Nozfest 2022
- Rock Media UK
- Aug 14, 2022
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 4, 2022
Saturday 13th August
The 1865 Southampton Live review by; Mark Photos by; Rockin' Out With...
Whilst big festivals can be good for seeing the biggest bands it's the small festivals which really have the intimate and friendliest of atmospheres. Nozfest at The 1865 in Southampton definitely falls into this category.
As a venue The 1865 is ideal for rock music - it's well set out, has a great sound (massive kudos to the guys running the sound desk and lighting) and has a well priced bar. Crucially during a heatwave it also has air conditioning - brilliant for the 300+ fans predominantly wearing black.
This year's Nozfest had an extremely high calibre of bands from start to finish and promised to be a cracking day.
Unfortunately the first band who were due on, Ethyrfield, succumbed to coronavirus and were unable to attend but they were replaced by the irrepressible The Outlaw Orchestra. From the outset Rocker Dave had the crowd in the palm of his hand with a mix of comments and quips between songs. Their Southern Rock mix had the crowd bouncing from the outset and personally I found it to be one of the best opening sets to a festival I have seen, although I'm not sure the suggestion of renaming the band "The Fluffers" will be a good move.
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Next up were Dead Man's Whiskey. I've seen these guys play on many occasions and I thought this was one of their best sets (albeit too short). The second from last song was "Make You Proud" and at the end of the song singer Nico Rogers left the stage to hug someone in the crowd to whom the song elicited a huge emotional response. The song is obviously personal to Nico (and I will happily admit its made my eyes watery in the past) and to see him engage with a fan like this is the best example of what rock music and the rock community are all about.
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Third on the bill were the excellent Gallows Circus. For stand-in guitarist Joel Gibbons this was only his second gig, but he played like a seasoned professional. Ending with Hells Whiskey and singer Ian Day holding a note for longer than a human should be capable of, the crowd were definitely bouncing and in awe of the calibre of performances they'd seen so far.
With the bar being set higher and higher by every band next up were Scarlet Rebels. Again this is another band I've seen a lot of recently and always deliver a great show, but somehow they managed to find yet another gear and delivered a set which many in the crowd (myself included) said was one of the very best they've seen.
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Next up on the bill was a bitter sweet set. It was my first time seeing Western Sand and as the band announced this was their last show as they move forward with a new project. If this blistering set of Southern influenced rock is anything to go by then I'd strongly suggest keeping an eye and ear out for Blackwater Redemption. When Tyler said it had come time for the last song it was met by a cacophony of disappointed boos, which the band proudly exclaimed was the first time they'd been booed off stage, and after their set, including a cracking cover of Mississippi Queen, I am absolutely certain is correct.
The Hot Damn followed next, who unfortunately I missed most of their set having gone out for something to eat (unfortunately the food vendor who had been booked for outside the venue cancelled at the 11th hour). I did get back in time to hear the now legendary merch song though (and I am still to buy the cat a hat) and see Brad Marr from Massive modelling their merch, as well as their next single "Live Laugh Love" which is definitely a tongue twister.
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Collateral should have been next on, but sadly they too had succumbed to coronavirus at the last minute which had left the organisers with no time to bring in a replacement.
So after a bit of a gap we came to the final three band run in. Starting this was Florence Black, who brought their A game as usual. For a three piece these guys have a superb variation in sound and as a long time fan I'm ecstatic that they are just going from strength to strength. The final sing along to "Sun and Moon" had seemingly the whole audience singing along.
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Special guests for the day were Massive, who are now playing in the UK for the first time in 4 years. Singer Brad Marr epitomised the true rock and roll and never say die spirit when he explained the traumas with visas (which sadly stopped guitarist Ben Laguda joining them on tour) and injuries to normal bass player Brenton Kewish meaning that previous dates on their tour have had Deggy from Gorilla Riot subbing on bass. However tonight's bass player was none other than Laurie Buchanan from The Hot Damn, swapping lead guitar for the four string variety. As if these things weren't bad enough Brad's microphone failed after 1 song (and he broke a string on his acoustic guitar later in the set). Did any of this knock the band out of their stride or impact their performance? Not in the very least. Massive are a band who don't ever give less than 110% and in singer Brad have one of the best front men in music. Rock and Roll on high octane jet fuel. And then came the other side of the band - drummer Andrew Greentree walking through the cloud to collect donations for an appeal to help a young girl who has stage 4 cancer (whilst Brad sang Bohemian Rhapsody using his electric guitar rather than acoustic as planned - those pesky breaking strings). Brad may say that Massive aren't an activist group but doing this shows that this is a band who wear their hearts on their sleeves (look up their post on Facebook concerning Kayla's fund raising campaign).
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Headliners for the day were Mason Hill, hot from playing a hot and sweaty gig the night before at Leo's Red Lion and therefore being ever so thankful for the air conditioning here. Every song in the set was a crowd pleaser and saw the audience singing along, even to their "new" song "Freaking Out". All too quickly the set was over and a very happy crowd drifted put of the venue.
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As a festival this was a great day and the organisers should take all of the credit for putting on a well run event. It did seem that the sets for the bands were all too short and the curfew of 11pm does limit things a little (if the only bad thing about a festival is that it didn't go on long enough then that's a good day!). Now to wait until next year's bands are announced and tickets go on sale - this was first time here but not my last.
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