Bring Me The Horizon tear through Nürnberg with sci-fi swagger and metal might, proving why they’re in a league of their own at Germany’s heaviest weekend...
Words by Felix Bartlett, photos by Niamh Louise (@niamhlouphotos) | June 09, 2025
As the last echoes of Biffy Clyro’s set dissolved into the Nuremberg night, a different kind of storm gathered over the Utopia Stage. Bring Me The Horizon had arrived, fresh from their Rock am Park triumph, ready to unleash their NeX GEn spectacle upon Germany’s heaviest weekend. From the first chords of ‘DArkSide’ in Nürnberg’s Zeppelin Field, Bring Me The Horizon threw down the gauntlet. Oli Sykes wasted no time, chastising the polite German crowd: ‘Pull your tampon out!’ before demanding ‘real fucking German mosh pits!’
From the moment the NeX GEn video game visuals flickered to life, it was clear this wasn’t just another festival slot. Where other bands rely on garish CGI (looking at you, Avenged Sevenfold), BMTH have crafted a universe, one where AI aesthetics feel less like a gimmick and more like a dystopian playground. Oli Sykes, ever the provocateur, wasted no time in shaking the crowd from their polite stupor announcing the crowd to “shake their dicks!”
As a seasoned BMTH fan, this set pulled out all the usual stops you’d expect. The band has cemented itself as titans of modern metal, and while it’s always a thrill to catch them live, the hopes of a throwback set will forever remain buried in the watery ashes of the Malta Weekend (sorry, OG fans). The setlist however, was a calculated blitzkrieg of BMTH’s evolution: ‘Kingslayer’ saw one of the biggest crowd reactions as Oli, Lee and Matt paraded down the walkway to throw some head bangs. At the same time, ‘Antivist’ got a jolt of chaotic energy when Oli Sykes jokingly introduced a “long-lost cousin”, a fan seemingly previously picked to handle the song’s guttural screams. True, the crowd’s awkward silence before the ‘I say you’re a c**t’ payoff was cringeworthy (lets leave it down to the laguage barrier), but for longtime fans, it served as a much-needed, if flawed, nod to the band’s grittier past, scratching an itch we’d been craving.
Then came ‘Wonderwall’. Yes, the Gallagher-endorsed Oasis cover, timed suspiciously close to their Reading & Leeds headline slot, could’ve felt cynical. Instead, it was a stroke of genius. The crowd, who seemingly knew every Gallagher lyric but fumbled through BMTH deep cuts, turned it into a raucous, beer-soaked anthem. Tactical? Maybe. Triumphant? Absolutely.
But BMTH’s real power lies in their duality. They’re as comfortable orchestrating a “condensed Bon Jovi concert” for ‘Follow You’ as they are inciting “whatever kind of dance” to LosT (and yes, we can confirm Oli threw some dad dance shakes). And when’ Can You Feel My Heart’ dropped, that cheeky grin from Sykes never gets old, a reminder that beneath the pyro and production, this is still the same band that once played 150-cap Steel City basement shows during the Pray for Plagues era.
The encore was a nostalgia trip for the elder emos: A sequence of clips, photos and moments from the band’s past adorned the stage walls, yes wipe those tears, you are that old and it has been over 10 years since Sempiternal crawled it’s way into our ears on the way to school. The band’s encore is nothing new, yet nothing prepares you each time to witness Doomed, Drown, and Throne, each a decade-old wrecking ball of emotion. As the crowd surfers surged and the confetti cannons detonated, it was impossible not to marvel at how far BMTH have come. Whilst the Steel City crew have proven themselves worthy, conquering the likes of Download, Rock im Park (their first time headlining the festival) feels like the band are on a victory lap, a testament to their craftsmanship. From Antivist’s brutality to Follow You’s soaring catharsis, they’ve honed the ultimate festival setlist.
Yet, beneath the bravado, there was a sense of finality. With Oli Sykes announcing he has twins on the way with partner Alissa Salls and NeX GEn feeling like a culmination, tonight had the air of a swan song, or at least, the closing of a chapter. If this is BMTH’s last hurrah before a hiatus, they’re bowing out as titans: untouchable, unpredictable, and utterly unrivalled.
Did tonight feel like a warm-up for Reading & Leeds? Sure. But more than that, it was proof that Bring Me The Horizon don’t just belong on big stages, they’ve come to own them. And if Sykes’ parting shot, “Make me fucking proud!”, was anything to go by, they’re only just getting started.
Photos by Felix Bartlett
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