Bad Omens Cement Their Place in the Big League at London‘s Alexandra Palace [Show Review]

As we draw close to the end of 2025, Bad Omens are one of the most popular alternative bands on the planet. Tonight, they bring their much-anticipated and widely praised stage show to The Alexandra Palace in London. Add to that the incredibly strong openers they have brought along for the party, and this is one of the most exciting and eclectic UK tours of the year.

Opening up the show is El Segundo, California metalcore monoliths The Ghost Inside. A band whose career will surely one day be made into a movie, it’s easy to root for these guys. Personal circumstances aside, they have created a body of work that should have them amongst the elite of the mid-2000s wave of metalcore bands. What I love about this set is that The Ghost Inside have the melodic tunes to appeal to The Bad Omens faithful, but they weren’t scared to hit the nuclear button on several occasions with absolute dance floor ragers like “Wrath” and “Unspoken.”

They also take this huge opportunity to showcase a fair few tracks from their latest album, Searching For Solace, all of which sound enormous in this grand setting. “Engine 45” was always going to be the most popular and recognisable moment of this 30-minute set. But they cap this victory off with the incredible sledgehammer of a song, “Death Grip,” which sees them go out on a wave of the ground-shaking riffs and glorious breakdowns that got them here. A huge moment for a band who continue to rack up the accolades.

Bilmuri were a band I had admittedly not heard of before this year. Since being introduced to them and, more specifically, their 2024 release American Motor Sports, I have been absolutely chomping at the bit to see them in the live arena. A band who find themselves unburdened by the limitations of genres, given they cover so many of them, they really can play on any lineup and shine. From the country rock vocals to the metalcore guitar riffs and the incredible use of saxophone melodies, they are a melting pot of interesting ideas. The energy and animation they bring to the stage is that of a band tearing it up at a neighbourhood basement party, surrounded by friends and just bringing the fun!

They have a real connection with this crowd and songs like “Empyhanded” and “Fluoridienthehardseltzerwater” both break out into big sing-a-long highlights. They bring bouts of heavy and bursts of easy listening sunshine in equal measure, and it’s hard to imagine anyone not finding something to love about this performance. Personal highlight of the set comes in the form of “The End,” which sounds every bit the anthem it’s become since its release. The legend of Bilmuri has taken another big step, and I can only imagine the best is yet to come.

Bad Omens have been destined to catch fire for quite some time. Having toured with some of the biggest names around for the past ten years and now armed with a catalogue of arena-sized records and a rabid, cult like fan base, it feels like their time is now. The first thing to note is how absolutely enormous a stage show this is. They make use of six screens, each filling the room with seizure-inducing amounts of lights and visuals. Almost every song sees them utilise twenty-foot-high smoke cannons and more pyro than the last season of Game of Thrones. All five chapters of the show are colour-themed and are introduced via Hollywood-quality video packages to set the tone. It really is a spectacle to behold and feels like the last jigsaw piece moving into place for them.

What’s striking in the live setting is the depth of the Bad Omens sound, which is so much more than just a heavy band with catchy songs. They incorporate layers of dark electronica with real hard edge industrial melodies and constantly fluctuating vocals. Songs such as “The Drain” and “Dying To Love” barely hit the heavy button but sound so dense and menacing as they grow.

Each chapter of the show has a perfect mix of the intense and outright crushing, which again perfectly highlights the spectrum of sound this band have in their arsenal. A set full of highlights, it’s songs such as “Nowhere To Go” and “Anything>Human” where they hit a different gear and amalgamate all of their strengths into these perfect moments of musical and visual brilliance.

It feels like nearly two hours of cinematic soundscapes in 4D and by the time they set off what looks like a volcanic eruption of pyro for the encore of “Dethrone,” it’s not only time for this incredible night to come to an end, but to now consider that this won’t be the biggest venue we see Bad Omens headline, this was them cementing themselves in the big time.

Bad Omens Setlist:

Tape 1
1. Specter
2. Glass Houses
3. THE DRAIN
4. THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND

Tape 2
5. Dying to Love
6. CONCRETE JUNGLE
7. Nowhere to Go
8. Limits

Tape 3
9. ARTIFICIAL SUICIDE
10. V.A.N
11. Left For Good
12. ANYTHING > HUMAN (with Jonathan Vigil)
13. What Do You Want From Me?

Tape 4
14. What It Cost
15. Like a Villain
16. Just Pretend

Tape 5
17. Impose
18. Dethrone (Concrete Jungle Chant Intro)