My stab at writing for Kerrang!
Kerrang! were recently looking for people to write for them and asked for two 150 word articles, a review of your best and worst gigs, here is what I came up with...
Best Gig
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE
Plus: Bring Me The Horizon, Atreyu
Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff
11.12.10
KKKKK
Californian metallers Atreyu kick things off on the night, followed by a slightly below par performance from Bring Me The Horizon due to lead singer Oli Sykes losing his voice midway through the set, but nothing can dampen the crowd's spirits as the opening drumbeats to Your Betrayal, a song seemingly created to open nights such as these, signal the arrival of Bullet For My Valentine to what is effectively their home gig. Pleasure and Pain and new single Bittersweet Memories get just as massive a reaction as classics such as Scream, Aim, Fire and 4 Words with the 8,000 strong crowd not being given a chance to take a break, but why would they want one?! Begging for Mercy ends the night with a bang, and it's nights like this that are only going to fuel comments that the Welsh quartet are Britain's biggest metal export since Iron Maiden.
Worst Gig
30 SECONDS TO MARS
Plus: Enter Shikari
Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff
26.11.10
KK
Enter Shikari aren't really the kind of band you would expect to be opening for 30 Seconds To Mars, and unsurprisingly they don't get the crowd going as much as Jared and the boys would have liked which might have something to do with the trio's lacklustre showing here tonight. Things seem to be picking up during Attack only for Leto to then retreat to the back of the arena for a mini acoustic set, the exact thing this already below par gig was not in need of. The Kill, Closer to the Edge and closing song Kings and Queens make the night worthwhile but there was something missing here this evening, most likely down to the fact that the guys have been touring constantly since the release of third album This Is War combined with the effort and high standard that usually accompanies a live performance from 30STM.










