12/04/2024 – By Sofia Silvestrini
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Melbourne’s daine was up first on the stacked Nex Gen Down Under tour line up, kicking off the huge night with their autotuned emo-pop jams. The arena was pretty empty, but those there nice and early gave them their full attention and participated in a sweet phone-light sway moment when asked. Unfortunately, Oli Sykes didn’t make an appearance to sing his part of their duet ‘SALT’; Melbourne got very lucky at show #1.
Perth’s Make Them Suffer were up next. They stormed the stage and demanded “Sydney, get the f*ck up!” – a request that can often be ignored from a support act – but the Qudos Bank Arena punters were more than happy to oblige. Lots of headbanging on stage and off, high energy levels, volume through the roof – a tight set from the WA heroes.
The arena was at full capacity by the time our first international act for the evening, London’s Sleep Token, hit the stage. People were super keen for the peculiar, masked band. I didn’t know too much about them before they were announced on this tour, and it was hard to do my homework as all members are anonymous. Not a single word was spoken to the crowd – no greeting, no song titles, no banter. Which just added to their delicious mystery. Stunning lighting complemented Sleep Token’s powerful yet beautiful songs. There were delicate elements to the set, but you also felt like you were being punched in the face at times, in a great way. We were all mesmerised.
It was then time for the main event, Sheffield’s Bring Me the Horizon. We were positively frothing for the lads by their turn. Our kings exploded onto the stage, confetti exploded into the pit, and our brains exploded trying to ingest the visuals unfolding before us. This is the biggest production BMTH have ever done, and boy did it show. Two side screens, a giant screen at the back of the stage, several levels on stage, the fronts of which also adorned screens, more fire than hell, the aforementioned confetti, and C02 cannons were just the start.
The art and animations displayed on said screens teamed with incredible lighting had us audibly gasping the whole show through. Our eyes were treated to snow scenes, storms through stained glass windows, gory beasts, graffiti and more. Not to mention the band members themselves who were also a delight to watch – especially their cheeky ringleader, Sykes.
“Sydney, can you jump up and down?” he asked as banger ‘Teardrops’ began. “I said FOOKIN JUMP!” so jump the masses did.
The first proper circle pit formed during 2024 jam, ‘Kool-Aid’. Our energy levels rapidly spiked and we were delirious with joy. Just when I thought we couldn’t cheer any louder, the ‘Sempiternal’ logo started glowing above the boys’ heads and the crowd erupted as ‘Shadow Moses’ began.
Doncaster star Yungblud’s feature vocals boomed over the arena speakers as they performed duet ‘Obey’, giving Sykes’ slightly strained pipes a well-deserved rest.
A pretty little acoustic moment was shared for ‘sTraNgeRs’, with about a third of punters on the floor getting up on a mate’s shoulders, the calm before the brilliant ‘Parasite Eve’ storm, easily the most intense song of the night. HUGE crowd singalong, lasers all around the arena, and a few punters (myself included) getting a bit misty-eyed.
Before the sublime ‘Can You Feel my Heart?’ began, we were told “this is our last song”… yeah sure, sparky. BMTH exited the stage in a flurry of confetti, but soon returned to smash out a three-song encore concluding with 2015’s massive ‘Throne’ amidst plenty more fire.
Wow. WOW! An absolutely brilliant show. Bring on the new album.
