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BRING ME THE HORIZON
+ Sleep Token
+ Make Them Suffer
+ Daine
@ Olympic Park, Sydney,
12th April 2024
(Live Review)

Review by Amelia Torresan

Photos by Alec Smart (@alecsmart_fotos)

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Bring Me The Horizon, Qudos Bank Arena, Olympic Park, Sydney. Photo: Alec Smart

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The metal fans at Qudos Bank Arena were not prepared for the show that they were going to witness last night featuring the undeniable talent of the metal genre. Supported by three bands that each resembled an era in their music career, Bring Me The Horizon absolutely tore up the stage and left fans in awe of their performance of a lifetime. Their performance at Good Things in 2022 was merely a teaser for what their fans saw last night, with everything amped up to the nth degree with spectacular light shows, visual graphics and the use of fire, confetti and air cannons. It was truly a night that would have you reminiscing on it for years.

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Daine, Qudos Bank Arena, Olympic Park, Sydney. Photo: Alec Smart

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The night opened with local artist DAINE, who serenaded the crowd with their lo-fi electronic sound that was further metal-fied by the presence of her two live guitarists. DAINE’s sound would be perfectly at home on a festival stage such as Splendour in the Grass or Good Things as they uniquely marries the electronic and metal genre together to create their own, unique sound. As they performed their setlist that included their tracks ‘Cut My Heart Out,’ ‘Salt,’ and ‘Stay Close, ’DAINE’s music reminded me of Bring Me The Horizon’s current sound, particularly their acoustic songs. There is a subtle, unique heaviness in the vocals that accompanies the melodic instrumental perfectly, summing up DAINE’s sound.

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Make Them Suffer, Qudos Bank Arena, Olympic Park, Sydney. Photo: Alec Smart

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Australian metalcore pros Make Them Suffer were next to take to the stage, with their sound doing an almost complete 180 on their predecessor. Their sound was heavy and raw, with thrashing guitars and screaming vocals similar to Bring Me The Horizon’s early sound in ‘Suicide Season,’ and perfect for anyone who just wanted to go ballistic in the mosh’s many circle pits. The band treated their fans to a top tier mix of their discography including new and old favourites like ‘Hollowed Heart,’ ‘Doomswitch,’ ‘Ether’ and the live debut of their newest song ‘Epitaph.’ I really enjoyed the presence of the clean female vocals and piano as they broke through the screaming and created a gorgeous contrast in their songs that made them engaging and enjoyable to listen to. Their set was paired with a blinding light show timed to the beat that immersed the audience into Make Them Suffer’s world, and it seemed that the band was just as immersed as they danced and thrashed their bodies around the stage.

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Sleep Token, Qudos Bank Arena, Olympic Park, Sydney. Photo: Alec Smart

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Church was then in session as Sleep Token emerged onto the stage with their alluring and hypnotic sound, dressed like they were about to have a secret meeting with Voldemort from the Harry Potter Series. Hailing from London, the band captured the audience’s attention from the moment they stepped out, holding them in a hypnotic trance mainly showcasing music from their most recent album ‘Take Me Back To Eden’ which had me in a full circle moment as I had previously reviewed the album upon its release last year. Fan favourites such as ‘The Offering’ and ‘Alkaline’ from their previous two albums were also performed, as well as the song that found them viral internet fame: ‘The Summoning.’ The clever use of background singers vocalising and performing their own harmonies added a level of mystifying depth that gave the crowd goosebumps as it contrasted the lead singer Vessel’s deep vocals. By the time Sleep Token was done, the crowd was reborn as followers of the band and the god they worship, Sleep.

It was then time for the main event, the band we were all waiting for: Bring Me The Horizon. The band’s intro replicated retro gaming styles and dialogue, pointing out people in the crowd for different scenarios which had us all in hysterics. The backdrop on the stage mimicked the inside of a cathedral with stained glass windows, perfectly tying in the religious experience the crowd had before with Sleep Token. “We are Bring Me The Horizon, and we are gonna rock your fucking world. Are you ready?” shouted frontman Oli Sykes. No, we were not ready but we were eager.

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Bring Me The Horizon, Qudos Bank Arena, Olympic Park, Sydney. Photo: Alec Smart

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The band’s setlist comprised of a mix of songs from their albums ‘Sempiternal’ (my own personal favourite from when I was a teenage emo), ‘That’s The Spirit,’ and their ‘POST HUMAN’ duo ‘NeX GEn’ and ‘Survival Horror’ with one song each from ‘amo’ and ‘Suicide Season.’ The energy of their set was at a constant high with air cannons and confetti launched into the air for the first few songs, ‘DArkSide,’ ‘Empire (Let Them Sing),’ ‘MANTRA,’ and ‘Teardrops.’ Oli Sykes engaged with the crowd and hyping them up to constantly create circle pits alongside the incredible graphics on the large screens behind the band with themes of zombie angels and robots who were doing the same. During their song ‘AMen,’ the band went all out with hellish graphics and fire cannons that would’ve put a smile on Ozzy Ozbourne’s face for sure. The visuals were straight out of the imagination of a conservative religious person when they’re told someone they know is going to a heavy metal show (that may include the odd satan summoning).

