BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, Halestorm, Miss May I @Academy Birmingham 12/3/13

The crowd is already packed by the time Ohio five piece Miss May I take the stage. Their cheery brand of metalcore goes over well, although the rather relentless positivity in the bands songs can get a trifle wearing. That said, there is a decent crunch to tracks like “Forgive and Forget” and “Hey Mister” and their profile can only rise with slots on bills such as this.

When last we saw Halestorm they were opening for Shinedown just over a year ago. That they were better than Shinedown says much for the latter’s use of backing tapes and rather over-earnest stage patter. Instantly they became the sort of band that we shouldn't like at RTM towers, but actually do – their overtly US Radio Rock sound reminds us of bands like Skid Row from the late 1980s.

Since that day a year ago, Lzzy and the boys have embarked on their own sell-out UK tour and their profile continues to rise. Within the first 30 seconds of their opening number “Love Bites (And So Do I)" it is easy to see why. It’s catchy, heavy and – lets be honest about this – sexy. There aren't many teenage boys in the audience who aren't blushing when Lzzy Hale sings the line about “having a thousand ways to make you forget about her.” Hale, actually is a fine frontwoman and posses a fine voice – witness her singing on Adrenaline Mob’s “Come Undone” for proof – and by the time they have caused not one, but two, moshpits it is very much mission accomplished.

This is an interesting time for Bullet For My Valentine. Very much on the rise a few years ago, this is a comeback that could have gone either way. What actually happened was that they stuck out the “Temper Temper” album a few weeks ago and gigs all around the country –including this one – sold out.

If they were a little nervous about the way it was going to go then it takes about a second of “Breaking Point” to ease the nerves. The crowd can only be described as rabid and the band are almost on a victory lap from the off.

“Your Betrayal” soon follows and proves the older songs fit in with the new ones with no problem at all. It is however, the title track of the album that really takes the eye, “Temper Temper” has a hook and a chorus to die for as does “Dirty Little Secret” which sees Lzzy Hale take it as a type of duet, while “Last Fight” has a riff borrowed straight from Maiden’s mid-paced chugger repertoire. By the time “Scream Aim Fire” has finished off the main set it is clear that this is a group that really is ready to cross over into the mainstream.

A few years ago BFMV embarked on an arena tour. In doing so they became the first British metal group born since Iron Maiden’s seminal debut album came out to do so. That they have to take so much flak says more about the mentality of the British public than anything else. Instead of being happy that one of “our” bands had become big they were subjected to bitterness and sniping.

Face facts though people, someone from the new breed of metal bands has to fill arenas as Maiden and Metallica won’t be around forever. They have the hooks, the looks and the catchy choruses, so it might as well be Bullet as anyone else. At RTM we say good luck to them.

SHINEDOWN. Halestorm @Institute 17/2/12

When RTM was a lot younger, Skid Row were the first band I ever saw live, back in 1991 at the NEC. As such, it is immensely gratifying to know that their influence still lives on.

Or, at least it does as far as Halestorm are concerned. The Pennsylvania four piece owe something of a debt to Snake, Rachel and the rest. But at least they have the good grace to acknowledge this explicitly by including the title track from the “Slave to the Grind” album in their set.

There is nothing remotely approaching original about Halestorm, but that doesn’t stop them being entertaining. The band is built around brother and sister vocalist and drummer duo Lzzy (her spelling) and Arejay Hale. The former possesses a fine voice – although her unaccompanied rendition of “Crazy On You” did get a bit full of American Idol histrionics for RTM’s taste.

They are friends of, and regular touring partners for, the headliners and the crowd laps them up. Indeed by the time they have finished their confident set with “I Get Off” such is the adulation it doesn’t seem long before they are back here with their own name on the top of the poster.

Shinedown are one of those bands that only can be produced in the US. They have sold six million albums worldwide and the “Sold Out” signs are up tonight. Arena stars in their homeland; they can easily cope with 1400 Brummies.

They begin with the title track of their 2008 breakthrough album “The Sound Of Madness” from which most of tonight’s set comes, but they are soon playing “Enemies” a track from their upcoming CD “Amaryllis,” due next month. Perhaps surprisingly, the big hit “Devour” soon follows – most bands would leave the single to the encore, but such is their belief in their abilities Shinedown don’t feel the need to wait. 

So it is that for 90 minutes they are on stage playing American radio hard rock of the type that bands like Bon Jovi, Guns N Roses et al used to do in the 1980s. Singer Brant Smith says he grew up watching his heroes on MTV and it is abundantly clear that songs like “The Crow And The Butterfly” and the real lighters-in-the-air-moment of  “Second Chance” are designed with bigger stages than this in mind, and judging by the near hysteria down the front they will be getting them even over here next time around.

So a total triumph then? Well no actually, because it’s all a little too slick. There are moments when the band – although playing live – are clearly doing so over backing tapes and it gets a to be off-putting, especially with the drum sound. The low point is when they play a track in the encore – the new single “Bully,” which sounds like it was designed to be a teen anthem by a focus group. This is for Middle America to lap up, not Middle England. Almost on cue stools come out for an acoustic version of Skynyrd’s “Simple Man” before set closer “From the Inside” rounds things off.

If you like your rock music to be safe, corporate and clean-cut then Shinedown are the band for you. They are the musical equivalent of a Cadburys Mini Roll. Light, fluffy, pleasant and inoffensive, but never going to be your favourite cake and it will never change your life if you eat one.