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Asking Alexandria & Bullet For My Valentine Invade Philadelphia's Fillmore with The British


British Invasion Tour 2016 featuring Asking Alexandria & Bullet For My Valentine

On Wednesday, March 2nd, 2016, The British Invasion Tour Invaded Philadelphia’s newest and best concert venue The Fillmore Philadelphia. The line which began to wrap around the building at around 4pm full of anxious Asking Alexandria and Bullet For My Valentine fans.

Exploding onto the stage with an extraordinary flashy light show, are English Metalcore giants Asking Alexandria, promoting their forthcoming album, The Black, set to be release in late March. It will be their first album with new vocalist, Denis Shaforostov (formerly of Make Me Famous and Down & Dirty). Denis is a great addition to the band such incredible amounts of stage presence along with flawless vocals on each song even songs that he wasn't the original vocalist on. Ben Bruce, one of three remaining founding members, was absolutely incredible on lead guitar and perfect backing vocals backed up masterfully by James Cassells on drums, Cameron Liddell on guitar and Sam Bettley on bass. Their setlist contained songs from their entire catalog and included their new single and title track from their new album, “The Black.” Fans definitely were exciting and filled with energy throughout the entire Asking Alexandria you can just feel the energy in the room as every single fan present was involved with their set singing, screaming and moshing during every single song of the set, even chanting for one more song after they played their final song of the night “The Final Episode (Let’s Change The Channel)”. Asking Alexandria showing their appreciation for Philadelphia and nearby New Jersey, saying that it would always be home to Asking Alexandria because the East Coast was where they first arrived in the United States to perform and now live. The bands lighting very moody and dramatic and each song had their own light show that fit the song being performed perfectly. One thing I would note of their performance that really stuck out to me was the fact that their song “The Black” came out just a short while before this show and the fans showing their dedication knew every single word and moshed and screamed the lyrics back to the band so loudly you could barely hear Denis’ vocals over them. Asking Alexandria is in the best shape of their entire career with new vocalist Denis taking the vocals and Ben’s soft backing vocals just make for the most perfect blend of vocals as well as Ben’s, Cassell’s, Cameron’s, & Sam’s blend instruments just so flawlessly intertwine making for great rock music. The bands musicianship and talent on stage is perfection and put on one hell of a rock show leaving fans anxiously awaiting the next time they come to Philadelphia!

Bullet for My Valentine, a four-man heavy metal band hailing from Bridgend, Wales, UK, blasted unto the stage opening with two tracks from their latest release, ‘Venom’, “No Way Out” and “Skin”, followed in close succession by fan favorite, “Your Betrayal”. The control Bullet had on the crowd was beyond intense with their very mixed setlist mixing old songs and new together the crowd was explosive. Their regular drummer sitting out this tour Jason Bowld filled his place quite nicely and rather flawlessly with no mistakes. These guys perfectly blend high energy songs with a their rather laid back stage presence, probably by all members on the stage lending vocals and staying primarily close to their respective mic stands for that reason. Consisting of Matt Tuck (lead vocals/rhythm guitar), Michael Paget (lead guitar/backing vocals), Jason Bowld (drums) and Jamie Mathias (bass/backing vocals), BFMV definitely kept with the flow of the evening, delivering a powerful performance. The lights BFMV had during their set was extraordinary and at sometimes blinding they were so bright. One piece of their set I will always remember is the being of their encore “Tears Don’t Fall” where the fans screamed LETS GO the first line of the song so loud the venue shook before Matthew Tuck took the vocals back and the crowd went wild for that song as its their biggest hit and a fan favorite. BFMV never dissapoints with their music or live shows they always put on an incredible show.

If The British Invasion Tour comes near your city I would highly recommend going out and seeing this show cause it was mind blowing, energy filled, explosive, those are just a few of the words I would use to describe this tour as all of the bands blew the roof of the Fillmore.

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