First to perform at the intimate venue – The Cellar, Southampton – were Grenades, a Winchester based quartet who called themselves “the local losers”. Surprised by the filled room of spectators, the band seemed rather overwhelmed by the acknowledgement.Claiming Nirvana as their inspiration, when a local hand-banger shouted band names at them, the Grenades joked that all their music had “been recorded on their phone and put onto Soundcloud”. ‘The Mark of Cain’ showcased lead vocalist Django Black’s abilities as both a slow and gritty vocalist. Merging screaming vocals with a lighter tone, the vocalist capturing the audience’s attention. The scream wasn’t screechy – it was tuneful, catchy and playful – a pleasant surprise. Other tracks included- ‘The Rapture’ and ‘Santa Maria’. During the ‘Santa Maria’ performance the lead vocalist lost a guitar strong – one of many things that happened but didn’t distract the band from their solid performance.
Next up were The Wytches. The dark and mysterious trio entered the stage in a mellow manner, retuning their guitars between each track which seemed to split one song performance from the next. The guitar reverb is perhaps what distinguishes the band as individual. Their tracks are playful, witchy and very dark. Relentless drum beats and scream vocals emphasise the general alien-like sound. Performing one of their most recognised tracks – ‘Gravedweller’ – The Wytches ooze an effortless presence which some onlookers seem to disconnect from. However, the majority of people watching were entranced and appreciated the heavy but slow instrumental. Finishing their set with Crying Clown, a song which embraced a duo of gritty vocals and raw low vocals in a live environment, the band finished with a seemingly split audience reaction.
It was that time of night. After waiting for what seemed like hours for them to set up, Pulled Apart By Horses entered the stage to what seemed like a huge crowd reaction from such a small venue. ‘Meat Balloon’, began tonights performances, causing a huge crowd eruption in the form of a circle pit. Lead vocalist, Tom Hudsons shouted that it was a “pleasure to be back”, after telling the crazy individuals in the mosh pit to watch out for the stairs as some girl fell down them during their set last year!
Next came ‘V.E.N.O.M’, which caused an even bigger crowd reaction. As a response to the warm welcome and electronic atmosphere Tom yelled: “Apologies to Brighton yesterday because this is pissing all over that”… leading to crowd chants “F*ck Brighton”. Laughing at this response and probably regretting his previous comment, the vocalist launched into the next track. The atmosphere kept increasing throughout the night, especially during some of the band’s finest tracks including ‘I Kicked A Lion In The Throat’ and ‘E= MC Hammer’.
Of course, what would any performance be without a birthday cake and then a celebratory stage dive? It was Ron’s birthday so the whole crowd sang happy birthday while he laughed in shock.
