Voice FM Halloween Party

NEW DEVICE

TOXIC SHOCK, EVERLONG AND BASECAMP

THE TALKING HEADS, SOUTHAMPTON 30/10/2013

Things were certainly spooky at the Voice FM Halloween Party featuring some ghoulishly great music from four fantastic bands!

First up were rockers Basecamp, I was surprised to walk into the stage area to find out how young they were. As well as performing some fantastic covers of well-known songs such as Firework and Still Into You, they performed some of their own material. Writing good songs is no easy task yet they pulled it off so well.  Finding out from manager Andy Ayres that they were all aged between ten-twelve was also remarkable. Overall, a brilliant set from Basecamp!

Everlong were next up! Their stage presence instantly got the crowds attention, what was brilliant about this crowd is that it reminded me of college where I would go see a friend’s band at The Talking Heads with a lot of my best friends and classmates. I really liked their sound and how they got their crowds going, their passion for their music was clear in their performance and I really think they could go further up the music ladder.

I am familiar with the kick ass rock tunes and energetic stage presence from the main support act Toxic Shock. This one was no exception, I found myself head banging to the songs and blown away by their live show. Particularly when frontman Ash Lynhurst got down from the stage and sung his heart out on the floor amongst the crowd.  Toxic Shock are a vital example of why we should support local music, they are simply fantastic and they are right on your doorstep.

I had not seen headliners New Device for a good few years until Wednesday evening; in between I had seen frontman Dan Leigh’s solo acoustic, which I have praised before in my blog for being fantastic. From Wednesday’s show I can confirm they are back and mean business! Starting off with Make My Day and On Fire made me smile as the familiar modern classic rock songs were starting to fill the venue.  What was also exciting about their set was the new songs from their latest album, Here We Stand; singles Save Your Life and Here We Stand were very well received by the very energetic crowd. 

Ending with their anthemic hit Takin Over allowed the crowd to have one last mosh before marking the end of a successful set.

Overall the experience of the Voice FM Halloween party was just amazing!

Words by Charlotte Whittingham

Find Basecamp here

Find Everlong here

Find Toxic Shock here

Find New Device here

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.

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.