Takedown Festival at Southampton University 7/3/15

Punk rockers Miss Vincent (8/10) were the first band to grace the Obsidian Stage, and it is safe to say that they managed to warm up the crowd well: “Takedown is a long day and you’re going to be here until 11pm… It’s important to stretch and warm up for the amazing bands, and that is our job!” The local four-piece managed to entertain everyone with their fusion of harmonious vocals and bass-filled riffs, and they even had more people joining the crowd as they played. 

Progressive rock legends InMe (9/10) managed to appeal to both young and old fans with the performance of their debut 2003 album ‘Overgrown Eden’. Despite being out for over fifteen years, the Essex trio were able to mesmerise the crowd with their passionate and energetic performance. Dave McPherson’s vocals were both harmonious and heavy, truly reflecting the theme of InMe’s performance style. They were also able to excite fans by announcing the release of a new triple album in May. For their final song ‘Faster The Chase’ they invited Mikey Chapman from Mallory Knox to join them on stage, resulting in mass amounts of mosh pits and beach balls flying everywhere.

Bristol-based goth punk band Ashestoangels (7.5/10) were a sure-fire hit on the Obsidian Stage, appealing to fans of bands such as Fearless Vampire Killers and Black Veil Brides. Lead singer Crilly was no stranger to getting involved with the crowd, constantly jumping into the mosh pit and engaging with excitable fans.

Local metalcore five-piece Our Hollow, Our Home (9/10) drew in a huge crowd for their set on the Uprawr Stage, proving exactly how many fans their hard work and persistence has gained them. They definitely have the stage presence of a much bigger band, as they were constantly able to encourage fans to create mosh pits and circle pits. Despite having technical difficulties at numerous points during their set, their professionalism and talent allowed them to continue performing one of their best shows to date.

Metal loudmouths The Hell (8/10) managed to insult the crowd numerous times during their set, but their fans seemed to love it. Their offensive yet humorous act proved that metal music does not always need to be serious. With lead singer Nail$ hurling insults left, right and centre, it is safe to say that if you are easily offended then you should steer well-clear of the bandana-wearing five-piece: “It is international women’s day tomorrow, so I want every woman in here to kick a man in the face!” Playing songs such as ‘Bangers And Mosh’, ‘Deal With It’ and ‘Everybody Dies’ The Hell managed to engage with a rowdy yet passionate crowd.

Forming from the ashes of electronic rock band My Passion, British rock trio Fort Hope (8/10) managed to impress Takedown-goers with their beautiful lyrics and harmony-filled vocals. Sounding much heavier than they do on record, Fort Hope rocked the crowd with songs such as ‘Control’, ‘The Rapture’ and ‘Sick’.

Uprawr Stage headliners Heart Of A Coward (10/10) proved exactly why they were so high up on the bill with their energetic and exciting performance. The Milton Keynes based metal five-piece rocked the crowd with their heavy riffs and fast-paced songs. Lead singer Jamie Graham’s vocals were on top form, filling the arena with harsh screams and angry lyrics. Jamie also proved that Heart Of A Coward were all about the music and not violence as he stopped their set due to violent people in the crowd and refused to continue until they had left. They also performed a new song for the first time ever, ‘Hollow’, which sounded even heavier than their previous material. Ending their set with fan favourites ‘Deadweight’ and ‘Around A Girl In 80 Days’, Heart Of A Coward were able to entertain fans from start to finish, providing a fitting end to an incredible day of live music.  

Photography by Rob Campion. 

The Blacklist Saints, The Final Chapter and InMe at Vault Rugby 22/2/13

The Blacklist Saints were the first band on stage, and with their strong riffs and rock ‘n’ roll vibe, they were a great way to start the evening. They seemed at ease on stage and interacted with the crowd well. Despite only forming in 2012, they were enjoyable to listen to and put on a good set.

Next up were The Final Chapter, an extremely energetic metal band from Rugby. Their cover of Drowning Pool’s song ‘Bodies’ went down extremely well and they definitely got the crowd warmed up for InMe. They also played ‘As The City Burns’, which is a new song from their EP which features very heavy riffs. Despite being young, The Final Chapter definitely know how to entertain an audience and they’re another addition to the great metal bands which come from the Midlands.

Playing their first show of 2013, InMe proved that they were back and even better than ever. They played hits such as ‘Reverie Shores’, ‘Saccharine Arcadia’ and ‘Here’s Hoping’, which meant both old and new fans could enjoy their set. Dave McPherson’s vocals are incredible, and the whole band are impressive musicians. InMe interacted with the crowd extremely well, with Dave even admitting that he had to search the internet to try to remember the lyrics to ‘Firefly’. Ending their set with ‘The Chase’, InMe are definitely one of the best bands to ever play in Rugby.

Check out The Blacklist Saints here: https://www.facebook.com/theblacklistsaints
Check out The Final Chapter here: https://www.facebook.com/thefinalchapterofficial
Check out InMe here: http://www.facebook.com/inmeofficial

Interview with Dave McPherson and Gazz Marlow of InMe 22/2/13

Before InMe’s show at the Vault in Rugby, I was able to catch up with Dave McPherson and Gazz Marlow. Here’s what they had to say.

Julia: What inspired you to start a band?
Dave: A love of music.
Gazz: …And drugs and girls!
Dave: Escapism, generally. Escaping through music, and music is the one thing that never gets boring.

Julia: Who would you say are your major influences?
Dave: Alcohol. Bands that have done things that are different and interesting, or artists that have done things that are different and done it on their own terms. People that are nice, it’s very nice when you hear things about David Bowie, for example, and you hear that he’s a very friendly, chatty guy and that he’s still down to earth. Those sort of people, that can be nice, but also do business and do things artistically their own way and don’t compromise, in that respect, but are also still humble and don’t get above themselves.

