Bullet For My Valentine - CIA, Cardiff - December 11th 2010 (Live Review)
Thursday, 16 December 2010
Written by Jon Stickler
Im a man who has never really moved on from the denim and leather clad new wave of British Heavy Metal. Ye olde British heavy metal bands such as Maiden, Saxon and Priest are very rarely left off the iPod playlist. I wasnt really sure what to expect from my December 11th visit to Cardiff's International Arena to see a “new” heavy metal band in the shape of Bullet For My Valentine. My first impressions after hearing the name of the band began with me muttering the words, in proper old man style, 'jesus christ, not another shitty nu-metal collective', however, after “googling them” and seeing hearing their stuff, how much further from the truth could I have gotten! Bullet For My Valentine are at the forefront of the second wave, scratch that, TIDAL wave, of British Heavy Metal bands.
Hailing from Bridgend, just outside of Cardiff, Bullet For My Valentine's (near-enough) homecoming show in the Welsh capital rocked the city as well as the fans to the core. With their set laced with pyrotechnics to rival a Rammstein concert, huge video screens and a blinding light show, it was plain to see that from the production alone, BFMV are packing some serious clout.
Kicking off the set, Bullet For My Valentine launch into a triple-whammy of 'Your Betrayal' followed by 'Pleasure and Pain' and 'Walking The Demon'. Even though this is there first UK arena tour, Bullet seem totally relaxed in conducting the huge crowd as they confidenently thrash through the show. In addition, they lack no confidence in embracing all cliches. Yeah, they howl out the sounds weilding Flying Vs, yeah they play legs apart, yeah they have flames, light shows, massive video screens and a wall of amplification. In years to come, they have eveything that would put them up on the same level of the giants of Metallica, Kiss, AC/DC and Maiden. Give these guys a few more years in the studio and Bullet could easily be sharing the same stages as such titans.
Its strange to see the grey-haired and balding metalhead dinosaurs replaced by the 12 year-old black parade at this gig, but its good to see that there is a new generation of fans coming through the ranks. To me, Bullet For My Valentine are leading the way for another rise of British heavy metal bands. The set thunders through 'The Poison', latest single 'Bittersweet Memories' and 'Room 409' as Matt Tuck spits the familiar lyrics about killings, blood, pain and all other things nasty. The blitzkreig sound accompanied by occasional red-hot blasts from the pyrotechnics (our photographer nearly lost his eyebrows!) creates the perfect atmosphere for the frenzied crowd, who, for such a young age, know every single lyric.
Mixing metal with pop dynamics, Tuck continues to perform the frontman's duties by asking both sides of the arena to “MAKE SOME NOISE!” Playing out visually stimulating performances, the band rock through 'Say Goodnight', 'Scream Aim Fire', my personal favourite 'The Last Fight' and 'Cries In Vain'. The pop injection somehow works. Ok, so not every rock show needs to have an Alice Cooper-esque guillotine and gallows on stage, but having come from humble beginnings and making their name on the Cardiff Musc scene, you cannot help but give BFMV the respect they deserve for a band who are now capable of filling the seats of Wembley Arena.
Playing out an encore of 'Hand of Blood', 'Tears Dont Fall' and 'Begging For Mercy', Tuck wishes us all a safe journey home before the curtain falls on a phenomenal performance allowing the majority of fans to get home before bed-time. As for the rest of us? Well, we flocked to the nearest real ale pub to discuss how you “google" something.
Stereoboard Gig Rating: 7/10
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Its strange to see the grey-haired and balding metalhead dinosaurs replaced by the 12 year-old black parade at this gig, but its good to see that there is a new generation of fans coming through the ranks. To me, Bullet For My Valentine are leading the way for another rise of British heavy metal bands. The set thunders through 'The Poison', latest single 'Bittersweet Memories' and 'Room 409' as Matt Tuck spits the familiar lyrics about killings, blood, pain and all other things nasty. The blitzkreig sound accompanied by occasional red-hot blasts from the pyrotechnics (our photographer nearly lost his eyebrows!) creates the perfect atmosphere for the frenzied crowd, who, for such a young age, know every single lyric.
