Rock Night - The 1865, Southampton
South Of Salem / The Dark / Crooked Shapes
Live review by; DeeDee
Gallery by; Rockin' Out With...
In these days of restrictions and isolation it’s fair to say us gig goers are suffering. For many of us, a live concert is the only social gathering we look forward to, so when Jodie Bowie decided to brave the plague and put on a socially distanced event, it didn’t take much to get us interested and when the 3 acts were announced, we couldn’t resist. Yes, I was quite apprehensive about getting close to people, especially being indoors at the 1865, but the tables were placed far enough apart and all the correct procedures were in place, like ordering drinks on your phone and wearing a mask if you left your seat. So with a bottle of wine on the table and our own purple lights, it was time to sit back and enjoy.
Our host for the night is the superb Si Genaro, who is soon on stage to introduce the first band, Crooked Shapes a trio from the Reading area. Their set tonight was mainly from the recent ‘Fallout’ EP which was the perfect way to start proceedings. Full of laid back grooves and moody vocals, they manage to hold my attention throughout the entire performance. Of course it’s their first time onstage in front of an audience for a while, but you wouldn’t have guessed it. George Twydell comes across as such a genuine bloke and is the most engaging frontman; he delivers some amazing guitar work as well as having a decent vocal range. Bass guitar is handled by George Ives and drummer Craig Carlaw completes the line up. The songs ‘Wicked Ways’, ‘Let It Go’ and Fall Out’ all from the EP are top notch and are just full of bluesy and passionate riffs. Definitely a band to keep an eye on, head over to their social pages to stay up to date.
https://www.crookedshapes.com/
https://www.facebook.com/crookedshapes
https://www.instagram.com/crookedshapes
https://twitter.com/crookedshapes
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The Dark are a new discovery for me and are led by the tall and charismatic Brandon Ashley, who’s all the way from LA. Brandon has had plenty of experience with previous bands in delivering a sense of anticipation and theatre, so the build up and introduction of The Dark on stage is quite enthralling. The eponymous track from the forthcoming album ‘Hostile Gospel’ (out on 31st October) is first, think industrial metal, Marilyn Manson and some sleazy raunchiness. Combined with the evocative stage gear, Brandon holds a megaphone to enhance the vocals as the single ‘Where’s Your God’ is thrown at us like raw meat to hungry wolves and we love it, the visual effects also stop you in your tracks. After we have heard ‘Black Flag’, ‘Dirty Girl’ and ‘Lost At Sea’ which are belted out taking no prisoners, they finish up with the other single from the new album, ‘Hollywood Grindhouse’. Wow, this is heavy, powerful and totally absorbing stuff, I am left gaping, mouth open in admiration.
Pre-Order the new album now and get instant download to the two singles “Where’s Your God” and “Hollywood Grindhouse”.
Pre-Order Link: https://ingroov.es/hostile-gospel
https://www.thedarkofficial.com/
https://www.facebook.com/thedarkofficial
https://www.instagram.com/thedark.official
https://twitter.com/thedarkmusik
Jodie is summoned to the stage by Si Genaro and is thanked for organising such a tremendous night. She also thanks everyone involved and I must say, she might look diminutive, quiet and unassuming, but Jodie is a brilliant and feisty young lady, her Rock Night is going smoothly and not one thing is overlooked. She also puts together Nozfest and regular gigs in Southampton, so deserves all the credit due.
Time for the headliners, local Bournemouth band South Of Salem. If you haven’t heard of them yet, where have you been during lockdown? Their singles have had hundreds of thousands of views and they are making the headlines in all the right places. The recently released album ‘The Sinner Takes It All’ has had a multitude of praise and has received top marks by all those who have reviewed it (including me!), so to have the opportunity to see them live tonight and to have done the Q&A with them earlier for their fan group The Coven, makes today pretty special.
South Of Salem are introduced by Jodie and immediately crash into ‘Let Us Prey’ the first track from the album. Now I do have to admit that I was a little anxious, after all the hype and how well the album was produced, could these 5 guys cut it on stage? I’ve been around long enough to know that not all bands are adept both live and on record. My fears were soon extinguished, as they rolled out every number from the album, the energy was 100% and the set just flowed with exceptional quality.
In front of family, friends and devoted fans, they appeared at ease, using risers to add extra height and having a four one line up created an exciting and fulfilling show. The audience were clapping and singing along as the tracks varied from ballad and heavy riffing to punchy rock and the cover of Billy Idol’s ’Scream’ was a stroke of genius.
Frontman Joey, holding a classic vintage mic, kept us totally engaged and the twin guitars of Kodi and Fish provided plenty of body and soul to the live performance. Backed up by the impressive Pip on drums and loveable Dee on bass, this is one band that has its destiny already scrawled out in blood.
There is no doubt in my mind that they are going to be on every promoters wanted list by the end of 2021, such is the magnitude of South Of Salem. It’s been a while since a band gained so much weight in so little time, all down to hard work I’m sure, they have been in various bands around Bournemouth for a while, but now joined at the hip in South Of Salem, they have definitely got the mixture right. I won’t say look out for them in the future, because you will be hard pressed to miss them.
South Of Salem are;
Joey - Vocals
Pip - Drums
Dee - Bass
Kodi - Guitar
Fish - Guitar
https://www.facebook.com/southofsalemofficial
https://www.facebook.com/groups/thecovensos
https://www.instagram.com/southofsalemofficial
https://twitter.com/southofsalem1
Summing up the night, well any thoughts of being seated would lessen the atmosphere can be dismissed. The three bands gave it so much, I think they were all relived to play to an audience after so many months and the sets were really mind-blowing. The restrictions haven’t gone away and we may face further lockdowns, so this was a chance to forget about the current situation for a few hours and enjoy what we have missed for most of this year, a thoroughly brilliant night.
5/5
https://www.facebook.com/nozfest/
https://www.instagram.com/nozfest/
https://www.facebook.com/JodieBowie2
https://www.instagram.com/jodiebowie/
https://www.facebook.com/the1865
