Bring Me The Horizon, A Day To Remember & August Burns Red - Bristol O2 Academy - 18/11/09

The last big night of the year for Bristol scene kids, is with Bring Me The Horizon hitting a sold out O2 Academy while they're releasing their remix album 'Suicide Season: Cut Up!'.

The venue is totally packed when Christian metalcore act August Burns Red get on stage. The Pennsylvanian five-piece play a 30-minute mix of their two last albums 'Messenger' and 'Constellations' in front of the crowd that doesn't seem to be familiar with the band's songs.

The most awaited band of the night isn't the headliner tonight, but rather pop-punk/metalcore heavyweights A Day To Remember. The Florida band absolutely exploded in the US this year with their third album 'Homesick' and judging by the number of people wearing their shirts, the madness crossed the Atlantic Ocean as well. They start off their set with their anthemic single 'The Downfall of Us All', sung along by the whole room. The band provides a great energy, frontman Jeremy McKinnon constantly asking for the crowd's participation. He seems very grateful about the audience's enthusiasm and seems to be honest when he affirms after the set that it was the best night of the tour. The setlist is a bit disappointing, focusing on the last record and only picking three older songs, including hit closer 'The Plot To Bomb The Panhandle'. After only 8 songs and 30 minutes, they get off the stage and a bitter feeling seems to be in everyone's mouth. It was way too short.

When Sheffield scene stars Bring Me The Horizon hit the stage, a lot of people have already left the venue. The band is nonetheless welcomed by a huge amount of female screams. Big "BMTH" lights on the back, short intro, 'Chelsea Smile' blasts the Academy. The crowd remains surprisingly still until frontman Oli Sykes calls for a wall of death. Most of the set will contain songs from last effort 'Suicide Season' (including electro parts from their remix album) and only two older songs are played. The soundcheck seems to be have been a little dashed off, as the vocals and guitars are quite deadened by the drums. The band even stops in the middle of 'The Comedown'. 'The Sadness Will Never End' is a highlight of the set, with a big sing-along by the crowd and great vocals by new guitarist Jona Weinhofen. As always, insanities are yelled and no encore is given but yet, they provide a good performance, being especially efficient where you wouldn't expect them to be, as on the more experimental and calm 'Suicide season'.

All in all, it was a good night with a solid line-up but A Day To Remember do have to tour on their own now, and there's no wonder if their UK tour in March will sell out fast.

Romain Jeanticou