Live review: Beartooth, London Alexandra Palace

“When we first played London, we played to 90 people, now we’re inside this huge fucking room,” screams an elated Caleb Shomo, as his eyes look across the grandeur of Alexandra Palace. For this is Beartooth’s largest ever UK headline show and a good indication of where this band could still yet get. Tonight’s showing is nothing short of extraordinary, as they bring a show so perfectly executed it feels like there is no limit to where they could find themselves.

But before the headline showcase, openers LANDMVRKS are tasked with roughing up the early arrivals. Their assault of widdily guitars, crunching riffs and booming brand of melodic hardcore gets heads bopping and the first few crowdsurfers of the evening, and tracks like Creature and Rainfall feel suitably at home in this room.

Aussie five-piece Polaris have come a long way to be here, and they sure do stamp their mark on proceedings. “We didn’t come here to fuck spiders,” shouts vocalist Jamie Hails as he commands the crowd to split down the middle all the way to the sound desk, which, they gladly accept, as they drop the crunching Dissipate. Later on, The Remedy sees LANDMVRKS’ Florent Salfati return to the stage for a second dose of the action, which helps see out a set that is as much frenetic as it is immense.

LED screens adorn the stage as a countdown starts ticking down, before Beartooth erupt from side-stage and fire into The Surface as confetti fires across the crowd. The celebration of their biggest-ever UK show starts from the outset and the party is instigated by a band incessant on taking no prisoners.

Seemingly trying their hardest to singe the eyebrows of everyone from the front to the sound desk, Caleb does his best Duke Nukem impression with a futuristic-looking robotic gun firing flames into the air, all backed by perfectly timed pyro for Bad Listener.

After the blazing assault of Hated, the band partake in a crunching jam before the lights go out and Caleb appears by the sound desk with an acoustic guitar in hand. After saying this is the greatest night of his life, he leads a mass sing-along to a cover of The Killers’ Mr Brightside, before dedicating an emotional Look The Other Way to "my beautiful wife” Fleur.

The tempo is quickly turned on its head again when the frontman returns to the main stage for a closing rally of The Lines, Sunshine and In Between all backed by more fire, confetti and scenes of anarchy as members of the audience surf their way to the front.

Tonight feels like there is a lot riding on whether Beartooth can step up to headline venues of this stature. Not only do they pass this test with flying colours, it also feels like a moment – a gig that fans will be talking about for years to come. Fair fucking play, Beartooth.

Read this:

• The rise of Beartooth, as told through their most important gigs
  
• Beartooth: “Life is about loving the process, loving all the different seasons and the ups and downs”
• Beartooth’s Caleb Shomo: The 10 songs that changed my life