Playing a festival on home turf, Wet Leg delivered a set worthy of their #1 smash album. We also heard a rumour that their next album is ready, but we didn’t manage to get hold of any scoops – so we’re waiting to find out more, just like you. The five-piece line-up let the songs […]
In the recently updated Sherling Studio in Poole’s Lighthouse arts center, The Trials of Cato played a set full of old favourites and material from their forthcoming album, Gog Magog. The songs from Hide and Hair appeared with adjustments, not just by incorporating Polly Bolton’s voice and skillful mandolin playing, but also with adjusted instrumentation; […]
With Hot Milk benched on doctor’s orders, the warm-up was tasked to the very capable Los Angeles band, Bitters. They gave us a short but slick collection of mainly mid-paced alt-pop rockers with really great sonic moments. Their stand-out track was the excellent ‘Stole Your Car’, which really popped on Bournemouth’s O2 Academy stage, with […]
For those in lockdown who are currently experiencing March 276th 2020, the painful withdrawals for live music are behind us and we are now firmly into the numb lifelessness of live-less music. However, Kerrang have saved the day with their K! Pit live sessions and this performance from Salem felt like the real thing. Their […]
Tucked within the very core of The Anvil in Basingstoke, The Forge is an intimate venue with superb clarity of sound. These two traits make it the perfect place to catch The Trials of Cato on their UK tour. Beginning with ‘These are the Things’, songs made familiar by their Hide and Hair album formed […]
The New Forest Fairy Festival in Burley is a whole collection of things including music, entertainment, stalls, food, and an explosion of fancy-dress. In this short article, we are going to race through some of the music and leave the rest, such as the live-action Mermaid show, to your imagination. The music was split across […]
The Mono Jacks strolled onto the stage, basking in the glow of the setting April sun, and stunned me with a set full of sparkling rock and emotive post-punk. This is a band that know about rise and fall, with melodic crystalline moments melting into pumping melancholic rock. Andrei Zamfir’s guitars trickle echoing counter melodies […]
It’s a shame that my old boss James could not get to this ATP. He is a big Neutral Milk Hotel fan and the truest thing that could be said of an ATP Festival is that if you like just some the bands that are playing you will have a hell of a time. People […]
Having taken the South By South West festival by storm as part of their most recent assault towards world domination, Southampton heroes Dlugokecki made a more than welcome return to home shores with a relaxed acoustic set at The Railway Inn. Mod upstarts The Queue got the evening off to a raucous start with an […]
There’s a lot of respect for the Open Room lads, not least for landing the job of opening for Delays but for doing it justice. Sounding out electronic beats immersed in indie, they’re not unlike the headliners, but could be easily patched as a smartly dressed Enter Shikari. They’re a youthful group but boast some […]
There was definitely a party atmosphere at The Wedgewood Rooms for the launch of Mike TV’s debut album and things were already busy before the first band took to the stage. Bigtopp opened the night with a bouncy ska sound with a fantastic brass section. The front man did a great job of each song […]
Mes Memoires had already been hard at work tapping up the crowd for their set, so they had a big audience to impress when they stepped on stage at Camden’s Barfly. Two acoustic guitars and two voices combine to great effect and with songs that added some cocky artyness to Billy Bragg style social commentary. […]
Kunk landed on stage at Hamptons in Southampton mid-way through a tour promoting their new single, ‘We Are Not Who You Think We Are’. With a set consisting of a variety of original rock-a-la-punk material as well as some well-placed covers, Kunk’s three-vocal attack kept things right on the edge throughout their set. Whether it […]
The perfect choice for a festive night, youthful Jonny Dare filled the stage with tinkling electro-indie and funky trumpets. Slow starting, but quickly shaking off any dreariness with their Pogues style xylophone. Six members, and a collection of instruments including a mandolin and accordion, left them pretty rigid and lacking enough on stage energy and […]
When you attend a live performance several hundred feet above the ground in a glass fronted tower, you can’t help but feel that this type of gig doesn’t happen very often. On this occasion though, the Spinnaker Tower show follows on from performances on the Mersey ferry, Blackpool Tower and Stonehenge and the next gig […]
As if the heatwave hadn’t reduced everybody to a dried husk already, the packed out Unit 22 in Southampton supplied new heights to the hot season. Spare a thought then, for the bands that had to endure the kebab-cooking stage lights. Chris Bath was first up, playing a set of acoustic songs with jagged guitar […]
With no shortlist, nominations, or judges’ decisions, The Mag Awards’ winners were a truly public selection. The Talking Heads in Southampton was the host for live performances from three of the winners as well as some on-the-knuckle comedy from Toupe front-man Grant Sharkey. Both Kat Vipers (London) and Mary (Denmark) made the trip to Southampton […]
With a splitting headache to contend with, it was anybody’s guess as to whether I’d survive the first band, let alone the whole night. Nevertheless, I entrenched myself in one of the little cubby-holes at the back of the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth and prepared myself for the worst. As it happens, things kick off […]
It’s not often you turn up at 6pm and squeeze yourself between shelves full of DVDs to watch a band, but for a special occasion you don’t mind hanging out with the likes of ‘Time Bandits’, or ‘A Life Less Ordinary’ (both selling at £5 by the way), and the Mayor of Southampton, who is […]
An unsigned UK band playing support to American rock legends and totally annihilating the headliners? If you think this could never happen in 2007, then you are in for a shock because last night Red Star Rebels have decimated LA Guns with their take-no-prisoners performance on the first night of the LA Guns / Red […]
OTT Promotions has kick-started 2007 with a brilliant show at Camden’s Purple Turtle on January 13th featuring an interesting line-up of new, young, and hungry underground rock-scene bands, all sprung up to compete for attention in the last few years. Headlined by masters of historicism Kid Ego, whose music is an eclectic mix of several […]
It’s been ages since I’ve been to The Joiners. The winter period tends to bring an increase in arena-sized gigs and a decrease in small venue tours, and this little place is a pleasant change from the grandeur of my recent visits to Brighton Centre and Bournemouth BIC. The initial instinct is to hang around […]
During 2006 I have seen hundreds of bands, some very good, others not so, but very few that seem daring enough to create something truly unique. Anon, however, offers something refreshingly different. This is not music to sit back and play in the background; these are tunes that demand the attention of all who listen. […]
With the stage decked out in tinsel, the new record deal with Fiction signed and sealed and the challenging interview all in the bag, it was time to get down to the business of entertaining a capacity crowd at Southampton’s Guildhall. I have no shame in saying that Dead!Dead!Dead! are the most exciting unsigned band […]