BRING ME THE HORIZON & SCARLXRD Take Milwaukee To “Second Base” [Review & Photo Gallery]

Bring Me The Horizon

Last week, hard rock titans Bring Me The Horizon kicked off their “Second Base” North American tour at the Welcome to Rockville festival in Jacksonville, Florida. The tour is rather short as the band only plays headline shows between each festival they are playing Welcome To Rockville, Epicenter, and Sonic Temple). The Jacksonville performance showcased a new stage production that they did not have here for their previous US tour with Fever 333 and Thrice (titled the “First Love” tour). Popular metal rapper Scarlxrd provided support on this tour. This may seem off the wall but he brought something unique to the table and absolutely killed it. On the previous tour, keyboardist and backup vocalist Jordan Fish had to leave due to having a child. However, he was present on Wednesday night. We were fortunate enough to attend the third show of the tour at Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Wednesday, May 8th. Check out our review and photo gallery from Kayla Gray below and make sure you catch Bring Me The Horizon when they come near you!

Scarlxrd

British trap metal rapper Scarlxrd delivered a high energy performance that got the crowd heated up for Bring Me The Horizon. With his DJ Jacky P, Scarlxrd commanded the crowd and had a pit on each side throughout the night. When we first walked through the doors, we were handed little pieces of paper that discouraged moshing and that it would result in ejection. That was out the door by the first song of the night when Scarlxrd said “Fucking open it you, you greedy pigs!” The rapper played a solid mix of material from his albums but a majority came from his most recent album “INFINITY”. Songs like “STFU” and “BERZERK” show how he differentiates from the rest of the rap scene as he incorporates screams and harsh sounding vocals along the likes of Slipknot (one of his inspirations). Towards the end of his set, he did a backflip on stage and the crowd went crazy. Jacky P hopped into the crowd for a bit and got the people up front hyped up for the performance. The pair did an excellent job getting the crowd involved and set the tone for a night full of energy.

Bring Me The Horizon

When I saw Bring Me The Horizon back in February, their stage production was pretty minimal aside from smoke machines and some lights. This time around, they brought those things but also included a large screen at the top of the stage, smaller screens below it to provide a backdrop for the band members, and dancers that made occasional appearances every other song. All of these things can be seen in our photo gallery. At the festival performance in Jacksonville, they also had pyrotechnics. We didn’t get those in Milwaukee as the stage either wasn’t big enough or it wasn’t allowed in the venue. Everyone seeing them at the festivals should expect a phenomenal stage show that covers all bases with their music.

Bring Me The Horizon

Since the release of ‘Sempiternal’, Bring Me The Horizon has continuously evolved as a band and tweaked their sound while still writing great, catchy music that transitions fantastically into the live setting. In an action packed show, Bring Me The Horizon delivered a strong mix of their last three albums with a surprise throwback in the set as well. Vocalist Oli Sykes is one of the best frontmen out there when it comes to getting a crowd involved. Songs like “House of Wolves”, “Wonderful Life”, and “Shadow Moses are perfect for lots of crowd interaction and they use that to their advantage. Throughout the night, he has us jumping, crowd surfing, and moshing without many breaks aside from slower songs like “Medicine” and “Mother Tongue” (check out the newly released music video here).

Bring Me The Horizon

The band shocked the entire crowd when they broke out “Diamonds Aren’t Forever” without warning. You can see footage of the band performing the song in its entirety for the first since in four and a half years here. Oli Sykes didn’t have to ask for any pits this time. The floor erupted into a battlefield of mosh pits. The crowd struggled to recover for the rest of the show as everyone gave their all for this specific song. Luckily, the crowd got a break from the madness with the rock ballad “Follow You” proceeding the heaviest song of the evening.

I have listened to ‘Amo’ frequently since it was released in January. “Nihilist Blues” has been my favorite song off the album since the release and that hasn’t changed. It was a treat to hear it live along with the fantastic visuals provided by the band and Oli crawling around on stage like a zombie. When closing out the regular portion of the set, Oli came down to the floor and greeted the crowd, giving hugs and high fives to show appreciation to the fans as the band gave an emotional performance of “Drown”. After lots of chanting for a return, the band made their way back to the stage for “Can You Feel My Heart” and “Throne”. They capped off the night with a confetti and smoke explosion that brought smiles upon everyone’s faces. Bring Me The Horizon put together one of the best shows I’ve ever seen (visually and musically) and made it a night to remember.

Scarlxrd proved himself on a large stage and delivered a hyped performance that won’t be forgotten. Sykes took away any doubt that anyone in the crowd had about his recent vocal troubles with this performance. He sounds the strongest he’s been in years and is gearing up for a lot of old school material at All Points East in the UK later this month (according to some of his recent Twitter polls). After this tour, Bring Me The Horizon returns to the US in August for Lollapalooza and in October for Aftershock in California. If you are able, see this show. You won’t be disappointed. Make sure to check out the rest of our photo gallery below and be on the lookout for more photos of Bring Me The Horizon and Scarlxrd from us at Epicenter and Sonic Temple.