DAINE

The feeling of seeing your favourite band live is immense.

It has the opportunity to trump all prior gig experiences or open your eyes to something else completely. My experience listening to Bring Me The Horizon began during the That’s The Spirit era when ‘Drown‘ was a recurring anthem of late-night fast food shifts. I was at the peak age for music discovery and soon enough their entire discography left an unforgettable impression on me. Bring Me The Horizon continued to influence me, and be the source of many firsts for me. The first single I got up early to listen to was ‘Mantra‘, the first record I owned was amo, and my first two tattoos are iconic band symbolism. Most significantly, my love for live music locally and internationally exploded into life when I saw Bring Me The Horizon on their First Love tour in 2019. After 3 years of going to a gig here or there, this was my first arena + international headline gig. I was hit with an emotional wave that instigated a passion to go to every damn show I could and do something in the scene. It is thanks to this band I am where I am today, and I could not simply attend one show of their 2024 Australian run. I’ll be attending every stop along the tour, however, it’s my pleasure to recap the highly anticipated first night of the tour at John Cain Arena.

Hyper pop and synthy vibes opened up the night as DAINE took the stage. The stage performance consisted of two tight guitarists providing boppy catchy melodies alongside DAINE themselves hitting the mic. Admittedly the autotuned vocals weren’t my thing, however, they grew on me! Soon the crowd freaked when Oli Sykes took the stage for his feature on ‘SALT’. Heavy vocals were utilised throughout by both artists, with clear heightened anticipation for the hooded-up BMTH frontman. The dual vocal effort flowed well throughout the incredibly catchy chorus particularly, and I think seeing ‘SALT’ live is worth the early admission alone, alongside their pop-infused set closer which gave DAINE one last awesome time to shine.

At first their addition to the lineup didn’t seem to make complete sense to me, however upon further reflection, I understand DAINE represents a direction that Bring Me The Horizon have experimented on. Could the tone be set for further things to come from the studio? Possibly! With or without this context, DAINE were a fun way to open up the evening. Even if I won’t go back for repeat listens of many tracks.

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Perth juggernaughts Make Them Suffer really turned things up a notch; standard for the first heavier act of the evening. They were tight as ever from the moment they hit the stage with ‘Ghost of Me’. I’ve always appreciated how Make Them Suffer utilize the stage space to have a groove on stage, it’s so clear that they’re loving being up there as much as we love watching them. This is no different on an arena stage! Vocalist Sean Harmanis, bassist and guitarist moved all across teh stage, while keyboardist Alex Reade enthusiastically headbanged her way between keys, screaming and clean vocals. I still love the keytar solo during ‘Doomswitch!’ Thumping double kick drums from drummer man Jordan Mather throughout simply went hard. ‘Ether’ was a cool song to chill to for a bit, before the live debut of ‘Epitaph’ blew me away. If I ever had to recommend a newcomer to listen to a song, it would be this. It’s such a perfect medley of every skill Make Them Suffer has developed over the years, and this set was the performance that solidified their future on big stages across the world. Happy Birthday to guitarist Nick McLernon too who was smiles all round.

On to the matter of Sleep Token, I was incredibly keen for my no doubt memorable first “ritual” as they enigmatically refer to their live shows. Man do I have some thoughts. First of all, not the snooze fest I joke about with my mates (redeeming my sleep tokens). The air was thick with anticipation, as people around me were ready to let Sleep Token have their hearts for 40 minutes at their first show of 2024. I felt somewhat out of place as I knew none of their songs apart from the post-drum solo segment of ‘The Summoning’ thanks to social media (which I’ll touch on later). I was not prepared for the absolute versatility and talent of Sleep Token.

Vessel does not speak to the crowd directly, but he commands them with his mastered singing or time on the keyboard. The body language of III and IV is almost dominant. The backing vocalists/dancers add to the overall trance like spectacle you fall under. Individually each musician gets their chance to showcase their raw power, and as a cohesive unit the audience is truly in a chokehold (pun intended). The viral drum solo in The Summoning was something else to see live, and I fully understand why II is one of the greatest drummers in the world. My highlight though, was the climactic finale of ‘Take Me Back To Eden‘. This was Sleep Token at their best that night and I was blown away.

Am I a converted follower, indoctrinated into their cult-like fan base? No, because despite their absolute professionalism and identity as a band, it’s not what I’m looking for in music. This ritual was an unforgettable display of some of the most talented musicianship out there, but I will not worship.

Bring Me The Horizon had pinpoint production all night long. We were greeted by the Project Eve visualiser, urging us to engage in moshpits, ingest substances and have the best night of our fucking lives. I knew we were getting the full production, but having it set in that I’m about to see this unfold was emotional. The lights pulsed as the band took the stage, showcasing the gothic set pieces on display. When Oli Sykes screamed “Get the fuck up!”, the show lit up, confetti was launched and a set I’ll remember forever began with ‘dArkSide‘. I couldn’t contain myself as Oli and John Jones sang and yelled at us as we sang back. John is deserving of his demonic mic stand, as he masterfully belted out isolated backing vocals on ‘Empire (Let Them Sing)‘. Going from POST HUMAN: NeX GeN straight into Sempiternal era material? This was the first sign of an exciting and thoughtfully curated setlist to appease all fans; except for those who only like Count Your Blessings. ‘Mantra‘ was another beautiful sing along, where I finally took a second to suss out who is filling in for absent guitarist Lee Malia on this run (family first always!). Lee’s guitar tech Joey Black is on lead guitar for this run, and he absolutely slays on stage. The teardrops flowed and the smoke cannons screamed as we sang along to … well, ‘Teardrops‘! The bass lines were so full and heavy throughout thanks to Matt Kean’s display, and he even made sure to come say hi to our side of stage and trade spots with John throughout! The fires were lit both metaphorically and literally, as the pyro warmed up everyone for the first big breakdown of the night during ‘AmEN!‘.