Julia: How does it feel to be playing in Rugby tonight?
Dave: It’s pretty cool! It’s a hard place to Google, because we had to Google between Rugby and Brentwood tonight to get back home and it was very tricky because it just came up with the rugby club in Brentwood. And then I had to Google ‘Rugby, Warwickshire’ and I didn’t know if there was more than one Rugby, so I didn’t know if I had got the right Rugby. That was tricky.
Gazz: I think the venue was misspelt in our itinerary
Dave: Probably, he probably wrote the itinerary!
Gazz: This is not the black sheep!
Dave: But it’s a nice town and there’s a room full of people out there being nice to us. People seem to be here for the music, which is nice, and we’ve never played here before, so it’s always cool to come to a place and get that kind of response.

Julia: What would you say is your favourite thing about touring?
Dave: Generally the show, but the things outside of the show are manageable and it’s nice to be having a laugh and giggling and stuff and doing stupid shit.
Gazz: You get to see new places as well, don’t you?
Dave: You get to see a new place, kind of. We haven’t really got a chance to tour around Rugby today.
Gazz: But I mean like last year, when we were out in Germany we had a couple of nice days off, by the big lake and all that stuff.
Dave: Touring Europe is really cool for that, just finding a scenic location that you can just relax in. We’re not at a level, we’d love to be at that level, but we’re not at a level where we have really strict press days and have five hours of press and then you’d have to do the gig; you don’t really have a life, you don’t actually get to appreciate touring quite as much then, because it’s all work. So it’s nice to be able to escape for a few hours and enjoy wherever you are. Sometimes you’re in a place in the UK where there’s not an awful lot to appreciate, to be honest. But then the show is even more of an enjoyable experience because if people live in a town where there’s not an awful lot going on apart from live music, then that’s enjoyable for the gig, but if you’re walking around and you feel like you’re going to get stabbed or something then not so much… Just the fact that people want to come to your show, and bands try really hard to play outside their hometown and we’re fortunate enough to be able to do that.

Julia: What would you say is your favourite song that you’ve written and why?
Dave: For InMe it’s really hard to say, really. I suppose ‘Reverie Shores’.
Gazz: The best one is ‘Neptune’! (laughs) It’s official, it’s on the internet, someone wrote it on YouTube!
Dave: I suppose ‘Reverie Shores’ from ‘The Pride’, ‘Saccharine Arcadia’ from ‘Phoenix’. We like that, but that’s a tough one.
Gazz: ‘Almost Lost’ from ‘White Butterfly’. I think we’ve all got very different opinions and they change as well. One minute I’ll love ‘Myths & Photographs’, another moment I’ll love ‘Turbulence’.
Dave: And then you’ve got ‘Fasten The Chase’ and ‘Underdose’ and songs like that which don’t seem to want to go away. They’re great. For us, we’re on auto-pilot, we’re playing these songs we’ve played a billion times, but when you get the feedback from the audience, sometimes, just because it’s your favourite song it’s not necessarily your favourite song to play in front of people because you’re not getting the same vibe.
Gazz: Like on the last tour we were doing a couple of our personal favourites, like ‘Beautiful Sky Gardens’ and ‘Silver Womb’, and they’re great songs and we love them, but they’re not as fun to play live. Even though we’d probably say that they’re amongst our favourites.
Dave: I’d disagree on ‘Beautiful Sky Gardens’, but I’d definitely agree with ‘Halcyon Genesis’ and ‘Silver Womb’. They’re cool songs, but they’re hard for us, so we have to concentrate a lot to be as animated.
Gazz: It’s more fun when you play simple stuff running around the stage, to a point.
Dave: It’s very simplistic in a way that we operate; if everyone’s going mental then we obviously think we’re doing something right. If we’re playing a song that we think is amazing, but everyone’s just kind of watching and not rocking out and going over the top for then you question it. So I suppose songs like ‘Faster The Chase’, for example, although it’s so old for us, to see people getting that personally involved is a great feeling.

Julia: How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t heard it before?
Gazz: Incredible!
Dave: That’s quite tricky really. I suppose it takes things from heavy rock and it’s got an edge to it, hopefully. But ultimately it’s melodic and there’s a lot of emotion there.
Gazz: It’s complicated as well.
Dave: That was a dirty word for a while, was emotional music. I think it got associated with ‘emo’ and whatever, but I don’t think we were ever that. We’ve been called a grunge band, a prog band and whatever. We get called all sorts of genres, but there’s meaning to the lyrics and there’s meaning to the music and the melodies mean something in their own right. Melody and emotion, I suppose.
Gazz: But with a healthy helping of balls.
Dave: A lot of balls. You’ve got to mean it. You’ve got to display balls.

Julia: Have you got much planned for 2013?
Dave: No. (laughs)
Gazz: We’ve got a lot of stuff planned that isn’t InMe related, really. Working on the new album.
Dave: Gazz has got a solo album, I’ve got a solo album, we’ve got a side project thing we’re working on called ‘Sentiment’. Aside from that, we’re writing a triple album, as opposed to a normal length album, so that’s going to take some time. We won’t be back properly until 2014, but it’s nice to do little one-offs like this and ‘2000 Trees Festival’ we’ve just announced as well.
Gazz: It’s good to let people wait a bit as well, otherwise you get taken for granted when you do shows and stuff. Like, ‘well, they’ll be back in six months’, sort of thing. You need to make shows special. 

Check out InMe here: http://www.facebook.com/inmeofficial