Bring Me The Horizon continued to perform banger after banger with ‘Kool-Aid,’ ‘Shadow Moses’ (a.k.a the ‘This is Sempiternal’ song), ‘Obey,’ ‘DiE4u’ and a personal favourite ‘Kingslayer,’ all which featured multiple circle pits which seem to be a staple at BMTH shows. It was time for a change of pace with an intimate, acoustic rendition of their song ‘sTraNgeRs’ where the crowd sang along almost as loud as the band did with their amplified voices. “We’re just a room full of strangers, looking for something to save us” and for a lot of the strangers in the crowd, the band that performed live in front of them was their saving grace. It’s amazing listening to the vocals of the band shine in these stripped back songs as we’re so accustomed to listening to them scream and shout, it showcases their versatility and talent as artists even more.

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Bring Me The Horizon, Qudos Bank Arena, Olympic Park, Sydney. Photo: Alec Smart

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Bring Me The Horizon picked it back up with another throwback ‘Diamonds Aren’t Forever’ from their second album release ‘Suicide Season.’ Screaming the lyrics “We will never sleep, cause sleep is for the weak and we will never rest ‘til we’re all f****** dead” will always be full of passion, but with a mainly millennial crowd it was probably sung with less conviction than we used to sing it with. ‘Parasite Eve,’ ‘Antivist’ (featuring a member of the crowd onstage who was there for the vibes not the lyrics), and ‘Drown’ where Oli performed the entirety of the song with fans on the barricade,  lead up the the “final” song, and one that absolutely brings back memories for older Bring Me The Horizon fans: ‘Can You Feel My Heart?’ The crowd was supercharged, singing the lyrics with passion and screaming presumably till their throats were dry and sore. Sempiternal as an album had such a huge chokehold on 2010 emos, and last night was proof that that grip hadn’t loosened a single bit.

Returning for an encore with ‘Doomed,’ ‘LosT’ and ‘Throne’ the band ramped up the energy in the hall with all that was left in them, pulling out all the stops for the last three songs. Confetti, Fire cannons, air cannons, streamers, and visual backdrops it was all absolutely spectacular to watch as the band danced around the stage with such a carefree nature. The retro video game video returned to the screen to close out the show and as a treat displayed the ‘I am not a robot’ visual confirmation step where the robot had to choose pictures of Oli Sykes, one of them a picture of the character Howard from the Big Bang Theory, referring to an “ancient” meme comparing the two. If you remember, you remember.

To summarise, if you left this concert with something, it would be some cool new band merch with a side of whiplash and an absolute respect for Bring Me The Horizon and the supporting bands as not only musicians, but as performers and entertainers. It was an incredibly well thought out and put together show that will have metal fans eager for the next tour as soon as they leave the venue doors.

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Bring Me The Horizon, Qudos Bank Arena, Olympic Park, Sydney. Photo: Alec Smart

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Check out Alec Smart’s (@alecsmart_fotos) full gallery of this event HERE

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Bring Me The Horizon, Qudos Bank Arena, Olympic Park, Sydney. Photo: Alec Smart

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Follow BRING ME THE HORIZON

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Bring Me The Horizon, Qudos Bank Arena, Olympic Park, Sydney. Photo: Alec Smart

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Press Release 8th January 2024 (below) HERE

BRING ME THE HORIZON
KOOL-AID
Single out now

Touring Australia in April 2024

with special guests
SLEEP TOKEN
MAKE THEM SUFFER
DAINE

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Destroy All Lines & triple j Present

BRING ME THE HORIZON
DOWN UNDER TOUR
APRIL 2024

with special guests
SLEEP TOKEN
MAKE THEM SUFFER
DAINE

Tour Dates

WEDNESDAY 10 APRIL 2024 – JOHN CAIN ARENA, MELBOURNE
FRIDAY 12 APRIL 2024 – QUDOS BANK ARENA, SYDNEY
SUNDAY 14 APRIL 2024 – QUDOS BANK ARENA, SYDNEY SOLD OUT
WEDNESDAY 17 APRIL 2024 – ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, ADELAIDE
THURSDAY 18 APRIL 2024 – ROD LAVER ARENA, MELBOURNE SOLD OUT
SATURDAY 20 APRIL 2024 – RIVERSTAGE, BRISBANE SOLD OUT
SUNDAY 21 APRIL 2024 – RIVERSTAGE, BRISBANE

Tickets from destroyalllines.com

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AMNPLIFY – DB