Page 57 - Black Velvet Issue 89

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BREAKING BENJAMIN / STARSET
– LONDON KOKO, 27.05.16
It was something we thought we would
never see happen, but in January Breaking
Benjamin announced their first ever European
tour. The month long tour has 14 shows, in-
cluding 5 festival appearances. Not surpris-
ingly tickets to the shows sold fast, leaving
many disappointed. London is the first stop
(and only headline UK show) and as Koko be-
gins to fill, the excitement is tangible. You can
sense that tonight is going to be one huge cel-
ebration.
First to make an impact is Starset. While
all members, minus lead singer Dustin Bates,
wear space-inspired attire including helmets
which colourfully illuminate, Dustin has a mad
scientist look about him as he controls ele-
ments of the show via his fancy touch screen
Emulator. Starset are not your run-of-the-mill
rock band. Pay a visit to the band’s webpage
and you’ll see the mission of this band is not
just to rock your faces off. “We have been com-
missioned by The Starset Society to spread
broad awareness of The Message through
music and media. The Message contains the
knowledge necessary to spare the future of hu-
manity, and we will do whatever we must to in-
form the public.” As a package, this may all
appear very gimmicky to most, but the beauty
of music is that you can take from it whatever
you want to. Performing tracks from their debut
album ‘Transmissions’, the Ohio quartet have
the audience on their side. From singing the
‘woah-woah’s at the beginning of ‘Down With
The Fallen’, to clapping and doing a bit of
singing along to the likes of ‘Halo’, ‘Carnivore’
and ‘My Demons’, the crowd clearly enjoy
Starset’s cinematic rock offerings. This is not
Starset’s first time on British soil; hopefully it
won’t be long until they come back again.
Breaking Benjamin enter the stage to deaf-
ening applause and hollers. Oh yes, the cele-
brations are well and truly underway. Just
know that from this very moment, the crowd
will sing every single word to every single song
and they will do so LOUDLY. They will clap,
they will roar and they will give frontman Ben-
jamin Burnley, guitarists Jasen Rauch and
Keith Wallen, bassist Aaron Bruch and drum-
mer Shaun Foist, a welcome they will never
forget. The chords of ‘So Cold’ begin and the
feeling is electric; the moment every fan in this
building has been waiting for years to witness
has finally arrived. “London!” frontman Burnley
screams, “That is the first song Breaking Ben-
jamin has ever played outside America!” Need-
less to say the cheers are ear-splitting.
Staying with the ‘We Are Not Alone’ era, ‘Fol-
low’ and ‘Sooner Or Later’ – the latter sung by
Wallen - continue the blistering assault. You
can see the band is genuinely overwhelmed by
the reaction they are being greeted with.
Aaron takes over lead vocals for a brilliant rendition of ‘Simple Design’ before the stunning ‘Ashes
Of Eden’ makes the spine tingle. After ‘Blow Me Away’, Burnley gets his lightsaber out, which glows
red. This leads the band into a medley including ‘The Imperial March’, Tool, Nirvana and Pantera before
launching into ‘Polyamorous’. The crowd light up Koko during ‘Give Me A Sign’, it’s a beautiful sight.
When Burnley announces that his shirt buttons keep popping open due to ‘burger problems’, the crowd
laugh and begin chanting ‘Take it off’, to which he responds, “Not even if my life depended on it!” The
main section of the set closes with the powerful ‘I Will Not Bow’. The band soon return to the stage and
Burnley addresses the audience: “Thank you for letting us be real up here tonight, for letting us be our-
selves. London, England, until we meet again take care of one another. Thank you so fucking much,
we love you”.
The roof is lifted off the building one last time as ‘The Diary Of Jane’ comes into play. An amazing
evening all round and London showed Breaking Benjamin exactly how hard we can rock over here.
Here’s hoping they return to our shores for a full UK tour soon!
YYYYY
Penny Gower
Benjamin Burnley & Keith Wallen (Breaking Benjamin) Photo By Sam Gower
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