Former Attack Attack guitarist Johnny Franck, more commonly known now as Bilmuri has been touring the US these past two months with his band after the release of their latest album “AMERICAN MOTOR SPORTS” and made a stop in Orlando, FL at The Plaza Live this past Tuesday.
To begin the night, direct support opening for Bilmuri on the second leg of this tour was Orlando local band 408. I have never heard any of their music prior to the show but they definitely left a lasting impression and put on a set that left me interested in wanting to listen more. Starting with super high energy and keeping the energy all the way until the end of their set while sounding great all night really set the mood for everyone in the building as they awaited Bilmuri to take the stage. The third song of their set was a more recent release the band put out in May with a feature from the vocalist of “We The Kings” Travis Clark, “Ultimatum” and to the surprise of everyone in the venue they brought Travis out on to the stage where he would not only join the band for “Ultimatum” but also stay on to join the band covering “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers. They ended their set with a couple of their heavier songs which they called for a pit for but venue security quickly put an end to that leading to boos from the crowd towards security but nothing but applause for the band.
With only one opener, it was already time for Bilmuri to take the stage after 408’s set was done. Immediately beginning the set with high energy, Johnny would be the last to run on the stage and the band would begin their set with the opening two tracks to AMERICAN MOTOR SPORTS, “BETTER HELL (Thicc boi)” and “EMPTYHANDED”. The band kept their high energy all night long and put on as close to a perfect sounding set as I could imagine. Even with the country sound Bilmuri songs carry, the guitar tone was some of the thickest I’ve heard live and the jazz like elements brought by saxophone & flute player Gabi Rose all tied together seamlessly and sounded phenomenal live. In between songs Johnny and the rest of the band would joke with each other over the microphones or just say something completely random and funny out of nowhere like “skibbidy toilet” presenting the funniest concert set I’ve ever seen leading to laughs and great entertainment even outside of the music. All together, Bilmuri put on one of the most memorable concert sets I’ve had the pleasure of not only shooting photos of but even just having the pleasure of seeing. Even though the venue security wouldn’t allow crowd surfing or moshing even though Johnny kept calling for a pit over the microphone and every time one got formed it was quickly stopped, the crowd was into the music and entertainment brought by both bands all night long and I really hope Bilmuri returns to Florida again soon.
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