Let’s get nostalgic for a hot minute. It’s the year 2004. You have a Mountain Dew, Hot Doritos and have loaded up Halo 2 and you’re about to complete level Gravemind, the Brutes, the Hunters and the Elites are all at war, but suddenly your ears are blasted with the ultimate battle song of any combat game of this era. Breaking Benjamin’s Blow Me Away hits your ears with the same power and almighty force of an energy sword, rocket launcher or a battle rifle that does damage in game. Now imagine that same wavelength of nostalgia hitting the ears of many Halo franchise fanatics that pack out O2 Academy Brixton’s venue to the rafters, witnessing this video game banger be brought to life in 2026, as Breaking Benjamin makes their decade long return to the UK.
It was a mid 2000’s revival tonight as fellow frontiers Return To Dusk and Chevelle opened. Return To Dust was a smack bang perfect act for this billing, bringing their throwback post-grunge heavy sound to the stage. Throwing in a gritty cover of Outkast’s Hey Ya in for good measure to conjure up some crowd participation, Return To Dusk should return to the UK that’s for sure.
Chevelle continued the trend of those bands you wanna tick off your gamer rock core playlist. Blasting through their hits, the trio took no time in telling Brixton we are deserving of opening for a band as big as Benjamin. Send The Pain Below and The Red back to back on their setlist send some serious shivers of nostalgia down the spine, the band even being aware of their cultural impact they had in 2002, as vocalist Pete Loffler intro’s The Red with “Who remembers 2002?” Chevelle deliver a set that tiptoes the tightrope of self awareness of their throwback value with the skill to be able to still deliver to their 2002 quality, 24 years on.
The Breaking Benjamin fans that fill Brixton have been waiting for this tour for the best part of a decade. Benjamin Burnley and co deliver heavy doses of video game smash hits and plenty more besides throughout the band’s entire set. Starting off on the smouldering I Will Not Bow, Brixton erupted into a bellowing of the word “FALL” followed by a sea of headbanging and pits pouring out from the centre of the floor. No matter where you were, from the front to the back you felt the heat from this Dear Agony banger, and that’s not just the sweltering July heat felt inside the crowd.
A band bursting to the seams of video game fanatics, it makes perfect sense for the band to play their Halo 2 track Blow Me Away. Whilst no epic graphics of Master Chief or Officer John 117 himself failed to come out on stage alongside a Grunt like the band have been bringing out on previous tours, the Halo 2 anthem got every Bungie fanatic in the venue worshipping this song like it’s their anthem.
Speaking of songs that have been featured throughout various video game soundtracks, one that has been totally snubbed for a gaming feature is one of the bands newest numbers Awaken. Whilst Polyamorous features across WWE games, Awaken would have been the ideal epic for a SEGA game. Think of an intense Shadow The Hedgehog scene, Awaken is a video game track waiting to happen.
There’s competition for the biggest singalong of the night coming courtesy of some of breaking Benjamin’s songs doing the rounds on social media recently. Dear Agony gets tears streaming down peoples faces and their arms wrapped around loved ones, whereas the band’s biggest hit The Diary Of Jane’s era defining guitar riffs descending the crowd into a pit of chaos before even a single lyric is let out.
Breaking Benjamin’s dedication to returning to the UK after a decade away was nothing short of staggering. Boating it all the way over here to only then deliver a set, alongside Burnley’s 12 year old son, latest member of the band and bound to follow in the footsteps of his rocker Dad. Dressed head to toe in an all black outfit, matching caps with guitar in hand for the entirety of the bands 18 song setlist, they delivered the biggest dose of nostalgia, alongside new Breaking Benjamin numbers. Some may say this band might have hit their metal peak in 2004, but can they still bring the heat, with new songs and a new album the band hinted at during their sold out show. Tonight proves Breaking Benjamin are hanging around to have more hits and potentially more video game features, just don’t wait a decade to come back next time boys!
