Written By: JULIET HURWITT
Photos By: MARTY MOFFATT
The venue’s booked. The line-up announced. Invitations sent. Tickets sold (out). The stage (pun intended) was set for Jodie Bowie’s 5th birthday party in the shape of NozFest 2024.
Getting the party started was A’priori a three-piece band from Blackpool via Greece, as Mouse (drummer) was collected from the airport on the way to Southampton. Talk about getting straight back to work! The first song to start the party was Watch the World Burn a heavy and slow introduction to the band. An ever-popular title Wasted Years was more upbeat but sustained the heavy theme. If you haven’t seen A’priori before, you’d notice there’s no bass player, instead there’s a very adept keyboard player (Mark), who played with the keyboard tilted forward. Unusual, but when you think about it very logical for those wrists! I’m sure there’s another perfectly rational explanation, but I didn’t get to ask him. A’priori continued with a compelling mix of songs, including one called Nah Nah Nah Nah so we were in no doubt that audience participation was required. Before starting this ‘PG rated’ song, there was a special request from Tony (vocals/guitar) for a volunteer to ‘be my tambourine queen’ and ‘be my instrument for the next 3½ minutes.’ A lady at the front happily obliged and tambourine beating commenced. The title track from their previous album Black Church was probably the slowest A’priori got. The second album doesn’t appear to have a title track, but they finished the set with the final track on that album Making Love to the Devil which had everyone singing and clapping along. There were clearly many fans in the audience, some on first name terms, indicating a following that’s only going to grow if today’s performance was anything to go by. The MC Si Genaro summed it up nicely ‘gives a whole new meaning to Blackpool Rock!’ Well said.
A twenty-minute turnaround, and Black Water Redemption (BWR) arrived on stage with All Guns Blazing figuratively speaking, as that is the title of their first song. Followed by their latest single The Devil on your Shoulder, a slow, grungy song that was met with many heads bobbing along, and lots of cheering in response to, ‘let me hear ya.’ The songs continued in this heavy vein, even when announcing ‘we’re not in business of ballads’ and explained that Fly Like the Crows came to him unexpectedly. The audience loved it and joined in with beautiful harmonies. The One started off slowly that we thought it was another ballad, but that didn’t last long before the intensity increased to the more familiar grungy style of playing and singing. Did anyone else notice the full range of hair styles: short, shoulder length, long, dreadlocks? No? Just me then! Ever been in an exercise class and you get to the end and the instructor says, ‘if you’ve got any energy left use it now?’ This seemed to be exactly what BWR did in Nothing to Lose. Fast, furious, they threw everything into their final song and finished their set on a high, just as if they had nothing to lose. They would have slept well that night.
The energy was high in the room, and it wasn’t about to come down anytime soon when the five-piece, Hertfordshire band The Wicked Jackals (TWJ) took the stage. Think if Van Halen and Airbourne had a baby you’d be on the right track. Their opening track Over the Top was promised and delivered. When Ollie (singer) took his jacket off, amusingly before A Bad Excuse, he found a banana in the pocket! He looked as surprised as we did. Maybe he’d been practicing his singing and couldn’t find the mic! We’ve all been there, haven’t we?! Not for Me was written by Lex (bass) and included lots of ‘nahs’ for audience participation; the change in style went down well. ‘Now for the sentimental part of show.’ This song was dedicated to Jodie (Bowie) in appreciation of inviting TWJ for a third time. ’Sing-along if you know the words’ as they started the riffs to The Cult’s Firewoman, it was totally appropriate and of course everyone sang along. The last song was meant to be Scream and as one-more-song isn’t allowed due to timings, but as TWJ had raced through the set with so much energy, there was time for Born to be Wild. Naturally, everyone knew the words to this one and happily sang along. With Ollie now concentrating on being the frontman, the energy in the band is now at another level and it made a big difference. Loved it!
Midnite City (MC) were on early (get it?) but we didn’t need to wait for the witching hour for them to put in a spellbinding performance. This five-piece band from Nottingham are the epitome of British glam-hair metal rock. They leapt on to the stage after the into’ track and unleashed themselves in to Ready to Go. Not sure if that was a question or a statement, but their large following certainly were. Atomic a catchy number continues with the party vibe, as the band made full use of the whole stage hardly keeping still for a moment. The energy transferred to the fans who are lapping it up. Dedicated to the ’girls in the audience’ who do indeed go wild for Girl’s Gone Wild, then in to Someday a number with plenty of clapping opportunities. Singalong power ballad Hardest Heart to Break brought an intense, slower pace to the set, and provided a nice interlude in the middle of the faster tracks. Then the tempo sped up again with Summer of Our Lives for ‘the old school Midnite City fans.’ MC finished with We Belong and I think everyone felt that sentiment by the end of their set. Wonderful performance.
