After two weeks of ransacking the UK, the now infamous Kerrang tour finally reached the capital. I went along, just to see what the fuss was about..

Arriving late, I breezed through security and rushed straight into the main standing area, just in time to catch Tonight Is Alive performing their last few songs. There’s a nice moment where the crowd get their lighters out (only in London would there be more lighters than mobiles). It’s only slightly ruined by a friend of mine telling me how much the band like to run around naked backstage. Constantly.

The Aussie’s slick pop-punk tunes go down nicely. Its just a shame the venue isn’t more full. It might be the downstairs age limit, or the early start time, but for a tour so huge, its surprisingly to see so many empty spaces.

The arrival of Chiodos is heraled by Taylor Swift’s ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ blaring out of the speakers. The crowds reaction is overwhelmingly positive. There group of barely clothed teenage girls behind me scream and dance around. They scream even more as the band come onstage.

The band growl their way through the set, inspiring a few ‘hands in the air’ moments, but overall its nothing spectacular. By the time they start to clear the stage, the crowd are already chanting..

‘Black Veil Brides’. ‘Black Veil Brides’. ‘Black Veil Brides’.

The sound echoes off the dusty ceiling. Swarms of kids in face paint and black skinny jeans push past us, racing to the front. Its clear who everyone is here to see.

There is a thunder of applause and screams as Black Veil Brides appear. Playing at about 10x the volume of all the other acts might give them an unfair advantage, but its one that they don’t need. They tear through the set, mostly comprised of tracks from their mind-blowing new album ‘Wretched and Divine’.

Wil Francis joins the band for a brief moment, but the real star of tonight is vocalist Andy Biersack. Strutting about the stage in jeans so tight they may as well be painted on, he exudes a confidence far greater than his rakish frame would suggest.

The banter between songs is short, but the performance is immaculate. There’s two brief, and slightly unnecessary disappearances from the stage, but the audience doesn’t seem to mind.

Black Veil Brides are clearly a band on the way up. From what I’ve seen tonight, there’s going to be no stopping them..

RC xx