Bring Me The Horizon frontman Oly Sykes says "Sup" to legions of kids from the 'burbs.
For a band that often gets picked on for haircuts or style, Bring Me The Horizon are actually pretty brutal, and unfairly get shit from a lot of the metal world for reasons not understood by people who regularly engage in sexual activity. They write catchy mosh parts, frontman Oly Sykes is a rather interesting frontman to watch bounce around a stage, and their air of controversy (drug use, alcoholism, sketchy stories) make them sound like they're great dudes to party with. In fact...they even got booted offstage at Wembley Arena for bringing the mosh too hard:
Apparently shit got too "out of hand". Apparently Wembley Arena doesn't know what "out of hand" actually is.
The Sheffield boys brought their general regard for crowd safety, as well as Architects UK, Deez Nuts, Of Legends, and consequently a bunch of dumpy teenagers to the Fillmore in San Francisco Saturday night in what ended up being the end of summer blow out for Bay Area metalcore youth (Parkway Drive was supposed to be on the bill but someone who works for their management didn't get the work visas together and is probably on unemployment now). It remains unknown if some underdog, protagonist, young dude finally kissed the crush he had all summer while throes of awkward high schoolers epileptically moshed around them to "The Sadness Will Never End", but the short lines at the bar and questionable fashion choices improved our mood so much that we're going to assume that little Johnny Fauxhawk finally got a piece. But enough about the crowd, lets talk about the bands...
Of Legends
Slamming the mic stand into the stage is always a hard stage move.
To be honest, there wasn't much expected from any of the openers on this tour, so when we rolled up the stairs at the Fillmore hearing what sounded like a "not quite as European Meshuggah" blasting through the the doors of the main room, we were piqued with intrigue. Of Legends are apparently a side project of one of the guys in The Secret Handshake who has recently decided to go off the heavy deep end and take his show on the road. After checking out The Secret Handshake (you can do so here), we at Freelance Fiend would like to say "GOOD JOB DUDE". Of Legends pummelled kids for thirty minutes with bouncy, off time breakdowns and the confidence and enthusiam of frontman Louis Dubuc, who's time in The Secret Handshake clearly made him feel more at home onstage opening a big tour than a lot of other bands that have been in that position. Dubuc was able to get the crowd to do whatever he yelled at them to do, which is something newer bands struggle at. Couple that with music that was surprisingly heavy and interesting and we had one of the highlights of the show. We are going to investigate these guys some more, but we highly recommend checking them out if they roll through your town.
Is the "O" for Of Legends? Ya suspect, kid.
Deez Nuts
Insert corny 90's hip hop quote vocal part.
We usually try to stay away from negative reviews (because they're a drag), but sometimes you can't avoid it. Deez Nuts play heavy, New York style hardcore with a corny hip hop influence that could be considered the absolute polar opposite of what Cold World do. Instead of subtle homages to Public Enemy or Wu-Tang Clan blended with a unique mix of NYHC and late-80s crossover thrash, Deez Nuts pull every corny, psuedo-violent and unfunny woman-hating line from every played out Tupac or Biggie single and spew them over riffs Madball or Throwdown retired seven or eight years ago. The only thing worse than watching them was their small yet enthusiastic group of people who were there to see them. Thanks but no thanks, guys.
Architects UK
The fuck is up with this monitor?
After Deez Nuts, we were ready for anything else musically to happen on that stage. Literally anything. So if for no other reason, Architects UK sounded fucking SWEET. Musically, these British dudes brought forth the better than average metal hardcore, and motherfuckers were WAITING to get loose during their set. They weren't the second coming of Buried Alive or anything (however they did have a few parts that reminded me of them), and we probably wouldn't bump their record in the car, but they were a decent live band who were definitely interesting to watch, and if you like the mosh metal, they are definitely worth checking out (that sort of thing just isn't our bag for the most part).
EEEVVVEEEEENNFFFFLLLLOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW...THOUGHTS ARIVE LIKE...I MEAN BLARRGGGHHH
I WHIP MY HAIR BACK AND FORTH
WATCH OUT FOR THAT CHANDELIER BRO
Bring Me The Horizon
FUCK A STAGE, SON
By the time Bring Me The Horizon came on, the Fillmore had filled up and it was very apparent that this is why the kids crawled out of the woodwork. The house lights dropped and singer Oly Sykes started the set standing on the barricade, inciting a stream of very well mannered and organized crowd-surfing for the mic. They opened with "Diamonds Aren't Forever", which if you haven't heard it, is one of those songs that was made to open a set with. The band set the energy bar high, and the crowd kicked into such high gear that they kicked all of us photographers out from behind the barricade before the first song even ended due to the steady stream of teens flopping over the barricade. The band spent the next hour churning out tracks from both 2008's Suicide Season as well as their newest record, There Is A Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It, There Is A Heaven, Let's Keep It A Secret, assault the crowd both sonically as well as with a rather impressive lighting set up and a well timed balloon drop from the ceiling. Oly Sykes is an impressive frontman, but guitarist Jona Weinhofen (ex Bleeding Through, I Killed The Prom Queen) brought his own unique panache to the band's live show, often taking some of the focus off of Sykes while showing the crowd that he's more than just a dude who can shred on guitar. It wasn't the most ravaging set we've seen Bring Me The Horizon bring to Northern California, but it was still one of the most blazing shows we saw this summer. This tour runs through October across a lot of North America, and is well worth the $20 if you like shows where plenty of mosh is brought.
SUP LADIES
INSERT OBVIOUS MORRISSEY HAIR JOKE
COME AT ME, BRO
JONA...MORE THAN A GUITAR PLAYER
ITS NOT EASY BEING GREEN
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