I was out shopping and checked my phone and saw a email from Sony I thought it was spam but opened it and nearly fainted! I'd won tickets for the wembley gig and a signed guitar, I couldn't even remember which competion I'd entered but after a bit of research remembered I'd entered it the week before and it was also for a meet and greet with the band. It was only 2 days before the gig and I was due to work so tried my best to get it covered, I managed to get the Friday covered but was gonna have to battle on through to work the next day.
So the meet and greet was arranged for 2pm so I had to leave earlier than expected, I met Alice at St Pancras station then we headed to wembley. When we arrived there wasn't many people around and nobody seemed to know anything about it (quite worrying) as it got to 2 I got a call saying that the band were stuck in traffic and would be be able to come back around 5 (not a good start). We'd planned on having a wander around after the meet and greet so that was our plans dashed. We realised we didn't actually have that much time so headed back across London to check in at our hotel and have a quick change and a glass of vino.
We were cutting it fine as usual but we managed to make it back for 5. We called the girl we were supposed to be meeting to be told she wasn't sure what was going on and would come down to us. By this point we weren't feeling so hopeful. She came down to us and there was a girl and boy who had won another competion and were also meeting her. We were told we couldn't collect our guestlist tickets untill 6.30 and couldn't go in till then so had to go and sit in Starbucks across the street (not fun). When it hit 6.30 we went to the box office to collect our tickets, we were happy we got to pick seated or standing as we really wanted to stand. We were took down to the front of the stage where we had to endure another wait for their tour manager, we were then told to come back at 7.15. As you can imagine we were not happy and felt really bad for the other couple who had came all the way from Newcastle on the Thursday night and had not slept! We came back and had to wait even longer for the manager to then come over and tell us that it probably wasn't going to happen. I think he could see our dispapointment and told us to follow him. We were took to BMTH's dressing room then a few minutes later he came back with Oli Sykes, Matt Nicholls and Matt Kean from the band. Everyone was really nervous and awkwardly shook their hands and asked for photos. I wanted Oli to write some lyrics I've been wanting tattooed so I could get them in his handwriting, stupidly I didn't have any paper so had to steal there meal times from the wall and ask him to write on the back. I just need to save some money to afford it now! We all got a snap then was ushered out and sent back into the crowd. The organisation was a joke but we were pleased that we had atleast got to meet some of them (they were my faves) and I got my lyrics!
'Sleepwave' were the first support band and had started whilst we were still waiting around in limbo, they are quite a heavier band and I'd not heard much of them before but they put on a lively show. Next up were 'Issues' an American band, I didn't really get the genre they were trying to be, as there were some heavy vocals mixed with softer singing with a hip hop vibe to some songs. They were ok but I just found it all a bit weird, but they got the crowd going.
The last support were 'Young Guns' who I am a fan of. They did a really good set and front man Gustav Wood's vocals were on point. I was a bit disappointed they didn't do my favourite songs but I guess there's only so much you can do in a short set.
The drinks were super expensive in the arena it was £6 for a small bottle of wine, so we ended up switching to red wine to try and get us a bit merry. It was time for the main event with 'Shadow Moses' opening proceedings, from the the get go the crowd were jumping around and the seated people were on their feet. We were quite central in the crowd at this point and as soon as everybody starting moving we surged forward. The first 3 tracks were taken from 'Sempiternal' then the setlist flipped between tracks from 'Suicide Season' and 'There is a hell believe me ive seen it, there is a heaven let's keep it a secret' but with the majority of the set being dominated by tracks from 'Sempiternal'. I don't think there was a calm moment throughout the gig with people constantly crowd surfing and making mosh pits.
Towards the end of the set Oli introduced ex band member Curtis Ward to the stage to play 'Pray for Plagues' a song from there first album 'Count your blessings' which they hadn't played live since 2011. The crowd went mental and with Oli's direction the crowd split into two for the biggest wall of death I think I've ever seen, it must've been pretty awesome to watch from up in the seating area! The stage set up with screens with visuals behind, lots of fire and smoke was really nice to see and showed that they are more than capable of putting on arena sized shows. They played 'Sleepingwalking, then left the stage, but we knew they'd be back!
With chants of 'we want more' bellowing from the crowd they came back for an encore. Starting with 'Hospital for souls' I actually nearly cried I was so happy, it's my favourite song and I'd never heard them play it live so was ecstatic. Oli's vocals on the track sounded perfect and I think throughout the show he was the best I've ever heard him sing and as a band they were absolutely on top of their game! After that they played brand new single 'Drown' which they'd specifically wrote for wembley as they wanted a song fit for an arena, it certainly did the trick with everybody screaming the words back at them. I love how different Oli sounds on the track too, it really shows that he can sing in a softer tone aswell as the heavier vocals we are used to. The final track of the night was 'Can you feel my heart' towards the end of the track Oli said his thankyous and told us it was our last chance and for everyone to jump. The whole crowd were jumping up and down as confetti cannons exploded into the crowd. As the song ended the band invited Curtis back on the stage and they all took a bow, said their thankyous and posed for photos then left the stage with roars of applause.
It felt like a really special gig and everybody seemed to have the time of their life. I'm so glad I got to go as it was definitely one of the best gigs ive ever been to and there has been alot!!
After the gig we headed to Camden to carry on the fun, a lot more red wine was consumed and that's as much as I can remember, let's just say God knows how I made it back for work the next day!! I'm absolutely useless at taking photos at events so unfortunately I don't have any outfit photos to add but hope you liked the post!! What's the best gig you've ever been to?!
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