Machine Head, Bring Me The Horizon and Devildriver. Birmingham NIA, 4th Dec 2011 Music Reviews by Editor - May 9, 20120 Tonight sees Machine Head back on these shores for the first time since the release of their new album Unto the Locust. If the endless touring schedule that followed the release of The Blackening is anything to go by, I dare say they’ll be back a few more times in the near future. These four dates across the UK will be first time they have attempted to headline an arena tour (alone) over here. It’s a big leap from the academy circuit and judging by the turnout it may have been a little premature. Along for the ride are Roadrunner label mates Devildriver. Hitting the stage early to a sparse but enthusiastic crowd, the band rip through a frantic live set mainly borrowing from their last two albums. You make me Sick is particularly effective in warming up the crowd. Dez Fafara and his men are no strangers to the UK mosh pits, and when final song Clouds over California kicks in, the pit knows exactly how to react. For the duration of the track Devildriver manage to get the biggest circle pit of the night and that’s before half the punters have even arrived. Having never seen Bring Me The Horizon live before or really paid much attention to their music I wasnt sure what to expect. As their backdrop was hoisted up the boos began, but I made a decision to keep an open mind. Front man Ollie Sykes wasted no time in getting straight in the crowds faces, jumping onto the front barrier from the word go. A brave move considering the hostile crowd and one I admired at first. As missiles continued to be hurled at the stage however Ollie started to lose his cool, squaring up to one audience member and calling him a fat b*st*rd which I admired considerably less! The crowd was split in two. Half hating every minute of it. Most of these were sat down at the back of the floor but a few causing unrest by booing and throwing stuff. Most people down the front however were loving it and musically Bring Me The Horizon give a good account of themselves. Maybe the reaction from the crowd was not as warm as for the previous act but that would be difficult to achieve when you only have half the crowd on-board. By the time Machine Head come to the stage the floor is nearly full but the seating areas are still very empty. It’s clear the gig is massively undersold. Maybe its due to money being tight. Maybe Machine Head’s popularity has been overestimated. The fact that Motley Crue/Def Leppard, Black Stone Cherry/Alter Bridge and the Defenders of the Faith tour are all going on at a similar time probably doesn’t help either. Whatever the reasons the place looks a bit sorry only half full, but the noise that greets Machine Head from those that are here makes sure they feel welcome. Opening with the first two tracks from their new album I am Hell and Be Still and Know it is immediately clear that the new material is just as good as anything that has gone before. Following this brace is the massive Imperium and then the set mixes up the new and the old stuff effectively with the return of The Blood, the Sweat, the Tears to the live show very welcome. There’s a little less conversation from Robb Flynn than usual at a Machine Head show and the band seem slightly more static than we are used to seeing them. Whether this is down to end of tour exhaustion or a reaction to the turnout is not clear, but the usual electric atmosphere that comes with a Machine Head show is slightly lacking. It’s still a robust performance throughout though and an encore of Halo and the classic Davidian leaves everyone with a smile on their face. It will be interesting to see where Machine Head go from here. They are certainly at the height of their popularity right now, and rightly so, but someone out there has certainly got their figures wrong thinking that they could fill an arena like the NIA. It’s heavily rumoured that the next time we get to see them over here will be at Download where they have never failed to impress so far and will no doubt have a huge crowd. After that it would be nice to see them in a more intimate environment where they can build on their popularity naturally, rather than this huge leap that has fallen a bit flat in the end.