The line is stretched down the street and around the corner ahead of Bullet For My Valentine's sold-out show at the O2 Academy Birmingham. It's been 7 long years since the band has played on Brummie soil and excluding the pandemic, it's been way overdue. The buzz of their return echoed through the city with metalheads young and old in line, the barking (unfortunately literally) from the 'normie' teenagers from the double-decker bus passing by the queue wasn't going to dampen anyone's spirits. Sadly even in 2023, the alternative subculture still faces this type of dumb behaviour from passers-by.
Atreyu had the task of opening the evening, welcomed by a crowd who were "by far the loudest and best crowd of the tour", according to frontman Brandon Saller.
Following, was the Ukrainian band Jinjer. As soon as they hit the stage, the crowd (seemingly preorganised) pull out a wave of Ukrainian flags in solidarity against the current war happening in the band's home country, which was extremely touching. Their performance of their 2019 song "Home Back" really felt more relevant than ever, given the current situation, however, we must remember that the band's home region of Donetsk has been the target of military conflict for years before the full-scale invasion of Russia in 2022.
Back on a lighter note, it was now time for the main act to hit the stage, opening up with 'Knives'. Straight away the crowd are treated to a mixed bag of treats from all Bullet eras, from newer songs such as 'Over it' to throwbacks to the classic The Poison album with '4 Words (To Choke Upon)'.
The band had conducted a little bit of research before the tour to find out what song fans wanted to see be brought back and the winner by far was 'Hearts Burst Into Fire', which many were over the moon to hear back on the set after 7 years of it being absent.
Just three songs later, the anthemic 'All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)' bellowed through the academy, clearly making die-hard fans' evening.
Hit after hit was played before the band left the stage. Some audience members were puzzled as to why THE song hasn't been played yet, but the crowd need not have worried, as during the second song of the encore, frontman Matt Tuck started an acoustic version of 'Tears Don't Fall' before the rest of the band joined in for the iconic banger, before ending with 'Waking the Demon'.
As far as setlists go, this evening was a perfect night for both die-hard and casual fans of BFMV. There was a little bit of everything from every era, in my opinion, a perfect set.
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