After a whirlwind year of near-constant touring, Band of Skulls return to their native Southampton as conquering heroes, whilst throwing in a blistering show for good measure.
So, the time so many people have been waiting for has arrived. Band of Skulls are back in their native hometown - back where it all started. Yet, before the nostalgic Talking Heads becomes inevitably packed to the rafters, Audio Addict has the exclusive pleasure to watch them sound check, and have a beer and a chat with them to boot. Let us tell you one thing– these guys have a special aura about them, they are the real deal. “That sounded good, but we don’t want to peak too soon, this is a big gig for us” says Russell Marsden of the sound check, walking into the dressing room, visibly animated and excited by the prospect of this evening’s coming events.
Having gone from playing club nights in their hometown to touring America, with a few gigs in Moscow and Tokyo in between, the music of Band of Skulls has travelled from Southampton to iTunes at breakneck speed. The hook-driven “I Know What I Am” was single of the week on iTunes in April 2009, and exposure of their track “Friends” on the Twilight saga’s New Moon soundtrack has also helped things along nicely. You could say it has been a good year for the band. They return to their hometown as conquering heroes, exhibits of fame and fortune to the lesser privileged, proof that local bands really do make it into the big time.
Having confessed to playing the Talking Heads “Over a hundred times”, the band return to their first ever and favourite venue, yet are still humble enough to hang with old friends and acquaintances before the show. “We’ve been touring now for a whole year, playing out almost every night.” explains bassist Emma Richardson before the show. “I think we’ve had about 2 weeks off in total since last April including Christmas, so it’s been a pretty hectic year for us.” Guitarist Russell Marsden continues, “This feels like the end of the tour because we’re back in town. But no, tomorrow we’re back off again, we’ve pretty much moved into our suitcases. But it’s good for a band to do that, because touring so constantly and playing in so many different countries has given us a chance to get our show together and make it work consistently.”
With three songwriters in the band, BOS have access to endless melodic possibilities, and their album and honed live show sure is an exhibition of that fact. “We all write separately, and the rule is that we’re not allowed to finish a piece of work until we’ve all had our say on it,” explains drummer Matt Hayward. Emma continues, “We have quite a healthy competition between us; we all kind of want to outdo each other in the song writing stakes.” Russell finishes, “Often it’s the case that I’ll write a song, and Matt will completely strip it back, steal the intro, and write another song with it. I think that it’s good that we are able to bow down to the better ideas.” Their live repertoire certainly shows off this fact – as each song is crammed with hooks lush harmonic overtones, we feel like we are dragged back in time on the end of every blues lick, every warm valve-overdriven chord, and it’s a pleasure.
As for the show itself, wow. Never before have we witnessed such unashamed support from local bodies, never before have I experienced such anticipation before a gig in Southampton. With steam rising from the audience, tonight this is the place to be - the atmosphere is electric as the guys take to the stage, and from the first track it’s clear that they mean business. However, it’s not a case of gloating, mutual backslapping and showcasing what they’ve become - Band of Skulls simply let their airtight live show do the talking, they just simply let rip, no holds barred. It is pure Rock ‘n’ Roll. Raw, badass, sexy, and melodic. At times it’s euphoric and powerful foot-stomping bliss; at others it’s whimsical and unkempt. At all times it’s brilliant, with the duo vocals from Russell and Emma reaching some spine-tingling moments in standout tracks “Fires”, “Patterns”, “I Know What I Am” and “Honest”.
Band of Skulls repertoire reads like a who’s-who of classic rock/alternative influence, yet each live song is wax-stamped with their own unique identity and a modern twist. This is certainly one to lock away in the memory bank. As the deafening gig winds to a boiling close, the cauldron that the Talking Heads has become is awash with exultant shouts of “We did it! We did it!” from friends in the front row –they are right, Band of Skulls did it, and they did it with style.
4/5
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