Kicking off the evening was a London based band called LoveLess. They seemed to be a good selection for starting off the night and got the crowd going. They moved about a lot and took full advantage of the ‘ego’ step that had been placed centre stage. The lead singer I must admit did remind me a little of Manson without the make-up, but he was rocking out all the same. Great start!
Second on stage was Miss Vincent. Well what can I say, it’s rare to see a band that sound as good live as they do via a studio. Lead singer Alex Marshall made the stage his own and used all of the space he was given. Through the lights and messy hair, his bright blue eyes were piercing the hearts of all the teenage girls watching him. The set was a perfect mixture of punchy riffs and catchy melodies. Lawrie Pattison was pulling all the right guitar faces on the left whilst oozing coolness, Owain Mainwaring was smouldering on the Bass and Jack Donnelly was wailing on the drums like his life depended on it. All members were making a good connection with the crowd and it was a great atmosphere. It was a fun and energetic performance that I would happily go and see again.
The main support for the night shocked me a bit. Whilst they were good, I think they should have possibly been given second slot instead. They are a Scottish rock band called Vukovi. Whilst Janine Shilstone (Lead vocals) had a great rapport with the crowd and engaged them well, her vocals didn’t seem strong enough to match the heavy riffs the band were kicking out and was drowned out a bit. She was holding a lot of notes throughout the set and combined with her snake like arm movements, reminded me a bit of Enya meets rocks. However, she was fun to watch and really funny in between songs, but I just didn’t feel that this specific performance warranted main support. I will bear in mind though that they were almost at the end of the tour, so perhaps that may have affected things a bit. I will say that Vukovi were certainly leading in audience participation for the night.
So after adjourning to get more drinks and have a quick fag break, I made my way back to the stage where floods of teenage girls were ready and waiting for FVK. It was incredible to see; one girl even had a photo pillow and with her dad in tow, was following the guys round for their tour. Dads are awesome creatures aren’t they.
So, all of a sudden…a bit of smoke filled the stage and suddenly a scream was emitted from the front row, so loud and high that dogs all over Southampton could hear it! It was now, the main event, Fearless Vampire Killers had come to Talking Heads to show us what they were about. And my god did they! The whole set was very cleverly executed as Laurence and Kier swapped lead vocals throughout. Not only was this providing more diversity to their sound, but it was giving them time to recover and then come in again with the same energy for their next song. This kept the atmosphere at a really energetic and excitable level for the whole thing! The whole room was moving and immersed in the experience from start to finish.
Showcasing some great hooks, smooth licks, heavy riffs and catchy refrains; it’s easy to see why FVK are continuing to hit the rock scene like a sledge hammer. Before going, I was a little apprehensive about if I’d like them live, but I was reassured of the latter after their first song. Laurence seems to put across the deep and meaningful tracks really well, he has great expression and a theatrical presence on stage. Kier seems to suit the outright loud party tracks. It’s a really great combo to see. Musically, they’re a really tight band and all make the final product with their individual skills on and off the stage. Where ever you looked, something was going on and where ever you stood, you could always see something fun. No one stood still and just ‘did their job’; they all put on a show for their fans. And if the great music and the great showmanship wasn’t enough, on the final song the stage was rushed by all the bands on the bill. It turned into one huge party and left the crowd wanting more! Once the show had finished all the bands came front of house and thanked people for coming, signed books etc and posed for photos. It was lovely to see the humility amongst all the bands, despite the queues of fans waiting for them.
It was the first gig I had been to in a while that I can honestly say, I enjoyed the whole thing from start to finish. I would strongly recommend checking out all the bands on the bill.