The frenzy was beautiful to behold before checking out the Australian live debut of newest single ‘Kool-Aid‘. We must’ve all taken a sip because the arena shook with the combined singing. While Oli was hitting the high notes I couldn’t help but notice the demonic mannequin creature on the display had lights reflecting off it. These lights were matching the light displays in the venue! Again I really have to say the attention to detail in the production is astonishing. I didn’t realise it could snow inside, but it somehow did as a familiar intro coursed through the venue. Oli enigmatically appeared, flare in hand just like in a well-known music video. It hits every time you hear, “Can you tell from the look in our eyes?” and then you sing along “We’re going nowhere”. ‘Shadow Moses‘ kept the party going until we were told to ‘Obey‘. The Yungblud feature is present here in digital form, but it still was a fucking delight to bop and have fire-infused breakdowns too. It was once again time for some poppier vibes courtesy of delightful singalong ‘Die4u‘. This track took a little bit to grow on me, but after singing along to this live it became one of my favourites. The chaotic and almost blinding confetti gave a truly audible and memorable experience to the final chorus. When the interlude ‘Itch For The Cure (When Will We Be Free)‘ came on, we were all ready for the next huge track. The iconic ‘Kingslayer‘ intro drove the room nuts, and anyone standing still did what they were told when Oli said “Get the fuck up, wake the fuck up”.

We took a breather though, with an acoustic rendition of ‘sTraNgeRs‘.

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The band all united on the central stage as the crowd got their lights out and put people on shoulders. The acoustic version of one of my faves had me blinking the tears away as I sang with all the strangers in the room. This song was for everyone there, regardless of who you were or why you were there. It was for you. And it will always be for you. After the wholesome gathering it was time for a throwback to 2008. It was Suicide Season baby and the heaviest belter of the set ‘Diamonds Aren’t Forever‘ still goes nuts. The screams, the riffs, the gnarly as fuck breakdown all culminated into everything I hoped seeing a Suicide Season era track could be. We had to bring it something more modern with ‘Parasite Eve‘ shortly after, which I absolutely loved the visualiser for. The biggest surprise of the night however is one for the ages. Oli asked the crowd a question: “Who wants to sing ‘Antivist‘ with me”? Charlie entered John Cain Arena as an attendee at the gig. She left as someone who sang and screamed on stage with Bring Me The Horizon. Not only did she get to live out the fucking dream, SHE FUCKING NAILED IT. It was almost as if she’d been practising for it! She screamed and sang, strutted the stage opposing Oli and joined him in unison. He was very clearly impressed by her when she knew what time it was. She told us to “push it back” like Oli always said. When Charlie screamed it though, Oli knew for sure he made the right choice. The crowd interaction wasn’t over yet, as Oli jumped down to the barrier with a camera during my favourite track ‘Drown‘. It’s so beautiful to see so many smiling faces singing alongside the band, and it was a moment that those featured will cherish forever. The iconic chants of ‘Can You Feel My Heart‘ resonated, before what was either a longer changeover or a fake encore. Either way shortly after a video started playing on the screens. It was a compilation of music videos, behind-the-scenes shot and gig footage from the conception of Bring Me The Horizon and their first release This Is What The Edge of Your Seat Was Made For, all the way until the future. Fans of the band’s performance at Royal Albert Hall would recognise the overture that was played alongside this footage and knew it would lead to one of the more powerful songs of the set. We accepted that we were all ‘Doomed‘. Again the emotions spilled forth and I couldn’t help but fall apart. It was simply beautiful to be a part of an iconic chorus.

One more emotional but more upbeat song was ‘LosT‘, written likely for so many followers of the the band. While singing this we wall felt not just seen but found too. It was then time for one final song. The techs gave it their all with confetti, pyro and smoke cannons throughout ‘Throne‘, once we all took a seat and jumped up on command. Described as “the most fun you can have with your pants on”, it was an iconic way to conclude the performance. The doomsday protocol ran on the visualiser, and the display read “BMTH just rocked my world”.

Fucking oath they did.

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What can I say about this tour? Every time I see Bring Me The Horizon, it feels like an opportunity of a lifetime. They have concocted a tight as fuck lineup, with incredible talent across genres. To be treated to such an astonishing headline act after such talented supports is the dream. Bring Me The Horizon are my favourite band, and I cannot fathom the emotional reactions and assertions after nearly two hours of their full production. Despite Lee being absent this run, I’m confident they’re in the best live shape of their career and I hope you can experience it for yourself. Whether you’re rocking up early for DAINE, showing support for metalcore on the big stage with Make Them Suffer, worshipping the technical capabilities of Sleep Token, or catching the coolest set of music I’ve seen to date, Bring Me The Horizon will rock your fucking world.

Gig Review by Tyler Lubke.

BMTH Setlist

Darkside
Empire (Let Them Sing)
MANTRA
Teardrops
Amen
Kool-aid
Shadow Moses
Obey
Die4u
Kingslayer
Strangers
Diamonds Aren’t Forever
Parasite Eve
Antivist
Drown
Can You Feel My Heart
Doomed
Lost
Throne