Tonight
was the day 3 of the Kerrang tour 2013 which saw
the tour stop of at the Academy in Bristol, like
every year the Kerrang Tour features a diverse
line up and this year was just as diverse as ever
with Black Veil Brides, Chiodos, Tonight Alive,
Fearless Vampire Killers and William Control completing
the line up.
When we got to the venue the queue was crazing
going right up the hill and around the corner
to the car park, by the time we made it into the
venue opening act Fearless Vampire Killers had
just ended their set which was bad timing as I
have heard a lot of positive things about their
live performance, there was short wait for the
stage to chance around for Tonight Alive so this
gave us time to look around and I was shocked
at how empty the venue was towards the back as
most gigs at the Academy in Bristol you struggle
to move but tonight was like a luxury with space
on offer, I started to wonder if the Kerrang tour
had sold that well and then I thought about the
huge queue we had to contend with coming in and
then realised that the venue has the same capacity
as always but this time around everyone is younger,
smaller and storming to the front waiting for
their hero’s the Black Veil Brides.
Tonight
Alive took to the stage and put on a real energetic
performance with front women Jenna McDougall busting
some moves as she sung her heart out whilst also
shouting out to the crowd for their participating
in jumping up and down, I did feel slightly sorry
for Matt Best as his drum kit was placed in such
an awkward position on the stage due to the Black
Veil Brides stage and kit being covered up in
the centre, however this did not stop him from
giving it his all as Tonight Alive blasted their
way through 7 songs in their 35 minutes set which
included crowd pleasers ‘Wasting Away, ‘Starlight’
and their more recent single ‘Listening’.
Next up were Chiodos playing their first shows
in the UK since Craig Owens called time on his
other talented project D.R.U.G.S and rejoined
Chiodos, when Owens was kicked out of Chiodos
back in 2009 the band quite frankly turned to
shit and now Owens is back in the fold I was eager
to see if Chiodos were back to being on form.
As
soon as the band took to the stage Owens let rip
with a massive scream as the band let rip with
their well loved post-hardcore music, Owens spent
the set racing and back and forth across the stage
whilst also encouraging the fans by reaching out
to touch them and also asking for them to jump
and sing-a-long which the crowd did with ease.
The Chiodos set consisted of classics such as
‘The Undertaker’s Thirst For Revenge
Is Unquenchable, ‘Caves’, ‘A
Letter From Janelle’, and the big fan favourite
‘Life Is A APerception Of Your Own Reality’,
overall it was great to see Chiodos back in the
UK and back on form with Craig Owens back in the
band, their set was a little too short for my
liking but then that was to be expected on such
a tour such as the Kerrang tour which is there
to showcase the music of 4 bands.
There
was a 30 minute wait for the Black Veil Brides
the time went pretty fast but then the Black Veil
Brides didn’t take to their stage so their
legion of fans started chanting “Black Veil
Brides, Black Veil Brides” over and over,
another ten minutes passed the lights dimmed and
the Black Veil Brides took to the stage one by
one which was met with the biggest screams I have
ever heard from the Academy.
As soon as the first guitar riff is laid down
the Kerrang Tour banner drops down to reveal a
Black Veil Brides banner featuring images from
their third studio album ‘Wretched And Divine’
this is once again met by massive cheers and from
this moment on the Black Veil Brides have the
whole room in the palm of their hands for the
next 50 minutes as they solidly play a set which
is mainly dominated with material from their most
recent album ‘Wretched And Divine’.
A
couple of songs into the set the Black Veil Brides
decide to play a cover of Billy Idol’s ‘Rebel
Yell’ which went down insanely well with
the whole crowd singing along whilst the people
in the pit let off some much built up energy.
As the set progressed you just knew that the Black
Veil Brides were wishing they were on their own
headline tour where they had a full length set
and could play ‘Wretched And Divine’
from start to finish as they included a couple
of the interludes into the set, played the violin
and also had William Control come on stage to
lay down some hard hitting vocals.
The
set closes with ‘Fallen Angels’ and
as soon as the band leave the stage the crowd
start chanting “Black Veil Brides”
over and over again which prompt the band to come
back and play a one song encore of ‘In The
End’ which features yet another guest performance
from Williams Control as the band and crowd rock
out for one last time.
It is safe to say that all the bands on the Kerrang
tour 2013 are going to have bright futures, Fearless
Vampire killers are already making a name for
themselves, Tonight Alive are workaholics who
are set to release album number 2 sometime in
the summer, Chiodos will always have their up’s
and down’s but with Craig Owens back in
the band and talk of a new album things are defiantly
looking up and the Black Veil Brides are guaranteed
to break out of the Academy sized tour circuit
and move up to playing arenas and that is something
they seriously deserve and it is only a matter
of time if tonight’s performance is anything
to go by.
Tonight Alive 4/5
Chiodos 4/5
Black Veil Brides 4.5/5
Review By Trigger
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