Last month I attended my first gig in over 20 months, since the Red Crust Winter Warmer Festival based in Glasgow in February 2020. Bullet for My Valentine was heading their tour at the O2 Academy in Edinburgh. Bleed From Within and Tesseract were their support bands.
As I arrived at the venue, the queue was long and spanned around the corner of the street. The wait wasn't long and I had started talking to some of the people in the queue. Before you enter the venue you had your ticket scanned and your COVID passport checked. Once you have entered the venue, you were searched and bags were checked.
Bleed From Within
Sadly, I missed half of Bleed From Within's set as I was waiting outside in the queue and their set had already started.
From what I saw I really enjoyed the remainder of their set. There was a great atmosphere and the band really connected to their audience. There was a happy vibe going on and I think everyone was grateful that we are allowed to go to gigs again. There was an air of excitement and the band responded to that energy.
The band was also really appreciative of the support and the energy that was in the room. They kept that energy going.
Tesseract
I had been looking forward to seeing Tesseract, but I was left disappointed. I felt that there was no connection to the audience. There was no banter between the band and the audience between songs and I felt that there was something missing.
Although I wasn't as familiar with the bands' songs, I was expecting more energy and more excitement from the band and it wasn't there at all. It's a shame but I probably won't make the effort to see them again.
Bullet For My Valentine
I have seen Bullet For My Valentine a few times and I think that they are more of a touring band than a festival band. I had seen them in Download 2011 and I was left disappointed. I have wanted to see them again to erase that memory.
When they entered that stage, it was like they owned it. They brought a lot of energy to this performance and the audience responded to that really well. There was a strong connection between the band and the audience as everyone was excited to see them. They were also excited to see us and play again live.
The first part of the set were new songs from their new album, the second part was old favourites from previous albums such as Tears Don't Fall and Your Betrayal. Every few songs, the bands' singer Matt Tuck would thank us for coming out as he was treated to
the old favourite "Bullet, Bullet" chant.
My first post-lockdown gig was amazing and I had a great time. I felt really comfortable at this gig. In general, I always feel safe at Heavy Metal gigs and festivals, mainly because there is no judgement with a sense of respect and belonging.
There was a lot of respect paid to each other, particularly when I had moved to get closer to the stage for the headlining band, one of the guys in front of me stepped to his left so that I could see the stage! I think I have been complaining about this so much that someone actually listened!
Post-lockdown gigs are very different due to the risk of COVID-19 transmission, but the fans and bands don't change. The only difference is that this time we are wearing masks and using hand sanitiser. I have a few more gigs and festivals planned for 2022.
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