Gig season is well and truly upon us, and though the Utilita Arena Cardiff is a little quieter than usual, spirits are high for tonight. One of the first things I notice is that this seems to be a ‘family-friendly’ evening, with plenty of kids out and about with their parents to see Volbeat and Bush. More on this later.
Volbeat – Bush
Utilita Arena Cardiff – 6 November 2025
Words And Photography: Georgia Brittain
I arrive in time for Bush to take the stage, and honestly, I do not know anything about these guys. I have seen mixed reviews online, and a couple of people have told me to make sure I check them out when I mentioned coming here tonight.
Folks on the barrier across the entire walkway stage are singing along to everything, and the vocals are some of the best-sounding vocals I have ever heard the arena put out there (The Utilita is famous for its horrific sound mixing and acoustics).
Bush are not really a band I would usually listen to. But once I have ‘togged my songs and head back to a quiet area to take a seat, the breakdown of their fourth song, More Than Machines, instantly grabs my attention.
I am a sucker for heavy breakdown, which makes you do that ‘stank’ face. As Bush go on throughout the set, I realise I am really enjoying the riffs they are putting out there, and I need to check them out further. 
One song does come on that I recognise, at which Google Song Finder [What’s the official name of that feature?] tells me is Come Together. I’m trying to figure out where I have heard it, and realise my memory really does fail me at times. It is their cover of The Beatles. Anyone who was not interested in Bush is now.
Ultimately, Bush are a great warm-up for our headliners, and absolutely fit the hard rock vibe of this bill.
Volbeat
Time for Volbeat to take the stage, and they open up with The Devil’s Bleeding Crown. Now, admittedly again, I do not know much of Volbeat, but this is one of my Spotify Liked Songs. I have seen them a couple of times before, at festivals and supporting bands like Alter Bridge, and I liked what I’ve seen, which is my whole reason for coming down here tonight.
Michael Poulsen has a unique voice which somehow sounds better live than it does on recording. For the third song, we get a little taster of some Johnny Cash, with the band breaking out into a little tribute of Ring of Fire.
We are only teased with the first verse and a bit of the chorus before we go into Sad Man’s Tongue. This is not before we are told that no, it’s not a tribute to Johnny Cash, they did in fact, just steal the song.
Being a massive JC fan myself, I instantly burst out laughing, and recognised the tune as Johnny’s Falsom Prisom Blues. Another to add to my playlist.
There are plenty of microphones placed around the walkway stage tonight, with the whole band ensuring every part of the crowd gets some interaction. The crowd erupts as they announce Wales as “the loudest crowd of any tour we have ever had,” a compliment we are used to having frequently, if I do say so myself. 
As I take another seat in a quiet spot, I find myself enjoying watching everyone vibing to the show. Next, it’s time for In The Barn Of The Goat Giving Birth To Satan’s Spawn In A Dying World Of Doom. The song title being announced itself grabs my attention, and I cannot help but laugh at hearing the most rockabilly riff ever to the most Metal sounding song title I have ever heard.
This is not to say it is bad. Quite frankly, it stuck out the most to me, and I added it to my playlist there and then. It does eventually drop into something a bit more of what you would expect in terms of a heavy riff, and this is a great gateway into their next song, By A Monster’s Hand.
We get a couple more songs, and Die To Live gets the entire crowd around me doing some sort of jive along, which makes me smile. Clearly a fan favourite, this one.
For Evight gets the arena lit up with torch lights, and a couple in front of me use some free space to slow dance together, which absolutely warms my heart. I watch them more than the band at this point, but I just love how music brings people together, and I love even more how they do not care if anyone is watching.
Before we go into Still Counting, we are told, “I’ve noticed there’s a lot of kids here tonight,” [note my family-friendly comment from earlier]. Every kid in the room is called up to the stage and allowed to stay on for the song.
I do laugh at how a lot of them instantly get nervous and stand there, but find myself cheering for the three headbanging, singing and loving life with this once in a lifetime opportunity.
I laugh even more when I remember the first lyrics are “Counting all the assholes in the room,” with Michael pointing at the kids behind him.
Ultimately, it has been a great night, with lots of new music to add to my playlist. If you ever need a sign to go and check out that band you have only heard one or two songs of, this is it.
It will not be my last time going to see Volbeat on a headline tour.
