Bring Me The Horizon, 16th of November 2016 - an emotional rollercoaster

Bring Me The Horizon (also known as BMTH) is a british Metalband, formed in 2004. The band consists of the lead vocalist Oliver ("Oli") sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls and keyboardist Jordan Fish. They started out with a more deathcore-like style but over the years have started to adopt a more electric style of Metacore. Their latest album, That's the Spirit, represents a less aggressive style of rock. By today the british band has released 5 albums of which their latest two have become their most successful ones with achieving Gold and silver in different countries. 

Even though their music style never belonged to the kind of rock music I listened to, BMTH have been one of my favorite bands for a few years now. I first found out about them in 2013/2014 when their album "Sempiternal" had just been released. It wasn't as death/metalcore as the other three albums they released before and I began to listen to them a lot. Meanwhile I was going through a rough time in school and at home, I always flee into the music and mostly into the songs of BMTH. Over the months their songs became a really huge part of my life and I was awaiting the day of finally seeing them live. After never getting tickets to their shows or missing them because I was out of town, I finally managed to get a ticket for their concert on the 16th of November in my hometown Hamburg. I couldn't put my excitement into words. I started counting down the days.

When the day came, I couldn't believe that I would be seeing one of my favorite bands. I went to school and listened to BMTH the whole day, emotionally counting down the hours until the concert would start. Luckily school was out early for me that day. After classes I went home to put all my school stuff away and only get the essential stuff for the concert; especially the ticket. I messaged my friend and we made up when we would meet and where, to go to the venue (Alsterdorfer Sporthalle) together. I then took the train - still listening to a mix of old and new Bring Me The Horizon songs.

It didn't take me long to get to the venue and after about 20 - 30 minutes I met up with my friend at the train station close to the venue. We walked to the venue together and arrived to a few people already being in front of the entrance, as doors were gonna open an hour later. When the doors opened everyone stayed calm and the security had everything under control - it was completely different than two weeks earlier at the concert of Twenty One Pilots. I was really surprised because I had never really experienced an organized entrance at that venue.

My friend and I went inside and up to the Merchandise, as no one was running down the stairs or hysterically screaming. No one stressed and we weren't worried about getting good places because most people still bought food, merchandise or went to the wardrobe to give their jackets and bags away.  After buying the Merchandise, we walked down the stairs and into the venue. In that moment I had a short throwback to walking down the stairs crying at the Twenty One Pilots concert. We ended up at the 6th or 7th row and could not have been happier. The waiting began again and the venue slowly started to fill up.

Bring Me The Horizon were touring with two support acts: Basement and While She Sleeps. I hadn't really heard of the Bands before, so I was really excited to see how they were performing.

The band Basement started out first - they are an English rock band, formed in 2009. Their music is more of the pop punk style than metal. I really enjoyed their show and they had some really good songs, but everyone else in the crowd seemed to be more excited for the second support act. I didn't know why until they started performing. The musical style of While She Sleeps was way closer to what BMTH did, than the first support act. The crowd started moshing and I started to regret going directly into the middle of the crowd, but also didn't want to leave, as I had a perfect view on the stage when the others weren't throwing me around the pit. Though I barley noticed anything of the show I still enjoyed it.

After the second support act was done performing my excitement got real. I was only awaiting the lights to go out again the BMTH to appear on the stage and start performing. Their stage set was huge and consisted of two floors and imense screens. The stage in that venue never looked as big as it did in that moment. The stage itself was a huge screen and I couldn't wait to see what the band had prepared for us.

The lights went out at the first notes of "Happy Song" of their latest album, came through the speakers along with lyrics on the huge screen. My heart started racing and the excitement rushed through my whole body as the show started. The band came on stage and I couldn't believe what was happening. After all these years of waiting my dream finally became reality. I started to sing along and dance to the song, while the crowd around me became a huge moshpit. I was pushed around everywhere and even though it wasn't the first mosh and circle of death in my life, I was scared. Usually I would have just gotten completely into it, but on that night I wasn't in the mood to go inside, so I tried to keep myself away from it. I stayed there for a few more songs and got myself picked out at the fifth song, which was "Avalanche". I just wanted to see the show and enjoy it, since it was my first time seeing them and there I couldn't see anything so my friend and I left to watch the show from more behind.

We went out and more into the back on the left side of the venue. From there we still had a perfect view on the stage and with it a lot of space around us. After playing "Avalanche" the band performed Shadow Moses, which is one of their most known songs from their album Sempiternal. I love that song and was glad to be out of the first few rows because now I was able to enjoy the song to the fullest and not fear my life.

During the next few songs my friend and I kept dancing, singing along and having the best time of our lives, not being bothered by the drunk guys behind us. Everything was perfect until they performed one of their most emotional songs for me - "Sleepwalking", also off their album Sempiternal. I listened to that song a lot during my hardest times and when Oli said that it was the next song, I couldn't stop the tears from rolling down my face. It was in that moment, when my emotional rollercoaster started. I cried almost hysterically, like a 14 years old girl, when everyone around me began looking at me and my friend comforting me. Even though I enjoyed that moment to the fullest I must have looked like I was suffering. Unfortunately two songs after "Sleepwalking" they started to perform "Can You Feel My Heart" what made the whole situation even worse, but even better at the same time. For the rest of the show the tears kept rolling down my face, whether I was happy or sad didn't matter from then on.

The show was absolutely amazing and while I had my emotional breakdown - I kept singing along and dancing to the music though - I was amazed by what BMTH put on stage. They had a perfect screen animation for each song, with lyrics and backgrounds that absolutely fit to the lyrics. After "Can You Feel My Heart" they performed two more songs before they left the stage. The crowd begged for the encore and the band came back out. Finally, I thought.

Their encore consisted of three songs from their latest album. They closed the show with their song "Drown", which is their most successfull song at the moment. The whole crowd went insane, I was still crying and my friend started crying too. What a way to close the show. My emotions went crazy and as I left the venue, makeup running down my face. I was unable to realize what had just happened and needed fresh air. Outside I waited with my friend for her parents before I made my way to the back of the venue where I was planning to wait for the band, as I knew that at least Oli often comes out to meet fans, after the show. On the way to the bus I met two friends I had met at Twenty One Pilots in Hamburg for the first time. I totally did not expect to see them there and after having an emotional moment of seeing each other again we went up to the bus.

It didn't take Oli long to came out and aftet maybe 5 minutes of waiting for him, the bus door opened and a tattooed guy in a hoodie and basketball shorts stepped outside the bus. We immediately went up the bus to take photos with Oli. I forgot about all the crying and emotional breakdowns immediately and tried to understand what was happening. A few other girls took photos with him until it was my turn. I told him how much his band meant to me and about my emotional breakdown during the concert and he seemed really happy about his band being so much to me, when he hugged me really tight and took a photo with me. I was in a really happy place in that moment. My friends and I had a moment after meeting him and I couldn't resist but light up a cigarette to cope with what had just happened. I saw one of my favorite bands live in concert after three years, cried during half of the show and even met Oli after the show.

In a nutshell: this concert turned out to be one of the most emotional and meaningful ones in my whole life. I was amazed by how once again music brought me to the end and touched me in a way nothing else will ever be able to.