The British are coming!

by Marianna Brogna, junior literary editor

The British Invasion Tour has finally hit the Big Apple, with opening bands While She Sleeps, Asking Alexandria, and the headliner, Bullet For My Valentine.

The bands played on the night of February 23, in celebration of Bullet’s new album, “Venom” released on August 14, 2015. They also played the self-title song from the album, “The Poison,” in honor of it’s 10th birthday on October 3, 2005.

Due to the confined space of the Playstation Theater, and a sold-out show of 2,100 people, it was a very congested and hot venue. However, everyone was packed together due to the excitement and moshing.

While moshing can be dangerous, it wasn’t as dangerous as someone who had never done it before, like myself, would think. Maybe it was because the music had kind of lost its touch in the new band, but some old hits were played as well. While there were muscular, big men in their mid-20s to 30s, they weren’t as rough as people would assume they’d be. They also made sure no one got hurt. They were rough with the crowd-surfing and moshing, but they were always helping anyone who fell down or got moderately hurt.

Although the mosh pit would probably be rougher at another concert, say with a harder band, that doesn’t mean my friend and I didn’t get roughed up. Some of the people were really rough with their pushing and shoving, so my friend and I even got punched and kicked in the head a few times.

“As a person who really wasn’t into any of the bands, I thought it was a lot of fun. The music, the dancing, even the people made the concert so much fun! It was a lively place everyone should check out,” attendee Mckayla Steffens said.

While my friend and I were only attending for the headlining band, the previous performances were very exhilarating, and good ways to get the crowd warmed up. The first band, While She Sleeps, was not great, but they had an adequate performance. It was a little crazy, when the lead singer jumped into the crowd and started a mosh pit. As for Asking Alexandria, before this concert, it was assumed that they wouldn’t put on a good show, but when they sounded alright live. They seemed a bit self-absorbed with how much they thought their fans loved them. Even though the attitude wasn’t the best, it was a good, energetic performance.

For the Bullet For My Valentine performance, as always, I had a great time since it is always great to hear my favorite band live. They sounded great. Their songs sounded like the recorded versions from the studio. It is always appealing when a band’s live performance sounds pure. My only complaints would be that they weren’t as interactive with the crowd, and the lead singer, Matthew Tuck, couldn’t be heard as much. I was eager to hear him sing, since he can’t perform like he used to, and considering he had to undergo surgery in his throat.
Overall, the concert was amazing, and it was a great time, with some personal technicalities of my own. The performances were very organized and energetic which in turn sustained the crowd throughout the whole night. Moshing is recommend to any metal head or rocker; it is very therapeutic.