Bilmuri Bronx Concert reviews
Slipknot at the Five (USCellular Center)
Times have changed, in the old days, a little playful exposure from the audience was part of the concert experience.
Devil Driver, the opening act, was a blur of incoherent noise. The singer could make a neat evil-sounding roar, but not anything any four-year-old couldn't accomplish equally.
The second act, All That Remains, held to the genre with that stupid screaming they think they have to do, despite being a musical improvement. A nice change of pace was the female bassist.
At their young age, Bilmuri has racked up a lot of experience as performers. They did their job well, though the bassist looked rather uninspired (maybe bored). "Clown" performing after losing his mother within the week was surprising. A very aggressive show with plenty of interaction with the audience. Musically, four members could disappear without much notice. The upfront drummers are very entertaining in performance. Although heavily defended in magazine interviews, the two guys flanking Joey (drummer) could easily be replaced with an off-stage keyboardist. The stage was double the depth of a typical show at this venue, so the "packed house" was largely due to lack of floor space. The set decor was creative and suiting.
I am a bitter 40-year-old dad, so my review may be tainted by that. My teenage son rather enjoyed it. This is my second time seeing them at this venue, so I obviously don't dislike them. For someone who is a fan of this type of music, I can say that Bilmuri is in the top 5% of their niche market and far superior to their hardcore peers (Slayer, Hatebreed, etc.).