Bring Me The Horizon with support from Bad Omens, Cassyette and Static Dress
at Bournemouth International Centre in Bournemouth, UK
words and photos by Georgia Penny

Bring Me The Horizon are touring the UK for the first time since 2021 and the excitement in the air at the BIC, Bournemouth is tangible. A four-band bill may have those over the age of 25 quaking in their boots but it’s an undeniably incredible line-up and the fact that the venue is nearly full, ready for the first support Static Dress set at 6:30pm is a testament to this.

Static Dress are the perfect opener for the show, with frontman Oli Appleyard storming around the stage and encouraging the crowd to get moving. Having relentlessly toured throughout 2023, it’s no surprise that their set flows seamlessly and is full of energy, featuring punchy tracks from their 2022 album Rouge Carpet Disaster that make you want to check out the rest of their stuff.

Cassyette was absolutely captivating to watch - the way she moved combined a dancer's grace and a child's glee. Blending pop, dance and rock, she brings both sass and emotion to her performance and as she belts out bangers like ‘Dear Goth’ and ‘Petrichor’ she has the crowd’s complete attention.

With a series of grungy dystopian visuals on the screens to accompany their set, Bad Omens feel like the perfect main support for Bring Me The Horizon. Fans seem nearly as excited about getting to see this band as the headliner, and judging by the circle pits and screaming, Bad Omens met expectations. Nearing the end of the set, frontman Noah Sebastian comments on how refreshing it is to not be staring out at a sea of phones and really in 2024 that says it all; their set is streamlined, polished and whether already an avid fan or listening to them for the first time this evening, it’s obvious to everyone that this is a band on their way up and well worth watching.

Bring Me The Horizon’s show feels like a total whirlwind - the evening starts with an ominous message from a computer-generated head, warning the crowd that this will be the last show they’ll ever see before an explosion of confetti as the band storm onto the stage and start the night with ‘DArkSide’'. From here on out, the visuals are insane, the energy of the band is unparalleled and the crowd are eating it up.

The production feels like a immersive simulation, beginning in a gothic cathedral and taking us on a journey that ends in what feels like a dystopian video game. Their brand new track, ‘Kool-Aid’ is nestled comfortably between legendary ‘AmEN!’ and ‘Shadow Moses’ and they’ve pulled out all the stops with pyro, smoke and projections on the stage they’re dominating. With that being said, when they play the acoustic ‘sTraNgeRs’ they prove without a doubt that that they need no fanfare to put on an incredible performance.

Halfway through the set, the creepy computer robot returns and she and Sykes tease a series of new songs from the much-anticipated upcoming album, now delayed until summer, before having the crowd provide gang vocals for one of the tracks. When Noah Sebastian joins the band for the iconic ‘Antivist,’ the crowd go wild. The crowd involvement in the show adds a personal touch to the set, and when Sykes joins the crowd to sing ‘Drown’, the emotion in the room is visceral.

A heartwarming video played between ‘Can You Feel My Heart’ and ‘Doomed’ reminds the crowd that the band is now twenty years old, which is easy to forget because they’re constantly evolving, as shown by the incredible range of songs in this set. The gig rounds off with the legendary ‘Throne’ and the creepy robot warns us once again that we’re all going to die, a thoroughly on-brand end to a flawless Bring Me The Horizon show.

BRING ME THE HORIZON: BOURNEMOUTH, UK

static dress

cassyette

bring me the horizon