For starters frontman Andy Biersack appears to be on a mission to rile and be reviled and baring his backside to Download’s main stage throng was either the action of an utter buffoon or a stroke of publicity stunt genius.
Love him or hate him – and the haters were out in force on Castle Donington’s hallowed turf – this most polarising of individuals demands attention and delivers headlines.
Dodging bottles and fending off persistent volleys of verbal abuse, every Kerrang!-reading teenage girl’s pin-up of choice kept picking himself up and powering on. Refusing to hide behind his streaky black paint and feathery accessories, Biersack defied his critics with a mixture of feisty ripostes and supremely confident deliveries.
Both inspiring high-pitched screams of delight and vociferous growls of indignation, the focal point of the brazen Brides clearly failed to impress Saxon’s middle-aged denim and leather brigade as much as he incensed Trivium’s would-be shredders. Sandwiched in between two true metal titans, BVB could have wilted and waned: in reality they took the fight to the disbelieving masses and their own die-hard devotees.
Rock n roll has never been a genre comfortable with convention and Biersack is the epitome of dangerous defiance. A voice for a new generation his bravado will, one day, cede to common sense. Until that happens Black Veil Brides offer a compelling spectacle on any stage.
Simon Rushworth