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BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE
+ The Devil Wears Prada
+ While She Sleeps
@ John Cain Arena,
Melbourne,
15th October 2025
(Live Review)

Review and photos by Cam Brown (@cambrownvisuals)

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Bullet For My Valentine / Photo – @cambrownvisuals

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Bullet For My Valentine returned to Melbourne in explosive fashion on Wednesday night, lighting up John Cain Arena as part of their Poison 20th Anniversary Tour. It marked their first Australian headline tour since 2016 — and from the opening riff to the final encore, the Welsh metalcore heavyweights made it clear: this was a long-overdue homecoming, and they came to deliver.

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While She Sleeps / Photo – @cambrownvisuals

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While She Sleeps – An Unrelenting Opening

Kicking off the night were Sheffield’s While She Sleeps, who wasted no time setting the tone with an electrifying dose of high-energy chaos. Frontman Lawrence Taylor had the crowd in motion from the get-go, commanding a circle pit that engulfed the floor within moments.

A standout moment came during Four Walls, when the arena lit up with a sea of mobile phone lights — a brief, beautiful contrast to the sonic brutality onstage. Crowd surfers flooded the barricade, and Taylor himself joined the fray, riding above the crowd in a scene that perfectly captured the band’s raw connection with their fans. Short, sharp, and utterly relentless, their set left a high bar for what was to come.

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The Devil Wears Prada / Photo – @cambrownvisuals

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The Devil Wears Prada – Controlled Chaos with Heart

Next up, Ohio’s The Devil Wears Prada kept the momentum surging, delivering a tight and emotionally charged performance. Blending melody with muscle, they tore through fan favourites like Chemical and Sacrifice, while also unveiling fresh cuts from their upcoming album Flowers.

Their mix of brooding intensity and technical precision brought a different shade to the night’s energy — equally heavy, but layered with introspection. The crowd was locked in, feeding off every drop-tuned breakdown and soaring hook. It was a set that reinforced the band’s evolution, and their rightful place as veterans who’ve never stopped moving forward.

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Bullet For My Valentine / Photo – @cambrownvisuals

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Bullet For My Valentine – 20 Years of The Poison, Still Lethal

By the time Bullet For My Valentine took the stage, the anticipation inside John Cain Arena had reached boiling point. Backed by a towering light show and enough pyrotechnics to rival a stadium tour, the band launched headfirst into The Poison — playing the landmark 2005 album in full.

From the crushing opener Her Voice Resides to the cathartic roar of Tears Don’t Fall, the set was a potent mix of nostalgia and unrelenting energy. Frontman Matthew Tuck, charismatic and confident, was in fine voice as he steered the crowd through each track with surgical precision.

“I think you still got a few more gears left,” he grinned mid-set, before launching into All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me) — a stadium-wide singalong that echoed back with as much power as when the song first hit airwaves two decades ago.

Before performing the title track The Poison, Tuck paused to thank the Melbourne crowd for two decades of support, calling Australia “a second home.” The sentiment wasn’t lost on the crowd — the emotional weight of the moment was palpable.

But the night didn’t end there.

After closing out the album, the band returned for a blistering encore, finishing with the thunderous Waking the Demon. A fan-favourite from 2008’s Scream Aim Fire, it was the perfect finale — one last adrenaline shot that sent bodies flying over the barrier and reaffirmed Bullet’s enduring firepower.

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Bullet For My Valentine / Photo – @cambrownvisuals

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Final Verdict

Bullet For My Valentine’s return to Melbourne was far more than a nostalgic victory lap — it was a celebration of legacy, growth, and the enduring power of metalcore done right. With stellar support from While She Sleeps and The Devil Wears Prada, the night spanned generations of the genre while firmly planting its flag in the present.

The Poison may be 20 years old, but on this night, it felt as venomous and vital as ever.

Rating: ★★★★★

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Bullet For My Valentine / Photo – @cambrownvisuals

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Check out Cam Brown’s (@cambrownvisuals) full gallery of this event HERE

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Bullet For My Valentine / Photo – @cambrownvisuals

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Follow BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram 

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Bullet For My Valentine / Photo – @cambrownvisuals

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Press Release 27th July 2025 (below) HERE

Destroy All Lines Presents

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE
Australia 2025 Tour

With special guests
WHILE SHE SLEEPS (USA) + THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA (USA)

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AMNPLIFY – DB