On June 6, 2023, Metal came to the Accor Arena in Paris to set the place on fire (and even with a few flamethrowers) !
BMTH, emblematic band of the Metalcore/Post-Hardcore scene
This British band from Sheffield was formed in 2004. Since then, they've released 6 albums (including 2 Live) and 3 EPs, including 2013's legendary 'Sempiternal', which left its mark on Metalcore history, as well as countless featurings, each more delicious than the last (Tom Morello, MGK, Sigrid, Corpse, SLANDER...). And of course, a forthcoming album entitled 'Post Human: Next Gen' is on the way.
The band's reputation is well established, and we can find them at more and more festivals all over the world, but especially in France.
In fact, it's already been announced that the band will be present at the Beauregard 2024 festival !
Motionless In White, aesthetic and musical icons of the Metal world
Existing since 2005, this American metalcore band has made a name for itself right from the start of its career. Signed to RoadRunner, the band now boasts 2 EPs and 6 albums, including one released last year, with a tour who just ended. 'Scoring The End Of The World' has been a great success, both in terms of its place in the Tops & Charts around the globe, and the number of concerts and festivals that have followed !
Spiritbox, a rising star crushing and revolutionizing the Post-Metal scene
Active since only 2017, this in no way holds back this new Metal band signed by Rise Records. And with just 1 Album and 4 EPs (including one released this year), the band is already churning out festivals and world tours, taking over the scene as if it had always been this way. It's a nugget that Rise Records spotted as soon as it arrived in the vast world of music.
A lit show at the Accor Arena
Indeed, each of these bands is already strong individually, but together they form an energy incomparable to any other concert. And it's the one at the Accor Arena in Paris that we're going to tell you about.
Spiritbox get the ball rolling, arriving on stage at around 7.20pm. From the very first song, the crowd headbangs and jumps to the beat, and starts mosh-pits by the second song. The pit is full and the bleachers fill up even more as the blue and white lights dance across the stage, alongside Courtney Laplante, who screams and sways like nobody's business. The stage design is simple but effective, with the drummer elevated above the rest of the band, highlighting this all-too-frequently underrated musician. This singer of incomparable technique never fails to interact with the audience with phrases such as 'I wanna see you shaking your little french asses' or even more playful ones like 'Are you excited to see BMTH ? Are you excited to see Motionless In White ? Well, you know what ? If you're not moing your asses to this next song, they're not coming out... So I wanna see some movement !'
She's sure to shout out a 'We Love You', and explains that we need 'More Women On Stage', something that we hear about more frequently today. She closes the show with a 'Merci Beaucoup' before leaving the stage to make way for Motionless In White, who arrive around 8.10pm with a huge scream from Chris.
This was followed by a number of audience games such as 'I say hell, you say yeah' and a few 'Get the fuck up'. From the very first song, fans were headbanging, jumping and starting mosh pits.
In the middle of the set, Chris takes a few minutes to explain how difficult it was in the early days for the band to come to France for not so good gigs, but that since then, France has become one of their favorite countries to play in! In fact, the band even won a place at this year's Hellfest !
And we know Chris's unconditional support for the LGBTQIA+ community, who couldn't resist proudly screaming out 'Happy Pride Month' during Voices, a song with a very strong link to the LGBT community.
The band played their final song after Chris addressed the fans, saying 'We fucking love you, we are Motionless In White and we are Eternally Yours'. And while he did most of the playing and talking to the audience, the other members didn't keep a low profile either; Justin and Ricky even sang along on several occasions, and the former INK member even let out a few screams during the last song of the set.
Bring Me The Horizon then took to the stage after a long introductory video, which fans watched to the end without looking away. The band arrived, played and the set design was revealed. Little by little, song by song, we discovered new bits of the stage, new scenery.
BMTH recently renewed their show from A to Z, including videos, different levels for the different musicians, and of course, flamethrowers ! And if the scenography was up to scratch, the musicians' performance was no less good. Oli even gave it his all in an almost 20-second scream, wandered between the gold pit and the normal pit, and even shook hands with fans in the stands !
As for the other musicians, we could see them jumping, climbing up and down the steps of the different levels, dancing and yet not missing a single note ! The fans were just as enthusiastic, and we could see moshpits, walls of death and boat rowingse throughout the set !
Oli constantly played with the audience, and tried his hand at singing a Seven Nation Army-origin 'Popopo' - an iconic French call from the fans for the musicians to come back on stage - with the fans who were still asking for more. He even opened up his heart to us on two points. The first was the fact that his French wasn't that good, but he did say 'Magnifique, Je vous aime' to his fans ! And the second point was an anecdote he told. 8 years earlier, he was in France for a concert in a much smaller venue. He had walked past the Accor Arena with his manager, who pointed to the venue and said 'One day, you'll play here'. Oli didn't believe it, and yet... In 2023, it happened !
All in all, a quality concert in terms of both the musicians' performances and those of the technical team, and more than delighted fans who didn't miss the 45-minute wait for merch !
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