Bring me the Horizon (Sheffield, En)
May 13th, 2026
Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, MN
Maybe it’s because of the instant Polaroid photo sitting on my desk from the newest camera I’ve gotten, but the Bring Me The Horizion show last month has still been at the forefront of my mind ever since I got to experience it when the tour hit the Twin Cities.
I can happily say that this show is going to go down as one of my favorites of the year. Walking into the venue I was immediately hit with appreciation for where my seat ended up being, and walking out of the venue I was even more so appreciative that I finally have gotten the “peak” Bring me the Horizon experience through this show.
I have a bit of a troubled past with this band, going from thinking the band were posers in my teenage days to getting even more turned off from them and thinking they’re sell outs once they started “going soft” and getting radio play. I can vividly remember the moment my perception of the band changed; hearing “Dear Diary,” for the first time. It was the middle of COVID lockdown and I thought “Holy shit, these guys went heavy again!” and ended up digging the entire album, and led to me rediscovering the rest of their back catalogue. I was then super excited for part two (Nex Gen) to come out and admitted to myself I was far too harsh on the band. Sempiternal ended up becoming one of my favorite metalcore albums of all time, and Post Human: Nex Gen ended up being my favorite album of the year.
I got to see Bring Me The Horizon for the first time in 2023 when they opened in Somerset, WI for Fall Out Boy. Not entirely because of it, but because of all the happenstance of an almost rainout of the night, I almost don’t count it as seeing the band live. At this last show when I was asked by a friend at this show if I had seen them before I said no at first, and it took me a bit to realize, hey yeah, I have seen them! So now post 2026 show, I’m glad that my memories and experience of the band will forever be a proper full arena, full production show. And what a production it was.
Filled with nostalgia from the get go with numerous clips of Resident Evil themed start menu videos and clips of a “game” that looks like it was straight from a Nintendo 64. The story of the night is an even AI corporation E.V.E. turned human (the crowd) into mindless zombie-like monsters and throughout the night get saved. It was a cool way for the night to feel unique, and I always love and appreciate the effort to make a concert more of a show or full production. A few nights prior, singer Oli Sykes got hit in the head with a thrown phone, and other than a bandage on his forehead, he showed no signs of it affecting him even if the hit resulted in a concussion. The night was honestly one of the most impressive vocal performances I’ve seen in a long time, with one of the moments I was most blown away being his 20+ second long scream during the intro of “Kingslayer.”
This night will also go down as one of the most impressive crowds I’ve seen. I‘ve been to my fair of shows at Grand Casino Arena and Target Center (both similarly sized) and this night was the first time I’ve seen the entire floor split up in half for a wall of death…multiple times! Many huge circle pits opened up through the set. Hats off to this Minnesota crowd. Oli seemed genuinely surprised and impressed with our showing.
Favorite moment of the night had to be when 9 year old Braelynn got asked to go up on stage to sing the song “Antivist.” It was just absurd to me the idea of a kid that age going up and signing not only one of the heaviest songs of the night but one that includes “Middle fingers up, if you don’t give a fuck.” Oli Sykes even commented “This is just wrong,” laughing. Braelynn absolutely killed it though, her performance hyped up the crowd a ton, and she even nailed a low guttural scream.
I’m so glad that I was able to experience a proper full Bring Me The Horizon production. My opinion on the band had begun to sway long before this show, but I always felt like I’ve been waiting a long time to be able to see the band. Past me may have held some questionable opinions about them, but as I like to say as I’ve gotten older, bands and music have a way of getting into your life at the right time. Now is Bring me the Horizon’s time. For me and so many fans in the crowd.
