Gig Review by Fran Prince with Photography by Kris Askey

Southampton’s alt-rock trio Band of Skulls took to the blue lit stage, guitars in hand, with the female vocalist (Emma Richardson) stood on one side of the stage, drummer (Matt Hayward) middle back and the male vocalist (Russell Marsden) stood directly opposite. As a band I’m not too familiar with, this staging proved they needed little to take control of the venue with their powerful sound.

I was lucky, and yet unlucky enough (as I am now deaf in one ear) to be stood directly at the front facing this individual band, as they began to warm me up with their vocals in-sync, the rough edge of the male complimenting the rocky higher tones of the female. As the beat kicked in the lights blinded the audience throughout the entire performance, like lightning alongside the core rock sound of the band.

‘Himilayan’ kicked in quarter of the way through the show, and the audience got into the rocky vibes, clapping along and throwing their bodies to the beat. Describing the gig as an ‘intimate date’ the male vocalist threw himself into the next song ‘Sweet Sour’.

The trio feed off each other as they rock out with ‘I Know What I Am’ and the whole audience are chanting along “It’s alright, its okay…!” Their raw sound and style was heightened in the track ‘Brothers and Sisters’ where everyone including me was singing and moving along with the band.

Ending (before the encore) with the ‘Devil Takes Care’, this song showed me rock in its true force. These guys aren’t just brilliant vocalists but extremely concentrated musicians, the instrumentals take a key role in their songs.

I have to say a favourite of the night was the up-tempo ‘Light of the Morning’ as a band I’d barely heard of before, these guys will be a permanent fixture on my playlist from now on!

Tonight’s support came from Japanese ‘Acid-Punk’ four-piece Bo Ningen. They will be supporting Band of Skulls throughout their UK November dates, so be sure to arrive early to catch their live performance.