Live: Bring Me The Horizon / While She Sleeps / Hands Like Houses

What do they put in the water in Sheffield, UK which makes for such musical awesomeness to come from there? Last night we celebrated two Sheffield bands: Bring Me The Horizon and While She Sleeps, along with stellar Canberra (Australia) band, Hands Like Houses.

The buzz was electric at Margaret Court Arena before any band even began. Even a very wet Melbourne afternoon couldn’t dampen our enthusiasm. Torrential rain hit while people had begun arriving for the show, soaking us all down to our shoes. Being soaking wet is a really good excuse to need to buy band merch.

Many concert goers in Melbourne and Adelaide had been waiting patiently to see Bring Me The Horizon since their original dates in September 2016. They’d unfortunately had to cancel due to frontman Oliver Sykes having a viral throat infection which was creating a host of other health issues. Their commitment to fans meant they rescheduled for February.

Hands Like Houses

The Canberran boys of Hands Like Houses were on stage first and definitely did a great job at warming the crowd up. They played a seven song strong set and impressing us with their quality of sound when performing live. They admitted to being tired after traveling for playing in support of Bring Me The Horizon as well as their own tour, yet nonetheless killed it, and gave all they had, impressing their fans and newcomers alike. Standouts for us were the barefoot bassist, green aesthetic and their expressions of gratitude for people enjoying their music and Bring Me The Horizon having invited them on the tour.

Hands Like Houses played the following songs, all from their Dissonants album:

• New Romantics
• Colourblind
• Division Symbols
• Perspectives
• Stillwater
• Glasshouse
• I Am

We caught video of them playing “Perspectives”. (Clearly we are writers, not videographers (or photographers).)

Check out more information on the Hands Like Houses tour here.

While She Sleeps

While She Sleeps continued the show and turned up the hardcore factor as well as the volume. They put on a dramatic and fun show, revving up the crowd and getting an impressive pit going. We loved the theatrics of Loz Taylor rolling around on the stage, and also coming down from the stage to stand in the audience.

We believe this to be the setlist:

• Brainwashed
• This Is the Six
• Death Toll
• New World Torture
• Civil Isolation
• Seven Hills
• Hurricane
• Four Walls

Of particular note is that While She Sleeps played Hurricane for only the second time they’d ever played it live. We caught it on video.

Bring Me The Horizon

We could barely contain ourselves while waiting for Bring Me The Horizon to start! It was our first time seeing the band after having Sempiternal and That’s The Spirit on heavy rotation.

The stage setup had video playing on the back wall as well as on two steps, adding to the experience of the music. I mean just look how they started their show:

The order of songs kept us moving and energised and 100% engaged with the band. Time flew and every minute was amazing. There was a healthy mosh going, encouraged by Oli Sykes and the massive atmosphere created by the band.

Each song was done brilliantly, with strong backing vocals in support of the main vocals, as well as backing track in some parts. There was nothing lacking in the band’s live performance, musically.

The crowd was kept engaged at all times, with fans encouraged to get up on shoulders, jump, crowd surf up for a high-five with Oliver. One fan even joined the band on stage and sung along for a few seconds before rejoining the audience. We were all made to feel fully part of this experience with the band, no matter where we were positioned in the arena, which enhanced the night even further.

The experience as a whole was utterly amazing and goosebump inducing. From beginning to end the band put on an electrifying and polished show.

Bring Me The Horizon played:

• Happy Song
• Go to Hell, for Heaven’s Sake
• The House of Wolves
• Avalanche
• Shadow Moses
• Chelsea Smile
• Follow You
• Sleepwalking
• Doomed
• Can You Feel My Heart
• Antivist
• Throne
  Encore:
• True Friends
• Oh No
• Drown

Check out the gallery for the photos captured on the night.

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Kel Burch

Creator and caretaker of Depth Mag, Kel uses her superpowers of empathy, word-weaving, and feeling everything deeply, to immerse herself in music before returning to reality to write about her experience with it. [Loved the read? Shout Kel a latte.]