Exit Ten, Redlight King and Shinedown at the Southampton Guildhall 24/10/12

Exit Ten burst onto the stage, full of energy and life. They had a strong stage presence, with Ryan Redman’s crazy dancing instantly capturing the audience’s attention. His voice was incredible and matched the talents of his other band mates. Despite only playing four songs, their set was brilliant and gave the crowd just a hint of what Exit Ten are about. They’re definitely a band to look out for in the future.

Next on were Redlight King, an alternative rock band from Canada, who announced to the audience that it was their first ever show in England. The guitarists were amazingly talented and interesting to watch due to the varying tones and styles of music throughout their set. The set they played stood out well because their songs varied from rap rock to hard rock, with one song even sounding like it had reggae influences. They closed their set with ‘Bullet in my Hand’, and they were an interesting band to watch play.

As soon as the lights dimmed the crowd expected Shinedown to appear on stage, however, instead ’99 Problems’ by Jay Z starting playing, leaving the crowd anxiously anticipating Shinedown’s arrival. When they eventually arrived, they caused absolute chaos by opening with ‘Sound of Madness’, an obvious crowd-pleaser. Brent Smith is one of the best lead singers in the rock scene at the moment, his voice is astounding and he has an amazing stage presence. ‘If Only You Knew’ is a beautiful ballad which left the crowd in awe. Brent Smith said “Rock and roll is more than a genre, it’s a way of life,” leading to many cheers from the crowd. Shinedown’s rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Simple Man’ sounded incredible. Ending their set with ‘Bully’, Shinedown definitely rocked the Guildhall. Shinedown are the whole package: a band of talented musicians who are amazing live. Go see Shinedown if you haven’t already; you won’t regret it!