Gill made the trek to Leeds to take in the final date of the band’s UK tour.

Bring Me The Horizon Live Review – Final Date

It’s always fun to escape from where you always see gigs: the excitement of the unknown, new people, the familiar in the alien and getting battered on the train. And so the London-locked Hammer headed to Leeds for the final date of the mammoth Bring Me The Horizon tour – one that saw the loved and hated Sheffield boys play to audiences around the UK with August Burns Red, A Day To Remember and tonight, Dividing The Line.

I’m not a Northerner and so I was genuinely a bit jealous of the exclusive camaraderie of an audience so proud of a band they birthed and a band so proud of their home. The two-way love flow was almost tangible from the moment the band bounded onto stage, their massive B M T H letters flashing behind them. Having seen the band live in London on a handful of occasions, there is an ease to Oli’s manner that allows his not insignificant charm to shine. It’s not just paranoia that says London is home to their harshest critics. Up here it’s wall to wall and floor to ceiling fans – veracious candour.

The band have still yet to nail their sound live, and while you can see hands running up and down fret-boards, it’s often inaudible in the sheer wall of bouncing, pounding metal. But, not-dissimilar to jungle/drum’n’bass, it’s not about melody or solos or chords. It’s about the spectacle, the sonic intensity and the bit you know is coming that you can sing/scream/shout along to. From ‘I know something you don’t know!’ to ‘We will never sleep, ‘cause sleep is for the weak’ and ‘I should have fucking pissed on you’ the songs may not be beautifully crafted or expertly executed, but since when was metal about that?! The whole band move from legs akimbo lunging to bouncing and an array of frenetic movements in between, and the crowd move accordingly – never missing their time to shout the chorus. Seeing the band tear up their final stage with such enthusiasm – from guitar-throwing to stage diving – and the crowd lap it up with unbridled joy is actually moving.

From the giant barn of London’s Roundhouse to the heaving sweatbox of Leeds’ Uni venue, BMTH have faced many adversaries – human and otherly – and so it is more of a triumph that they have reached the heights they have. You’re allowed to hate Bring Me The Horizon, just make sure it’s for the right reasons (haircuts isn’t one). Bring Me The Horizon may still have a long way to go to win over the hearts and minds if not ears of the metal cognoscenti, but their foundation of excited BMTH fans continues to grow apace.