by Arta Gailuma
— Photojournalist —
Castle & Falcon Birmingham, UK, September 9, 2022
Arriving at Castle & Falcon I was overtaken by a feeling of familiarity – same season of the year, same venue, same band and even plenty of same faces in the crowd. And that’s a good thing- it was great to see Bridear touring this side of the world again. This time promoting their latest release Aegis of Athena (out on 20. April 2022 via Avex Trax) and also celebrating band’s 10 year anniversary.
Influenced by NWOBHM as well as J-Pop, but sticking at the same time to their high energy power metal formula with speedy thrash beats, big riffs and super melodic guitar solos seems like Bridear has managed to create a quite reasonable and loyal fan following outside their home country.
It was great to see a mixed crowd of different ages and nationalities, rocking Bridear’s T-Shirts, fist pumping in the rhythm and singing along to band’s speedy, yet sugary anthems.
Haru’s dark growls were complementing Kimi’s clean lead vocals and there was plenty of fretboard wizardry from Ayumi and Moe- the newest member of the band who replaced previous guitarist Misaki only couple of months before the tour. And Natsumi hiding behind the drum kit was a real powerhouse.
Evening’s setlist was a mixture of older pieces for long time fans and, of course, plenty of new tracks from band’s latest album.
The night finished with “Bloody Bride”- a piece from band’s 2021 identically titled album and one of fans favourites leaving everyone wanting more. But before the merch stand getting busy again, to fan’s satisfaction the quintet came back to play “Road”- a finale track from the most recent release.
A brilliant show from start to the end! For everyone out there who are just hearing about Bridear, do go check them out:
https://www.bridear.world/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100059332609988
Band:
Kimi- lead vocals
Moe- guitar
Ayumi- guitar
Haru- bass
Natsumi- drums
Setlist:
1. Side of a Bullet
2. Daybreak
3. The Moment
4. Ray of Chaos
5. With Me
6. Brave New World Revisited
7. Dimensions
8. Ignite
9. Light in the Dark
10. Determination
11. Ghoul
12. Sick
13. Bloody Bride
Encore:
14. Road
Watch the video of Determination:
Concert Photo Gallery