To quote the misquoted Mark Twain, I can confirm that ‘rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated’ as verified by Juliet’s Not Dead (JND), the band recently known as Twister. These four musicians brought their high energy performance from the northeast to Southampton for their first gig under their new name. After the intro’ track, JND played a mixture of new and better-known tracks, which included Own Worst Enemy and Thrillseekers (title of their tour in October & November). Every song was performed with the enthusiasm and energy that JND is renowned for; hard, heavy, good old fashion rock. There was great interaction between the audience and charismatic frontman Stevie; ‘are we ready?’ and ‘let’s see every pair hands’; ‘1.. 2..1234’ led in to Don’t Play Nice. The track Monroe was dedicated to the fans, many of whom were already wearing t-shirts with the new name. All too soon, as always, it was time for the last two songs; Favourite Underdog and 64 White Lies were undoubtedly favourites with fans and I’m sure will be with the new fans too. There were lots of ‘whoas’, hands in the air, clapping and dancing as requested, it was as if the fans and band were having a celebration of the next part of the JND journey. I wish them Bon Voyage.
In a totally different vein, we have the soft, smooth vocals of Sam Millar, who stepped in for Ashen Reach. Without much ado, the four-piece band started with The Killing Floor and Fooling Yourself after which Sam said, ‘I’m the band no-one wanted to see today!’ The chanting of his name from crowd implied otherwise. The songs continued as did the banter with the audience. The new single Déjà Vu had the audience swinging their hands in the air. Sam told us it was ‘Time to shake your bums Southampton,’ to Dancing on My Own, funky and upbeat with plenty of ‘nahs nahs’ to sing along to. The new album Virtual Summer is due out in September… ‘same as last year but never happened.’ Laughing and cheering from the audience. ‘STFU’ then he introduced a song ‘about my sweaty balls’, his words, which in a nutshell (ha ha) is about his Levi’s being too tight! Ouch! This started even louder cheering, jumping and dancing in the middle of the floor. More chanting of his name prompted ‘stop it I’m getting an erection!’ His words! The closing song Neanderthal Man was perfect for nahs nahs. ‘Na na na Neanderthal Man’ People may have missed Ashen Reach, but they were more than happy with Sam Millar tonight.
There was an air of anticipation from the waiting crowd for the five musicians that make up London’s The Karma Effect (TKE). Riding high on the release of their second LP, following the success of their eponymous first album, it felt as if people who hadn’t seen them before were wating to find out if what’s been heard about them was true. Using Aerosmith’s Heart’s Done Time as intro’ music, TKE opened with their own All Night Long. Invited to sing along with Wrong Again, we were told ‘for the next 45 minutes your arses are mine, how does that sound?’ Sounded good to us. At some point Henry’s hat got removed, later the tie went, finally the sunglasses went too; he really meant business! For the record, nothing else was removed. There were plenty of hands in the air in response to ‘who’s seen us before’ and that number’s increasing almost daily. Next, ‘we like to bring the funk and groove, so we’re going to take you to the Promised Land’ as they played the title track from their top 20 album, and the promised land is exactly where TKE are heading. The latest single Living It Up is currently being played across many radio stations, but tonight, as always, TKE finished their set with Testify. You can catch them on tour in September when you can clap and sing and cheer all over again. It’s therefore confirmed that the high praise this band is attracting is wholly justified.
Scarlet Rebels (SR) are an outstanding, four-piece, band out of Wales. By the time you read this, they will have released their third album Where the Colours Meet, so they’re clearly doing something we all love. The upbeat Divide and Conquer opened their set, and everyone was ready to help them in this quest. Wayne (singer/guitarist) asked, ‘who’s ready for a sing song’; it would’ve been rude not to. Hands in the air, lots of ‘woahs’ and enjoyment followed. The old SR classics included You Take My Breath Away but there were plenty of new tracks from the new album, including Let Me In and the lead track Secret Drug has also received a lot of radio play. Another new track Streets of Fire has the classic SR sound that also went down well. The band and fans clearly enjoyed themselves, demonstrated by the unprompted singing and clapping that took place. At one point, Wayne was conducting from centre stage! He knows how to interact with the audience. From what we’ve seen and heard so far SR are right to be ‘very proud’ of their new (and previous) album. I look forward to hearing it.
