If the secret wasn’t out, it is now. Bury Tomorrow are the best metal band to see live and are being led by a front man who possesses all the cheat codes.
Any band would find life easier after the crowd was warmed up by Blood Youth and Employed To Serve, who played like it was their gig and got the freezing Toon public well warmed up for the main event. It’s tricky when they’re not here to see you but those two played their role perfectly and will have loads of chances to create the same chaos as their headlining pals.
This was more of a gig for new fans as Bury Tomorrow played their new album Black Flame from cover-to-cover before throwing in a few old songs at the end. It’s hard to think they’ve been around for over a decade now, but the yearning for classic hits never stopped a collective loss of marbles once the opening chords of No Less Violent were struck.
Metal shows can be intimidating and the mosh pits are a paradox – both violent and gentle at the same time. And the community around heavy music was heart-warmingly embodied by the one man human barrier, arms out and strained against the pit, shielding from those less inclined to get involved or those who need a breather from the pulsating mass of bodies in the middle of the floor.
Frontman Dani Winter-Bates is a man who wants to feel a genuine connection with his fans and he invited them all to say hello at the merch stand after the show. In a world where bigger acts can be reduced to odious VIP meet-and-greet packages, this man is the perfect antithesis.
Knife of Gold, Black Flame, More Than Mortal, Stormbringer. They were all met with the same fanatical energy from the crowd and the band – which is brilliantly led by the prowling, snarling, loving, friendly Winter-Bates.
Bury Tomorrow play aggressive, heavy music but it’s born out of a place of love: of light, of hope, or catharsis and their new single The Grey (VIXI) is constructed using all of those elements.
Pretty much the same of the show then.