Breaking Benjamin // Chevelle // Return To Dust // Live Review // The Telegraph Building // Belfast
Here we are back in Belfast’sTelegraph Building, a glorious industrial building in the heart of Belfast’s city centre. Tonight, we have three killer bands all lined up, ready to rock Belfast for the very first time. Tonight we are here to celebrate Breaking Benjamin’s in our home city, it will be so cool catching these cats live, a band I have admired for many a year and a band that have been grafting since the early days back since their formation back in 1999 they have been clocking up the miles, mostly in North America etc but we finally have them in Belfast this evening and I for one, am going to embrace that like a 14 year old schoolgirl.
In tow, we have two killer bands that I will again be experiencing for the very first time: an old-school rock band formed way back in 1995 by Pete & Sam Loeffler. Another killer band with a serious reputation, it will be wild having them here tonight! 10 Studio Albums, 2025’s ‘Bright As Blasphemy ’, and then as a brucie bonus we also have Return To Dust. Now these cats are seriously fresh, just forming in 2022, dropping their debut full-length in 2024, so they are here to make a statement, no doubt.
It is seriously warm. This one is going to be painful. We’ve had a heatwave for the past few weeks, and at the last gig I was at here, Alter Bridge, I felt like I lost a few pounds in weight that night with the gravy running outta me! But sure, no pain, no gain! Let’s do this. It’s an earlier than usual kick-off here with three bands on the bill, navigating Belfast tonight for some of the punters will be interesting as this weekend is the 12th of July Celebrations here in Northern Ireland, that hundreds of marching bands hitting the streets of Northern Ireland across the provence casuing chaos for travellers wanted to get from A to B. Hopefuly that doesnt impact too much on those hungry rock fans looking more double kick drums than the marching band alternatve!
So we make it down in time, re-routed slightly by the parades, but land in early enough to get parked, down to the Venue and chat chute before heading in for Return To Dust, who land on stage at 7:30 sharp. Thea whips have a thick grungy vibe, like a young Alice In Chains, all the way from California, they know how to deliver on the live stage, and they rock out ta fuck! A savage four-piece that just gets stuck right in and has The Telegraph Building captivated from the off. Their cover of ‘Hey Ya’ by OutKast was a beaut! But their version was a slow burner, and their live set is anything but; they unleash a relentless attack on the senses with a collection of tracks that has everyone in the building grooving their asses off. By the time they wrap up their set, they have the whole of the Tele jumping along. A highly impressive band and one to keep on your radar for 2026 and beyond.
Photography: Mark McGrogan
@flashartmark #flashartmark
A swift changeover and Chevelle take to the stage at 8:20. Boom !!! These guys exploded into a frenetic set, with a gnarly sound and attitude for days; they set the Tele ablaze! I can hear people singing all around me, so they have a sizeable support in the room, as I wasn’t sure how the fanbase this evening would split. Chevelle frontman Pete Loeffler, with his Strat low slung, has an imposing presence on stage. Bassist Kemble Walters holds stage left, commanding one side of the room at his will. The sound of this threesome if gargantuan! They orchestrated the crowd and they follow every instruction to a T, the vibe in the room is just great, there is a quality to Chevelle’s sound that is all their own, Belfast is in fine voice singing every word of every song, it’s surprising to me to see the support in the room but I am sure they will be back soon to build on this for sure. By the time they wrap up a seriously powerful set, the room is like a sweatbox; the heat outside is probably a relief compared to the heat in here! Everyone around me is a mess!
Photography: Mark McGrogan
@flashartmark #flashartmark
Cometh the hour, cometh the band and tonight, Matthew, that band is Breaking Benjamin! The room is ready for a rager; both support acts have laid down an epic foundation for a killer conclusion to this evening. When Breaking Benjamin hit the stage, the room erupted, and my curiosity as to how the split would be for the bands, Chevelle, and the headliner was irrelevant, as I soon discovered that Breaking Benjamin indeed had the room and the support of the 2000-odd fans crammed in. The band have a new member tonight, “Wee Ben” aka Benjamin Burnley’s son “Ben”, who joined the band from the off to play the set and experience life on the road for the band! What an experience for the young lad.
Now, as the room is like 100 degrees inside, the band has taken care of that for themselves, with portable aircon units on stage between each band member around the centre of the stage, both guitarists Keith Wallen and Jason Rauch on either end are free, but it means the stage is very congested, as Ben has a raised platform beside him, as does the bassist Aaron Bruch. So it is cray cray up there, and as a photographer, these stages are high as they are, but with huge bass bins in front of me, raised platforms, and then large aircon units on stage, it means the band doesn’t have the freedom to move as the supports did with a clean stage. Strange choice, but alas, it is what it is. For me, it detracted a little from the energy of their performance, but not the soundtrack. Wee Ben is great; he’s planted centre stage, wailing out the vocals beside his dad as the band rip their way through a powerhouse set of classic tracks, kicking off with ‘I Will Not Bow’, ‘Until The End and ‘Evil Angel’. Belfast cannot get enough, the room is on fire, literally and metophorically, it is bouncing as Belfast appreciates the arrival of this seminal band in the heart of their city, it is 2026 and Belfast has changed over the years since the peace agreemnet that allowed a night such as this to ever happen, the thought that one day I would be attending a gig in Belfast city centre on what fundamentally is The 12th Of July was unthinkable, but today it’s just another day for alot of people, and these people in the room, partying like it is 1999 all over agiain are having the best night of their lives! I can only imagine what the bands made of the spectacle that was Belfast today. As we entered the venue tonight, the queue wrapped around the closed-off street, snaking its way in. Tour bus outside and behind it, hundreds of Orange Order marching bands are making their way back on the return leg of their parades back across Belfast city centre, with thousands of drunk, rowdy onlookers watching on. Quite the contrast to the metalheads lined up outside the Telegraph Building!
But inside, as the set rages on, nobody is thinking about that; they are engrossed with a blistering set by a band that delivers it with precision and a technicality that we all love. Their live sound is huge, the venue majestic against the backdrop of the band’s stage setup and visuals, bathed in glorious light, and the soundtrack that the band tosses out has the Belfast crowd losing their minds. ‘Blow Me Away, ’So Cold’ ‘Dear Agony’ have the room rocking, but when the band wraps up a stellar performance with ‘Dance With The Devil’ and ‘The Diary Of Jane’ the love in the room that the band are receiving has to be a sign that they waited way too long to bring their magic to this corner of the world, but thankfully they did, Belfast finally got to experience what they have been waiting over two decades for and what a night it was. A killer performance, three killer bands, and thankfully nobody died from the heat inside! As we stream out onto the quiet Belfast streets, clambering for air, the atmosphere is jubilant. Memories were made. I can see a kid with a Halo helmet under his arms. This is what it’s all about. He’ll not forget tonight for sure. Legend!
Catch the band on their last two UK dates HERE:
Photography: Mark McGrogan
@flashartmark #flashartmark
