Reviewed on Thursday October 28 (photo by Ashley Mar)
Horns up, motherfuckers. Bullet For My Valentine made a long-awaited return to Sydney with a complementary metal uniform in tow, and boy, the brutality did not disappoint.
The curtain dropped to reveal a huge BFMV banner, and while visually very cool, the intentionally moody build-up of smoke lost a lot of its tension in being obscured by an ocean of smartphones (it doesn’t matter if you missed the opener, there are going to be hundreds of videos available on YouTube).
Performing from inside an excessive mass of strobe lighting, Bullet For My Valentine were constantly in silhouette, casting shadows of muscly arms and big guitars over the stage, the lights pulsating with every beat of the drums through prolonged breaks in the songs.
Regardless of the painfully blinding visuals, the circle pit ran with great speed and aggression, just as lead guitarist Michael Paget dropped his impressive solo in ‘Waking The Demon’. As the band preferred to gaze out onto the fans rather than be illuminated itself, ‘Venom’ was recited with no faces to be seen – nothing but voice and melody, scattering out among the masses so powerfully that they penetrated your insides as each lyric dropped.
A massive shout-out goes to drummer Michael Thomas, who when left alone onstage mid-set, took the opportunity to rumble around his kit with great fluidity. Though lead singer Matt Tuck provided very little commentary, what he did say held nothing short of the utmost gratitude and love for the audience. And while there were several dramatic breaks in between songs, these odd breaks were never silent, filled with chants of “Bullet, Bullet!” from the adoring legions. Tuck’s vocals throughout ‘4 Words (To Choke Upon)’ sounded as clean as their studio recording, giving credence to the suspicion that perhaps being able to see Bullet For My Valentine isn’t really necessary – you just need to hear them.
The seminal ‘Tears Don’t Fall’ closed what felt at times like an overly scripted and regimented show, but the Welshmen nevertheless gave a performance that proved one important thing: this wasn’t a concert for the band to receive love, this was a concert for the band to share it.
