During The BandLab NME Awards 2022 Closing Set, Bring Me The Horizon Pay Respect to Ukraine

Bring Me The Horizon finished out the BandLab NME Awards 2022 on 2nd March with a thunderous six-song concert dedicated to the people of Ukraine.

BMTH, who were proudly displaying the Ukrainian flag on their bass drum skin as they took to the O2 Academy Brixton stage for their ceremony-ending set, broke into ‘Can You Feel My Heart.’

They next performed ‘Parasite Eve’ (with two dancers dressed in yellow hazmat suits), ‘DiE4u,’ ‘Mantra,’ and ’11,’ which they did with the assistance of Nova Twins. BMTH frontman Oli Sykes paid tribute to the Ukrainian people following last week’s Russian invasion before playing their set-closing hit ‘Throne.’

“I guess being here in a room full of prominent people is better: they need to use their voice every single day until this issue is over,” he told the audience.

Before the band tore into ‘Throne,’ he continued, “If Kyiv does not survive, international peace will not survive.”

The Sheffield five-piece had previously won the award for Best Band From The United Kingdom Supported By Pizza Express earlier in the evening. Sam Fender, Lorde, Fontaines D.C., and Burna Boy are among the winners in other categories.

Fender, Rina Sawayama, Griff and Sigrid, BERWYN and CHVRCHES, and Robert Smith also performed live on the O2 Academy Brixton stage, capping an exhilarating night of live performances on the O2 Academy Brixton stage.

It was a wonderfully memorable follow-up to Bring Me The Horizon’s last live performance, when Oli Sykes trashed Coldplay’s table during a performance of ‘Happy Song’ at the NME Awards in 2016.

—Aditi Manjunath