It was a bitterly cold Tuesday night as Bring Me The Horizon descended on Cardiff for the opening night of their NX_GN world tour.
It was a sold out show and it was nice to see so many fans turn up early and catch one of the most promising acts in Static Dress.
They put on an unsurprisingly good set with tracks including Disposable Care, Sober Exits and Sweet. It was a fun set and great to see Static Dress playing arenas as it is something they definitely deserved.
Unfortunately, I haven’t been a fan of Cassyette (I know, I’m in the minority there), but it’s just not really my style. However, the set was pretty good, with tracks including September Rain and When She Told Me, so I think I may give another try.
There was a clear shift in the crowd’s attitude as Bad Omens took to the stage. The band had a fantastic stage show to compliment insane tracks including opener Artificial Suicide, Glass Houses, Just Pretend and Dethrone. It was clear from the crowd’s reaction that the majority were not only there for BMTH but to finally get a chance to see Bad Omens and they did not disappoint. Noah’s vocal delivery throughout the set was incredible and the staging was fantastic.
Whilst Bad Omens were absolutely amazing, everyone was waiting for the main event. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not really a fan of Bring Me The Horizon but I’ve now seen them three times as they’re my partner’s favourite band and they were growing on me but this set did turn me into a fan.
BMTH put so much thought into everything they do including the sets, and as a delighted partner told me, they started with their version of Metal Gear Solid’s logo on screen and used the codec call as EVE would come onto the screen.
The show – which featured a range of tracks including DArkside, MANTRA and Teardrops – was incredible, although the continuity was hampered a bit after the first ever live performance of Kool-Aid was cut short due to a fan being injured in the pit, which also happened again as EVE was returning to the screen later in the show. We hope the fans are okay!
A warning for anyone who may be epileptic though as there are LOTS and I mean LOTS of strobes. They look awesome and appear throughout the set, but especially during Kingslayer.
The imagery used throughout worked perfectly well with the staging and despite needing to pause the show a couple of times, they were able to pick right back up.
Fans were treated to Shadow Moses and an acoustic performance of sTraNgeRs which was one of my favourite moments.
Bad Omens’ Noah took to the stage to join BMTH for Antivist before Oli went down to the front row of the crowd for Drown and ending on Can You Feel My Heart.
We thought that may be it as due to the stoppages, we were getting close to curfew but BMTH had other ideas and a lovely montage began to play on the screens, showing the band throughout their career before kicking into Doomed, which fans haven’t seen live since 2019.
But that wasn’t it, as LosT and Throne were performed – two of the songs I’ve really enjoyed – to end the show on a high.
If you’re going to the NX_GEN tour, you’re in for one hell of a night!