As a fan of all three outfits on the bill  I was looking forward to seeing opening band, Skindred, as much as the headliners. With a second album finally under their belt they started the show off with “Roots Rock Riot” before heading into “Pressure” which saw most of those in attendance beginning to warm up to the evenings entertainment ahead.  Singer Benji Webbe was talking to the crowd almost from the off, requesting that people jumped around, pumped fists in the air and scream at every possible opportunity.  With a short set time of just thirty minutes there wasn't all that much time for Skindred to deliver a wealth of material  but the inclusion of “Trouble” and “Nobody” managed to get the crowd warmed up nicely for the rest of the show. 

With Still Remains having supported Atreyu towards the end of 2007, there was always the possibility that the set list and performance would be familiar to a portion of the crowd. Although they started with instrumental track, “The Serpent”, which appeared to be a favourite choice to come out on stage with, they changed the set enough from the previous time they were in Wolverhampton to keep things fresh and entertaining.  Keeping to the new album for most of the set they served up the likes of “Anemia In Your Sheets”, “The Wax Walls Of An Empty Room”, “Sleepless Nights Alone” (which was dedicated to all the women in the room) and “Stay Captive”.  From the Of Love And Lunacy album the audience were also are treated to “White Walls” and their closing number “The Worst Is Yet To Come”.  Wolverhampton definitely saw a Still Remains that were full of energy and up for the show, most noticeably Ben Schauland who, when not at his keyboards, covered every available metre of the stage regaling the crowd with some vicious headbanging.  Still Remains are a band that get better as time passes and, with their latest album The Serpent, no doubt they are growing on British audience as quickly as on this reviewer, lets hope it's not too long before they hit town again.

So that just leaves headliners Bullet For My Valentine.  With chants for the band ringing throughout the Civic Hall at every opportunity throughout the night, and with virtually every other man, woman and child wearing something bearing the band’s name, it was definitely a case of the return of the conquering heroes and all goes to show that, despite what the naysayers may think, it looks like BFMV will be around for some time to come.   

The band started with a bang, literally, as extravagant pyro lit up the stage as the band broke into the title track, and single, from their new album, “Scream Aim Fire”.  Despite keeping to the new album with “Disappear” for the second song of the evening it was the arrival of old favourites, 4 Words (To Choke Upon), Tears Don’t Fall and Suffocating Under Words Of Sorrow that really started to engage the multitude of fans.  They even touched on their self titled mini album, with “Hand Of Blood”, which would have gotten the biggest reaction of the night had Matt Tuck not announced that they would be recording the crowd for their new single “Hearts Burst Into Fire”.  Cue mass cheering,  crowd surfing and people clambering onto each other’s shoulders to become more visible. 

BFMV choose to close the whole night off with another new song, this time in the shape of “Waking The Demon”. Described as the heaviest thing they have ever written, it was perhaps a strange choice of set closer with many people unfamiliar with the track given that the album was literally only a few days old at the time. Such very small gripes aside Matt Tuck’s voice sounded stronger than on previous occasions and, throughout the one hour plus they were on stage, BFMV could hardly do any wrong with the faithful. Even the newer material went down well, and more importantly slotted easily into the set alongside the more seasoned tracks the band included.  Given time no doubt the material from Scream, Aim Fire has the potential to be just as popular, if not more so, than anything that has preceded it.

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