Off the back of an agonising 4 year wait, Billy Talent finally return to the UK presenting the 'Afraid Of Heights' tour following the release of their 5th album of the same name, which released late July of this year.
The atmosphere amidst the fans waiting outside the Academy was definitely tense, hoping that after a huge world tour which saw the band visit countries such as Japan, America and Australia, it was finally our time to get a fix. The hiatus wasn't without reason however. Lead singer Benjamin Kowalewicz explains, "after the Paris attacks last year, we were hesitant on touring Europe." Ben explains that a victim of the 2015 attacks on the Bataclan was a friend of the band, before adding "...however, we feel very welcome tonight, so thank you." A speech that was met with a collective round of applause.
A shout-out has to be given to the night's support acts; Say Yes and Young Guns. Both brought their own individual energy and proved themselves as suitable support bands for the evening, evolving the excitement through both of their sets, something Young Guns frontman Gustav Wood was adamant about pushing. And it worked.
Ultimately, Billy Talent then took to the stage, powering through a solid setlist with contagious energy. It made it almost impossible for that energy not to be transferred to the crowd below, a statement justified by the atmosphere that night. The setlist pattern had a feeling to me that it was purposefully structured to go from fast, to slow, to fast. Songs like Devil In A Midnight Mass and Viking Death March, which were played first and last, respectively (before the encore) sandwiched much slower songs like Surrender and White Sparrows, which were played right at the very heart of their set, acting almost as a metaphorical roller-coaster dip- bringing the energy up, down, then right back up again.
Kudos has to be given to the support for the evening, who were definitely an appropriate build up to the main finale, as they undoubtedly gained more fans that night through their enthusiastic, energetic performances and catchy songs. Billy Talent sped through their songs with great intensity, be it through the more intimate softer songs or the more riff-heavy ones, making them an electric experience to see live, something I would wholeheartedly suggest for anyone to see. Although they've just recently left, I know I won't be the only one hoping that the next time they return, we won't have waited as long as we did before.