‘How you doin’ coffin dodgers?’ asked Si, keen to introduce the special guests. And very special they were too. I reckoned that almost every other t-shirt was for this next band.
My notes say: tick tock tension; shit your pants; but I’ll be honest, I have no idea what I meant by that now, but if you were there, or have ever been there, you will know about the build-up of excitement that precedes a South of Salem (SoS) gig!
The set opened with Let Us Prey and the Bournemouth five-piece did what they do best; grabbed everyone’s attention and didn’t let go until the end! Joined by Lolly and Georgia with their black pom poms the scene was set. As the ladies left the stage Jet Black Eyes began, taken from the second album Death of the Party, as is Vultures that already has fans circling a finger around their heads to the chorus ‘I see them circling like vultures.’ When asked if we’re ready to sing, practice whoas, put our hands in the air, nobody refused. Made To Be Mine we truly were; Hellbound Heart a defiant song about survival; Static when Joey told us to live life to the full, with lyrics that reminded us ‘in life we only get one take.’ SoS powered through as many songs as they could in their forty-five minutes, but all too soon it was time for the final two. Back on stage with checkered, racing flags, the ladies took their positions to start the boys on Better Left for Dead (which tied in with the video), and the set closed with Cold Day in Hell from the first album. And that concluded another fine set from South of Salem.
As is now tradition, Jodie Bowie took the stage to thank everyone for coming, fans and bands in equal measures, but even she seemed overwhelmed tonight by the love and support she’s received, ‘I can’t believe we sold out again this year.’ That doesn’t happen by itself and was down to you and your team’s very hard work. Thank you to you too.
So, how to finish off a party that’s been exceptional from the start nine hours ago? Luckily for us, that glorious mission was accepted by The Treatment (TT). They started their set standing at the back of the stage facing the drummer, with AC/DC’s Highway to Hell playing as their intro’. In case any of us had fallen asleep TT kicked off with a yell to ‘Wake Up The Neighbourhood’, the opening line from Let’s Wake Up This Town which is the opening track on their 2024 sixth album Wake Up The Neighbourhood. There was absolutely no chance of anyone missing this final slice of the party. Not that anybody wanted to as the room was still full, and everyone was raring and ready to Get The Party On for one last time tonight (this was actually played nearer the end of the set but thought it fitted here). Other tracks from the new album included Back to the 1970’s, When Thunder and Lightning Strikes and This Fire Still Burns, all brilliant with TT trademark that we’re all going to have a good time. Old favourites included Let it Begin, Wrong Way, and Bite Back and guaranteed we knew when to sing and clap along, not that we had any choice as Tom (singer) told us he’d ‘been listening to you sing all day.’ It was true, by this point of the night, we were well rehearsed in ‘whoas’, clapping, singing, chanting, and punching the air, not that we needed much encouragement. Earlier in the day I’d seen the ‘lesser spotted TT merchandise’. What!? I was so surprised that I took a photo’ of the stand and sent it to a friend with the message ‘What’s this I see? The Treatment merchandise’! Such was this phenomenon that when Tom announced that they had t-shirts for sale, he added ‘I know this will come as a shock!’ which acknowledged the rarity of these items. Hopefully, going forward they will be removed from the endangered list. Back to the gig. The guys in TT always look so happy on stage doing what they do best, performing and entertaining. All five members are accomplished musicians, all typical of what ‘rock stars’ represent, and definitely the perfect band to complete a great day. TT ensured everyone left on a high by concluding with one of their greatest anthems Shake The Mountain. The now obligatory band-with-crowd photo’ took place, and that’s a wrap on NozFest 2024.
Nearly every band performing tonight has just had, or about to have, new music released and/or going on tour to promote these, so make sure you buy your tickets and keep continuing to support live music.
The second Saturday in August is now earmarked in many rock fan’s diaries, to what has become a ‘must do’ visit to The 1865 in Southampton. Every year has had a fantastic line-up and justifies the early ticket purchases, even before the line-up is finalised. This year was no different, and we’re already looking forward to 2025.