Bring Me The Horizon’s Lee Malia has played some massive crowds. But nothing, apparently, compares to standing in front of a hall full of six-year-olds at his kid’s school.
Speaking to Andertons, the guitarist shared that he recently performed at his daughter’s school for “Rockstar Day”—a themed event where kids dressed up like their favourite rock stars. Naturally, the school called in the real deal.
“I just played them, like, deep-cut Metallica riffs,” Malia said. “To six-year-olds who didn’t have a clue what I [was] playing. It was surreal—but they loved it though.”
According to him, it was more nerve-wracking than a full festival crowd. “Her head teacher asked me to go in and play for all the kids in the school hall,” he explained. “They were all, like, jumping about and stuff. So it was pretty fun.”
Forget pyro, breakdowns, and screaming fans. Apparently a bunch of sugar-charged kids in uniform is where the real pressure kicks in.
Though Malia and the rest of BMTH are gearing up for much larger stages soon. They’re headlining Reading & Leeds this August, topping the bill alongside Chappell Roan, Travis Scott and Hozier. It’ll be their first full headline slot at the twin festivals since 2022, when they played before Arctic Monkeys.
They’ve also locked in a North American arena tour for later this year and will hit the usual Euro-heavyweights—Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, Louder Than Life—through mid to late 2025.
All this follows the release of POST HUMAN: NeX GEn, their long-awaited 2024 record. Between that and frontman Oli Sykes teasing next-level augmented reality visuals for the new live show, BMTH seem less interested in looking back than they are in blowing the roof off whatever’s next.
Still, for Malia, nothing beats standing solo in front of a school hall and praying a Metallica riff lands with a room full of kids who’ve never heard Master of Puppets. I love it.
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