Show: Bullet for My Valentine
Date: October 28, 2010
Venue: Hollywood Palladium
City: Hollywood, CA
Bullet for My Valentine
Photos by Nicolas Bates
Written by Mike Daclan
Wrapping up a 50 show tour that spanned 11 countries, Welsh heavy metal band Bullet For My Valentine played their final show at the venerable Hollywood Palladium. Ripping through a 13 song set, the band kept the energy levels high and the crowd moving.
The band kicked off the show with the opening track “Your Betrayal” from their latest album Fever and moved right into the title track “Fever.” Building the crowd up into a further frenzy they launched into “Waking the Demon.” Midway through the song, vocalist and rhythm guitarist Matthew Tuck told the crowd to break in half and move opposite sides of the floor for a wall of death. As the breakdown began to intensify, so did the energy in both sides of the crowd until Matthew sent them flying at each other with a shout. As the crowd slammed into one another, a huge circle pit formed which carried on through the remainder of the song.
Moving back and forth between the three albums provided the crowd with a good sample of their work over the course of their career. At various points in the set, each band member was able to showcase their strengths and contributing elements. Bassist Jason James’s steady bass playing kept a solid foundation in time with the thundering drums of Michael Thomas. The heavy backing of the rhythm section provided a thick low end for lead guitarist Michael Paget to soar over. The dual guitar harmonies of Paget and Tuck, along with Thomas’s double bass pounding heavily, showed how in tune they are with their metal influences.
The energy through the set was nice and high except for a small lull in the performance as they played “Say Goodnight” off of Scream Aim Fire but this was quickly remedied when the band followed up with “Scream Aim Fire” off the album of the same name. Other than this brief hiccup, the pit was alive and well throughout the set and the crowd was ready to give the band all their energy in return for the great show they put forth. The band looked like they were having a great time and it translated well to the crowd.
It was a great ending to a long tour and unfortunately, the last show the band would be playing in the U.S. for a long while. The fans lucky enough to have been in attendance will use this night to carry them through until the band makes its way back stateside.