Sheffield alt-metallers Bring Me The Horizon have rolled into London the final night of their POST HUMAN UK arena tour. âAllow me to reintroduce the band,â says frontman Oli Sykes, as he teases his bandmates with a banter-filled roll-call. Matt Nicholls is labelled âthe sixth best drummer in Rotherhamâ, guitarist Lee Malia âInternational Man Of Mexboroughâ and keyboardist Jordan Fish âthe fishy fingers himselfâ. After a few more in-jokes, he concludes,:âAnd last but by no means least, I am your host Oli Sykes of Bring Me The Horizon and we are gonna rock your world tonight.â
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It feels fitting for Sykes to be playing such a high-spirited master of ceremonies when this latest live incarnation of BMTH feels like a travelling circus. With the band resplendent in matching branded cream-coloured suits and backed by a full blockbuster production â cyborg dancers and all â this is much more than a rock show: it’s a high-concept affair. Tonight, which Sykes tells us is the biggest headline show of their career, Bring Me are here to prove that theyâre the Big League band theyâve always threatened to become.
A cinematic orchestral soundtrack opens proceedings before breaking down into a glitch-core rave. âAre you fucking ready, London?â squawks Sykes before the band burst into the raved-up emo of âteardropsâ from last yearâs âPOST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORRORâ â the first of four EPs/mini albums in their âPOST HUMANâ project. âLondon, I havenât seen a fucking mosh-pit in two years, so you know what Iâm gonna fucking ask you,â spits the singer, in the first of many requests to âopen it upâ and âpush it backâ as the crowd unleash 18 months of pent-up energy.
The gnarly âMANTRAâ follows, before the moshpits go from a âfive out of 10â to full marks â according to Sykes â during âThe House Of Wolvesâ from 2013âs âSempiternalâ. Along with âShadow Mosesâ and âCan You Feel My Heartâ, thatâs as far back as they go in terms of oldies. The set largely leans on the arena-rock of their last few records, particularly the day-glo cyberpunk and sci-fi pop of âamoâ and âSURVIVAL HORRORâ.
The songs and the production follow a post-apocalyptic narrative that seems all to pertinent in 2021. Ahead of âDear Diaryâ, a cage of screens lowers to warn of a virus outbreak thatâs consumed London. The song kicks off and zombie corpses start falling to the floor like youâve stepped into a gory arcade shoot-âem-up. Dancers in hazmat suits arrive to shoot dry ice out into the arena for âParasite Eveâ before weâre reminded that for all the bells, whistles and Alton Towers pizzazz, nights like this are supposed to be a celebration about making it to the other side of the pandemic. Or, as Sykes sings, âWhen we forget the infection / Will we remember the lesson?â

To add to the sense of occasion, recent NME cover stars Nova Twins join the band for a raucous rendition of their collab â1×1â and punk prince YUNGBLUD comes out for an unhinged run-through of âOBEYâ. Bring Me couldnât have really brought any more. For all the theatrical drama and bombast â almost bordering on Muse levels â everything is anchored a sweaty rock club basement attitude and sense of community.
Tonight was the moment they proved they could headline the big rooms and major festivals with the best of them. âItâs shit like this that makes me think weâre in a simulation,â says Sykes as the crowd roar, hailing the show as a âdream come trueâ for him as and his mates to go from ânobody kidsâ to smashing The O2. âWe are ascending.â

Bring Me The Horizon played:
‘Teardrops’
‘MANTRA’
‘The House of Wolves’
‘Medicine’
‘Happy Song’
‘Ludens’
‘Dear Diary’
‘Parasite Eve’
‘Shadow Moses’
‘Wonderful Life’
‘1×1’ (with Nova Twins)
‘DiE4u’
‘Kingslayer’
‘Follow You’
‘Drown’
‘Obey’ (with YUNGBLUD)
‘Throne’
‘Can You Feel My Heart’
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