Miss
May I are opening the proceedings tonight, they
are a 5 piece metal band from the US. They ain't
all that bad of a band, they have some pretty
nifty, tight guitar work, fast melodic, with decent
riffs at times. Sadly it is somewhat ruined by
the double kick drum beats as it really overpowers
a lot of the band, I feel less is more or turn
everything else up, it's not bad drumming but
I think as the drums are close to the front of
the stage, it messes up the sound mix for the
rest of the band.
The
vocals are pretty good, good mix of screaming
and clean vocals, and the stage presence of the
band is pretty decent. Overall not a bad start
to the night, bu the drums really kill the sound.
Main support tonight are everyone's favourite
band on the rise, Halestorm. I've seen them go
from opening act to their own small venue headline
tour and to main support in larger venues, next
stop headlining big venues, it'll happen in the
next year or two.
They
open the night with a song off the latest album,
'Love Bites', not a bad opening to their set,
it's lively enough, not my choice I'd have gone
with 'Mz Hyde' maybe? Next up is 'Freak Like Me'
which goes straight into 'I Get Off'.
This being the first night if the tour, I was
expecting them to be little off but no, they are
right on it tonight, tight out of the gate.
Next up, and reaching the half way point of their
6 song set is 'Rock Show', not my favourite of
the night nor off the album, they finish off the
night with two superb songs, 'Mz Hyde' and 'I
Miss The Misery' from the latest and first album
respectively, 'Misery' features a fair bit of
guitar wanking but it's good non the less. The
whole set has been a tad bass heavy but that's
a minor grumble to what has been a good performance
from this rock band.
The
last time I saw Bullet For My Valentine was in
2006, they were superb then so it's interesting
to see if much has changed.
Well Matt has cut his hair, looks very odd, but
who cares really, I'll say this, Matt makes playing
the guitar look easy, he looks laid back as the
band blast through the opening songs. They open
with 'Breaking Point', which is swiftly followed
by 'Your Betrayal', both really good fast opening
songs, getting the crowd whipped up into a frenzy
of banging heads and flying fists, no doubt setting
off a sea of mosh pits!. After a bit of talking
to the crowd they blast on with 'Waking The Demon',
it's a good but 'so so' song, and it keeps the
pace up and the night cooking along nicely.
After
the first 3 songs, it's easy to see there's no
rust or jet lag, as they have recently returned
from the Far East.
The set continues with 'Riot', and, '4 Words To
Choke Upon', I haven't heard this last track in
sometime, good times!
Next up and title track 'Temper Temper', which
is blisteringly good, and works really well live.
Matt starts 'Last Fight' on his own with the crowd
singing along , before the band launch into this
very anthemic song, I can see this working really
well at a festival.
So
far this is probably going to be one of my top
5 gigs of the year, and best one so far, and I've
only done 3, still a long way to go yet.
Next up is the likes of 'Prisoner Of War', this
takes the pace down a notch or two, giving the
crowd a rest and chance to regroup for the rest
of the set, another sing along chorus too. Next
up is 'The Poision' album intro opens up for 'Your
Voice Resides Inside My Head', it's good to hear
the older songs, there should be more of them,
mind you they have a lot more to choose from now.
After
a solo from Padge, Lzzy Hale (Halestorm), joins
the band on stage for 'Dirty Little Secre't, not
a bad song at all. This takes us into the last
few songs of the set.
'Scream Aim Fire' sounds just blisteringly good,
best song of the night I reckon, or certainly
up there as one of the best. Moving swiftly on
with the epic 'Tears Don't Fall', the band plays
this so effortlessly and the crowd sings along
to practically every word, great song. The band
close out the night with 'Living Life (On The
Edge Of A Knife), an unexpected song to finish
on, but blisteringly good non the less, great
way to finish off the night.
Well Bullet certainly delivered tonight, this
first night of the tour is going to be hard to
top.
Miss May I 3/5
Halestorm 4/5
Bullet For My Valentine 5/5
Review By Robert Lawrence
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