Tuomaslotte's Best Live Shows of 2010

This year I saw quite a lot of local gigs which is nice since you're not spending so much money for an big arena gig and trying to get to the venue somewhere that seems like a distant land to you. Here they are in chronological order :D

Lostprohets @ Southampton Guildhall 26/2/2010 - I have been a fan of Lostprophets since Liberation Transmission so I was estatic when I heard they will be coming to Southampton Guildhall to do a live show; even though me and my cousin were seated we still had an awesome time listening to the music. When favourites such as It's Not The End Of The World, Burn Burn and Town Called Hypocrisy we were singing a long like mad. I was suprised but mega chuffed that they performed my ever favourite Lostprophets song Can't Catch Tomorrow. I've just found that one of the support acts were Kids In Glass Houses; after seeing a fantastic live set from them I hope to hear more from them. Hope to see Lostprophets again real soon.

HIM and Dommin @ Bournemouth O2 Academy 18/3/10 - I will say now I am a massive fan of the goth rock scene; dark lyrics with haunting melodies that send shivers down your spine I just love it. Anyways I went to this gig by myself but when I entered the venue I completely forgot about that since I loved warm welcoming vibe the O2 Academy brought; I went to buy some merchandise first before finding the best possible spot to see the bands. Once I did the lights went down for the first band Dommin were due to play first; I had only heard a few songs by Dommin that I really loved so I was looking forward to their set. The smoke made their entrance mysterious, which say a lot about the band, soon the drums were heard; the opening song New was about to play. This entrance was definately one of the best I had seen; they then played one favourite song after another. My Heart Your Hands, Tonight and personal favourite Dark Holiday all performed beautifully. Their closing number I Just Died (In Your Arms Tonight) was just fantastic; the whole crowd were singing along. Waiting for HIM patiently my excitement was gradually buiding up; those particular moments where you are waiting for a band you love to come on stage just make you realise how much you actually love the band. Suddenly the last went to down; my excitement was almost ready to be released. A love song from the 50s played which at the end of HIM appeared and the first few bars of Like St Valentine were heard. From that I knew HIM were well underway. It was truly a wonderful wonderful set; they played classics such as Kiss Of Dawn, Wings Of A Butterfly and Funeral of Hearts along with new album ones such as Heartkiller, Scared To Death and Love The Hardest Way. It was during HIM's set I had met the band Dommin which was amazing; they were so lovely and down to earth. This was definately a magical concert with two brilliant bands.

The Bon Jovi Experience @ The Brooke; Southampton 14/8/10 - This was a couple of months after I had seen Bon Jovi at The O2 Arena. I thought this was a great way to spend a night out with the girls; a lively warm venue, a bar and a band playing tribute to world wide superstars who still rule the earth today with anthemic hits since It's My Life, You Give Love A Bad Name, Bed Of Roses and the show stopper Livin On A Prayer. The lights went down and the girls started to scream, it was as if Bon Jovi were appearing on stage since the frontman looked so much like Jon Bon Jovi. One anthemic hit after another this night will definately be one I will never ever forget.

New Device @ The Edge Of The Wedge; Portsmouth 15/9/10 - One of my bands of 2010 and hope to see more of in the new year; this gig was my second time seeing them after an outstanding set at The Soul Cellar in Southampton. Wondering down a lonely street trying to find this intimate cosy venue was definately worth it; it was this night where I watched and listened to the south's best up an coming bands. With the likes of MG & The Juggernaughts jumpy, bouncy guitar solos, Toxic Shock's sucessful debut, The Light Divided's melodic, heartfelt tunes and New Device's energetic performance were all enough to make this gig one of Tuomaslotte's best live shows of 2010.



In Darklight @ The Hobbit; Southampton 8/10/10 - Another one of my bands of 2010; seeing them at the same Soul Cellar gig as New Device and loving what they had to offer I went to any gig I could get to. This one will always stick out in my mind as being one of the best with their fresh indie boy look and sound. I loved this enjoyable set of alternative, experimental rock songs that you can just hum to and it's amazing these guys also took a few minutes to sign the album I had bought along. Along with other bands from their record label Angry Badger they are one of the south's best up and coming bands; I think this gives them a great start for 2011. 

Dear Superstar @ The Joiners; Southampton 10/12/10 - I wrote a review about this recently; I meant it when I said this was the best gig of 2010 for me. Everything about this gig was just amazing; the lively warm atmosphere, each band performed a distinguished performance and a lot of pleasant people. It was also at this gig where I saw a sight that will definately make history of fans ways to get the attention of bands; the ultimate mosh pyramid, a human pyramid made up of those crazy rockers who moshed to Jenna's Revenge.

Fighting with Wire @ The Joiners, Southampton 5/11/10

My main intention yesterday at The Joiners was to see The Light Divided, I'm usually good with checking out the other bands before I go to a gig but this time didn't. In some ways I thought it was better, since I was suprised on how blown away I could be by bands I knew absoulutely nothing about.

