Bring Me the Horizon Royal Albert Hall: A Look Back Before Their Reading Headline Set

With Bring Me the Horizon set to headline Reading and Leeds for the first time, it feels like the perfect moment to revisit one of the most defining live performances of their career to date, a night when their music took on a new, cinematic dimension inside the walls of the Royal Albert Hall. On 22 April 2016, as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust concert series, the Sheffield band joined forces with the Parallax Orchestra conducted by Simon Dobson and a full choir for a show that reframed their catalogue with orchestral grandeur. It was an evening that blended metalcore intensity with sweeping strings and haunting choral harmonies, giving new life to established anthems, debuting fresh material, and producing a live album that stands as one of the most celebrated in their discography. Among the highlights was an opening rendition of Doomed so powerful and atmospheric that it has since shaped the way the song is performed on tour. Looking back now, with the band about to step onto the main stage at Reading and Leeds as headliners, the Royal Albert Hall show reads like a blueprint for the scale and ambition they will bring to those festival crowds.

Importance of the Royal Albert Hall Performance

The Royal Albert Hall carries an unmatched prestige in British live music history, and for Bring Me the Horizon it was a venue that demanded an approach unlike any they had taken before. The band, already riding the success of their 2015 album That’s the Spirit, saw an opportunity not just to play their biggest indoor headline show at the time, but to transform it into something that could stand apart from the standard rock performance. Partnering with the Teenage Cancer Trust meant the night would serve a greater cause, but musically, the decision to integrate a full orchestra and choir made the concert a milestone in their artistic evolution. Conducted by Simon Dobson, the Parallax Orchestra brought lush arrangements that amplified the band’s heavy riffs and electronic textures, while the choir added emotional weight to choruses and breakdowns. It was a risk, but one that proved the band could thrive in a setting where precision, dynamic range, and theatrical presentation were as important as volume and aggression.

The Live at the Royal Albert Hall Album

Later that year, Live at the Royal Albert Hall was released on 2 December 2016 in multiple formats, including double CD, triple LP, DVD, Blu-ray and digital download, with all proceeds going to Teenage Cancer Trust. The recording captured over 80 minutes of music in a way that preserved the intensity of the performance while showcasing the intricate details of the orchestral arrangements. Listening back, there is a tangible sense of scale and drama that stands apart from their studio work. Songs like Throne and Can You Feel My Heart swell into even bigger anthems when surrounded by strings and brass, while more intimate moments like Follow You take on a cinematic tenderness. For fans, it became more than a live album, it was a statement piece that showed the band could take their music into entirely new territory without losing its core identity.

Full Orchestral Arrangement and Musical Texture

The orchestral component was the defining feature of the night, bringing an added dimension to every song. The Parallax Orchestra’s arrangement introduced strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion and harp into the mix, each part carefully layered so as not to drown out the band’s instrumentation. The result was a performance where the raw crunch of guitar could sit comfortably alongside sweeping violin sections, and pounding drums could trade space with timpani and cymbal swells. The choir was equally vital, often doubling melodies or adding harmonies that gave choruses a soaring, almost cinematic quality. On tracks like It Never Ends, the orchestration elevated the emotional stakes, making the breakdowns hit harder and the melodic passages resonate longer. This fusion of metalcore aggression and symphonic beauty was not just a novelty, it was proof that the band’s songs were versatile enough to thrive in vastly different musical environments.

Setlist Breakdown – A Career-Spanning Journey

The setlist that night served as a carefully curated tour of the band’s career, touching on their earliest fan favourites, their commercial breakthroughs, and their newest creative directions:

• Doomed – An ominous and atmospheric opener, reimagined with strings and choir to set the tone for the night
• Happy Song – Bringing anthemic energy early, bolstered by brass and strings
• Go to Hell, for Heaven’s Sake – Retaining its edge while gaining cinematic weight
• Avalanche – Making its live debut, showcasing the band’s more melodic leanings
• It Never Ends – Returning to the set after a two-year absence, given a dramatic orchestral lift
• Sleepwalking – Enhanced by layered harmonies and swelling strings
• Empire (Let Them Sing) – Another return, with the choir giving the chorus extra force
• Throne – Already a massive track, expanded into a festival-ready anthem
• Shadow Moses – Strings heightened the tension and drama
• True Friends – Leaning into its sharp lyrical delivery
• Follow You – Tender and reflective in its orchestral form
• Can You Feel My Heart – The choir brought this fan favourite to euphoric heights
• Antivist – Retained its punk bite with extra bombast
• Drown – A cathartic crowd moment, the orchestra adding emotional depth
• Oh No – Closing the night with a live debut, blending pop hooks with full orchestral flourish

This progression made the concert feel like both a celebration of their history and a glimpse of their future.

Doomed – From Opener to Tour Constant

If there was one song that defined the mood of that night, it was Doomed. Opening with its slow-building intensity, the orchestral version added layers of drama that turned it into a showpiece. Strings carried the melody lines with aching precision, while the choir reinforced the song’s haunting refrains. Since then, Doomed has remained a consistent part of Bring Me the Horizon’s live sets, often opening shows with a similar atmospheric build. The version from Royal Albert Hall effectively rewrote the song’s live identity, proving that a powerful arrangement can alter how a track is perceived for years to come.

The Road to Reading and Leeds

Fast forward to today and Bring Me the Horizon are on the verge of headlining Reading and Leeds for the first time, an achievement that cements their status as one of the UK’s biggest and most important rock bands. The ambition, scale and dynamic range that were on display at the Royal Albert Hall have become part of their DNA, shaping how they approach large-scale performances. From the way they construct setlists to how they incorporate atmospheric interludes and dramatic pacing, the lessons of that 2016 concert can be felt in their festival-ready stagecraft. Reading and Leeds will see them step in front of some of the biggest crowds of their career, but the confidence to command such a stage has its roots in that night at the Royal Albert Hall.

Legacy of the Performance

The Royal Albert Hall concert has become a touchstone in Bring Me the Horizon’s history, often cited by fans as a turning point where the band’s potential fully crystallised. It showed they could take creative risks, embrace grand production values, and still connect on an emotional level. It also proved that their songs, no matter how heavy or delicate, could be expanded into something far larger without losing their essence. In the years since, the orchestral influence has filtered into their live shows in subtler ways, whether through pre-recorded strings, extended intros, or atmospheric transitions, and the boldness of that night continues to inform their artistic choices.

Conclusion

Revisiting Bring Me the Horizon’s Royal Albert Hall performance in the lead up to their Reading and Leeds headline debut is a reminder of just how far they have come. It was a night that married power and precision, aggression and beauty, and in doing so, it laid the groundwork for the kind of spectacle they will bring to their biggest festival appearances yet. The grandeur, ambition and emotional scale of that show still resonate, making it not just a moment in their past, but a foundation for the future stages they are now set to dominate.

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