Despite how far removed tonight should be from Bring Me The Horizon’s comfort zone, the band make themselves at home from the off. Taking to the Royal A...
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Despite how far removed tonight should be from Bring Me The Horizon’s comfort zone, the band make themselves at home from the off. Taking to the Royal Albert Hall as part of a week of gigs in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust the band, backed by a 60-piece orchestra for good measure, continue to bend rules and expectations.
It’s getting tougher and tougher to find a place where PVRIS don’t belong. Taking a break from their own headline tour in Europe to support, the band fit into the grandeur of the evening while still representing the outsider element. We know the band are amazing and tonight is further proof that no matter the situation, PVRIS will not only rise to the challenge but they’ll make it look easy. The layers, whispers and shouts of ‘You and I’ should give an indication of what’s next for the band but it’s Lynn pulling away from the mic at every opportunity to get closer to the crowd and Alex & Brian bouncing in unison to ‘My House’, looking at each other and grinning, that really tells us what’s next.
As for Bring Me The Horizon, their future’s been up in the air since the release of ‘That’s The Spirit’. It’s an album that promises that anything goes and the band continue to live by that sword. The orchestral opening rings out, transfixing the sold out room, before Bring Me The Horizon stroll onto stage and launch into the atmospheric ‘Doomed’. Oli’s already in his element, dragging the mic stand around the stage but it’s not until the culture shock of ‘Happy Song’ that everyone else gets it. Hitting like a truck, the mood inside the venue instantly changes as the pit opens up and even the fourteen-piece choir breaks rank with half of them clapping along. From here on out, it’s glorious unpredictable business as usual.
As Simon Dobson conducts the Parallax Orchestra from the back, Oli conducts the 5000 strong choir from the front. ‘Throne’ sees all six floors of the venue jumping, 'Drown' continues to sound bigger and bigger and 'Can You Feel My Heart' makes use of every body in the room while live debuts of both ‘Oh No’ and ‘Avalanche’ highlight just how left-field Bring Me The Horizon were facing when they wrote them.
For the months of work the band put in ahead of tonight, it’s the orchestra who come to Bring Me The Horizon and not the other way round. They amplify the majesty and underpin the beauty of the band while taking away none of the snarling ferocity. In the same way that they’ve taken on new influence and direction in recent years, tonight at the Royal Albert Hall, Bring Me The Horizon use the orchestra to amplify who they are. It’s fearless, it’s fun and despite the apprehension and uncertainty ahead of tonight, it makes a whole lot of sense.