Anyways, me and a friend arrived a little bit later then intended...well I suppose it's better than standing out in the freezing cold waiting to get in. We went in to see the opening band The Longest Day, I looked around and I saw some of the people singing along to their stuff and dancing, so I could tell they were quite popular in their local area. I could see why, they were very good at passing their energetic vibe to the audience of rockers including me, as I mentioned before I love bands who show energy and passion in their performance. These guys definately kept up the brilliant reputation of bands from Southern England. I got an EP too, which I shall listen to so expect to see a post about that soon.

http://www.myspace.com/longestdayuk

Next to play were The Light Divided, now I had seen them before support New Device and loved their performance. I had also listened to their EP, so I was looking forward to some of their songs of the EP being performed. I found myself singing along to a very studio like sound of Bad Blood and my personal favourite on the EP Who We Are, I recognised the older ones they performed at a previous gig. They also looked like they were having fun on stage, smiling as they played for their fans who were either singing along or head banging to their tunes. I also liked the idea of guitarist Chris getting phone numbers from whoever enjoyed their performance to let them know when the next local gig is. They were also more than happy to sign things and pose for photos with fans.

http://www.myspace.com/thelightdivided

Belfast rockers More Than Conquerors were the main support band before Fighting With Wire, I was immediately hooked to their bouncy tunes that seemed lighthearted and mellow at first but then it started to turn into some intense heavy rock that you could just go plain crazy and mosh to. This was unexpected and I frickin loved that. Even though the mosh pit was small, I loved how lead singer Kris Platt got invloved in the action, I think he pushed me at one point :P Their set was just to EPIC for words, so I was wondering if Fighting With Wire were going to be as good as that. I signed up for their mailing list immediately and I bought an EP, which you should see a post about soon.

http://www.myspace.com/morethanconquerorsni

Last band along this epic line up of bands were headliners Fighting With Wire, I had only heard one song by them on MySpace that morning and liked what I heard. I also heard from others on how good they were so I was looking forward to it, I was not let down. For the first song the crowd immeditately started to go abosoulutely mental, I just love bands who can get the audience pumped up on the first few seconds of the opening song of the set, that is pure perfection for any band. I love their Foo Fighteresque melodies, riff and bouncy tunage that just leaves you feeling great, there was one brutal mosh pit after another. I personally love mosh pits, elbowing guys that are about twice your size it just makes you feel great, I'm suprised I didn't wake up with bruises today :P I look forward to listening to their album I bought last night too :D

http://www.myspace.com/fightingwithwire

Overall I loved the generally lively atmosphere for all the bands that played last night, this wasn't just for the bands but it was for the evening in general. In between bands it was great meeting lots of people including some of the bands, last night reminded me why The Joiners is my favourite music venue in Southampton. Unfortunately could not take as many photos of each band as I usually would....


NOTE TO SELF BRING SPARE BATTERY FOR CAMERA!!!! :P

The Light Divided - Who We Are EP

This band supported New Device on their southern tour recently and I loved their performance. When I heard they were from Southampton that explained a lot of things, Southampton is well known for their reputation for good young fresh rock bands and these guys keep this reputation up. I was excited when I recieved their EP and was not dissapointed, their catchy melodys and riffs kept my ears pricked at all times. I also loved Dave Whiteman's clear vocals throughout, sounding like Ian Watkins duetting with Patrick Stump. I'll shall be seeing these guys live at one of my favourite music venues The Joiners which I can't wait for

New Device @ The Edge of the Wedge, Portsmouth 15/9/10

This is my first gig review, I want to be a music journalist when I'm older so I writing these for practise. Any hints and tips will be great  

Energy, passion and perfection are THE three words that sum up a mind blowingly awesome performance from every single band that performed tonight. Particularly headliners New Device who recently supported Bon Jovi on their 20 day residency tour at The 02 Arena, London to 23,000 people. 

The night kicked off with Bournemouth rockers MG and the Juggernaut, I personally really enjoyed their performance with Led Zeppelin like guitar solos, the bounciness in their songs and clear vocals from the boys. Their unique approach to music also got my attention, can definitely see a bright future for these guys.

Next up to play were local boys Toxic Shock playing their debut gig. They did a wonderful job getting the crowd hyped up with their energetic and passionate performance, they definitely deserved the positive reception they got that evening and did very well at their first gig.

Southampton rockers The Light Divided were the last support band to play an enjoyable set. I have seen some talented upcoming bands from Southampton such as Statement Code, TenFourAndOut! and Chromatones, these guys kept up Southampton’s great music reputation with bouncy songs that made you want to dance and head bang.

Last but not least, New Device. I’d seen them once before in Southampton and I thought they were so good that I’d come see them again at another local venue in Portsmouth. They kicked off with the ever energetic songs Make My Day, Never Say Never and On Fire, which definitely warmed up the crowd for some good old classic rock. The tone of evening smoothly transformed into a calmer atmosphere with the power ballad In the Fading Light, I find this is a great song to chill out too and it makes you smile at the same time, those are the key elements for a great classic rock ballad. Their new single Seven Nights, Seven Bodies was played to perfection with its catchy chorus and the fans singing back, I had recently seen a preview of the video and liked what I saw so I was looking forward to this song being played. It was nice surprise to see that they performed You’ve Got It Coming, which they had never done before, so I was very excited since it is my personal favourite on the album and I loved dancing to it live as well as in my bedroom. Finishing with show stopper and crowd pleaser Takin Over which describes the band perfectly...they are definitely Takin Over, I can definitely see these guys headlining a stadium concert at The 02 Arena or a big festival such as Sonisphere in a few years time since for every single song they showed so much passion and energy, which I personally really admire. After the show I watched and smiled as they were more than happy to sign things from tickets to t-shirts, pose for photos and talk to fans, I spent quite a bit of time with them too and can honestly say they are the nicest, most down to earth guys you could ever meet. I am so so glad I came to see them again this year; their performance blew me away once again and I look forward to seeing them soon.