© Olga Kuzmenko
Photos by Olga Kuzmenko
Live Gig Review by Alan Daly
On the verge of releasing their third studio album; Bury Tomorrow return to Dublin’s Academy almost exactly twelve months after they played here at Slam Dunk Ireland 2013. This time around, they have their own show and have invited local band Red Enemy along to open for them on the tiny Academy 2 basement stage. Formed in Southampton in 2006, their melodic metalcore sound has drawn a predominantly teenage audience to this alcohol-free over-14’s event. It is an unsettling experience to see and hear these one hundred or so fans singing along as cheesy tracks including The Black Eyed Peas ‘My humps’ blare from the PA. Slightly less surprising is Ricky Martin’s Livin’ La Vida Loca which Bury Tomorrow actually covered and released online in 2010.
Stepping onto the stage, they launch into ‘Man on Fire’; the opening track of their as-yet unreleased album Runes. With the volume cranked to eleven in this sonic shoebox, the thunderous drums and bass shake the venue to its nearby foundations as Bury Tomorrow deliver the standard metalcore elements that define the genre without any surprises. A mix of clean and screamed vocals, combined with mid-song tempo changes, breakdowns and chugging riffs; as anticipated. Frontman and “unclean” vocalist Daniel Winter-Bates leans right into the clambering front rows and screams “I need you to fucking move” before instigating one of many nigh-apocalyptic breakdowns. The ceiling above the slightly raised stage is so low that he and his bandmates hit their heads on the support beams when jumping in time to the beat.
Wanting even more crowd participation, Daniel encourages the willing crowd to form a wide circle pit around the columns and they obediently comply. That is to say, until Academy staff pass a message to the band via a hand-written note prohibiting such frivolous enjoyment of the music. Their twelve track setlist clocks in at little under an hour, and includes songs from each of their three studio albums and a genuine exclusive first airing of ‘The Torch’, which Daniel acknowledges as having already been widely circulated thanks to illegal downloading. They dedicate the premier to their crowd-pleasing support act Red Enemy, and, intent on pissing off the venue staff even further, he asks everyone in the crowd to lift their neighbour onto their shoulders during the performance.
With the only access to and from the stage via the front row, the usual pre-encore dash backstage is forfeit and the cheers for “one more tune” are answered with ‘Lionheart’ from their sophomore album The Union of Crowns. After the heaving and sweaty climax, the PA once more blares genre-conflicting “No Scrubs” from TLC, as the band make their exit. In a refreshingly humble and down-to-earth gesture, they come out to sign autographs and meet and greet their fans. Overall, the show was much like their music in general; entertaining, but not particularly memorable.
Bury Tomorrow
https://www.facebook.com/BuryTomorrow
About Author
