PHOENIX — After cancelling an appearance earlier this year due to lead singer Oli Sykes rupturing his vocal cords, English rock band Bring Me the Horizon returned to the Valley on Thursday for the opening date of their “Threesome” tour. With an enormous LED screen serving as a backdrop and a cadre of masked dancers flanking the stage, the band arrived in matching white jumpsuits — save for Sykes, who sported dress pants (turned inside out, with lyrics scribbled on the pockets) and a suit jacket bearing the phrase “Gone Crazy, Be Back Shortly.”
Opening with “Mantra,” the lead single from 2019 release Amo, Bring Me the Horizon tore through a trio of high-energy tracks, with Sykes playfully admonishing the audience to be more lively. “I need you to wake the fuck up,” he demanded in his thick Yorkshire accent. “I’m jet-lagged, what’s your fookin’ excuse?” The crowd responded with deafening sing-alongs for “Shadow Moses” and “Happy Song,” which found Sykes frequently trying to suppress a delighted grin.
The 90-minute set was a fairly even mix of offerings from Amo, 2015’s That’s the Spirit and breakthrough album Sempiternal, and although some have decried the band’s gradual shift away from the blistering hardcore sound of their earlier material, there’s no denying that Bring Me the Horizon still knows how to deliver one hell of a rock show.
Photo Credit: Brent Hankins
Sleeping with Sirens also returned to Phoenix, just three months after playing at the Rockstar Disrupt Festival in July. Lead singer Kellen Quinn, who recently traded his blonde locks for a shorter, darker hairstyle, led the band through new selections from their latest studio release, How it Feels to Be Lost, while peppering in a few crowd-pleasers like “Kick Me” and “Settle the Score.”
Quinn also spoke candidly to the audience about his history of anxiety and depression, urging those with similar struggles to keep fighting and resist the urge to give up, a sentiment met with enthusiastic applause from the audience.
Photo Credit: Brent Hankins
The evening opened with a performance from YouTube sensation Poppy, flanked by a trio of bandmates in identical blonde wigs and expressionless latex masks. As Sykes later quipped, while thanking the artist for joining the tour, “that’s an experience, innit?”
Photo Credit: Brent Hankins
Bring Me the Horizon Setlist
Mantra
Avalanche
The House of Wolves
Wonderful Life
Shadow Moses
Happy Song
Sugar Honey Ice & Tea
Sleepwalking
Nihilist Blues
Antivist
Mother Tongue
Can You Feel My Heart
Follow You
Throne
Medicine
Drown
Remaining Bring Me the Horizon “Threesome” Tour Dates
10/16 – Seattle, WA @ WAMU Theater
10/18 – Las Vegas, NV @ Las Rageous Festival
10/19 – San Diego, CA @ Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl
10/21 – Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion
10/22 – Kansas City, MO @ Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland
10/25 – San Antonio, TX @ Sunken Garden Theater
10/27 – New Orleans, LA @ Voodoo Festival (BMTH only)
10/28 – Tampa, FL @ The Cuban Club
10/29 – Miami, FL @ The Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater
2 Comments
Hey whats the instagram account of the photographer so i can tag him if he has one
Sorry for the delayed response. His personal Instagram account is @mistermainevent — the photography account is @greatwidenowhere.