After getting off tour with Megadeath heavy metal band Bullet For My Valentine makes their headlining debut in the US in 5 years! Yes you read that correctly. Bullet For My Valentine has not headlined a tour in the US for 5 years!!!! On Friday May 19th the line to get in the door for The Fillmore wrapped around the building, and people continued to file in for over an hour after doors opening at 7pm. Upon entering the doors you could feel the anticipation for the upcoming night.
Did I mention this was a SOLD OUT show?!
With people packed from front to back, wall to wall. Zero 9:36 promptly took the stage at 8:15. Never hearing Zero 9:36 I had no idea what to expect. As soon as the trio (one band mate was sick) took the stage I quickly knew I would be putting them on my go to playlist when I got home. Zero (Matthew) took the stage by storm and was constantly on the move engaging with every inch of the stage making sure everyone in the crowd felt seen. When asking the crowd "how many have heard of us?"...the answer was roughly about 40%. However by the end of their set you couldn't tell. Everyone was moving and shuffling.
Ending their set at 8:45 there was a long pause of waiting anticipation. Bullet For My Valentine was not set to take the stage until 9:15. What is a crowd to do? As many made their way to different areas of the venue a dull musical playlist could be heard. During this time fans gathered together to sing in unison. As the finishing touches to the stage were set I took my place in the photo pit.
The time had finally arrived. As BFMV hit the stage the crowd completely erupted! You could tell by the look shared between Matthew and Jamie that they were suprirsed and imediatly kicked into "Knives" ready to bring the house down. Jason Bowld (drummer), Jamie Mathiias (bass guitar/backing vocals), Michael Paget (lead guitar/backing vocal) and Mathew Tuck (lead vocals/rhythum guitar) were seamless in their performance. For an hour and a half the crowd gave everything as the band poured themselves out. When Mathew said jump the crowd took it as a challenge to see how high. There were countless circle pits and droves of crowd surfers. My 13 year old self would be absolutly thrilled to know my adult self got to scream "4 words", "Hearts Burst Into Flame", "Scream Aim Fire", and "Tears Don't Fall"....just to name a few. As Bullet played their last song of the night "Waking the Demon" Mathew knew the crowd was exhausted but asked for one last round of energy. For two minutes the crowd proceeded to make the largest circle pit and became a sea of moving bodies. Lights faded and the stage emptied. The crowd of shuffling sweaty bodies shuffled out into the cool air and lite rain.
