Live Review: October Drift @ Joiners, Southampton 08/04/18

Last Sunday marked my long-awaited return to Joiners, Southampton, notoriously one of the best venues in the South and also in the process of celebrating its 50th year as a venue. We were lucky enough to be able to catch October Drift at the legendary venue before they embark on their huge European tour supporting Editors. A support slot very much deserved by the band if this gig was anything to go by.

Opening the evening, Bournemouth based The Bedroom Text took their melodic with a dash of emo music to the stage. Their fun but powerful music wasn’t 100% to my taste, but they were still enjoyable regardless. With a few quibbles about a fabric capo and longer than needed pauses between tracks, the band still managed to keep the crowd entertained with idle chit-chat when needed.

Southampton based Jetski Babylon were up next with a frontman who gave Justin Hawkins a run for his money vocal-wise. Although they had more covers than original songs, they still managed to put their own spin on things and very much made them their own. Jetski Babylon’s impressive performance and original tracks were just as enjoyable.

An explosion of energy erupted through the venue once October Drift stormed the stage. Opening with ‘Cherry Red’, a firm favourite of ours, it began a domino effect on their back catalogue of enormous, gripping tracks including ‘Losing My Touch’, ‘Robots’ and latest single ‘All Broken Down’. Not satisfied with keeping to the stage, frontman Kiran Roy made his way through the crowd more than once to soak up the atmosphere on another level.

October Drift have been ones to captivate even the toughest of crowds to please on previous occasions. Proving this point, during the gaps in a track which was more of a slow-burner, you could’ve quite easily have heard a pin drop which for a crowd of that size was remarkable. Quite the contrast to the heavier, raucous side of their performance, but very much in keeping with their otherwise highly dominant side performance-wise.

With a mixture of new and old favourites, October Drift’s frantic urgency during their live shows is one to be admired. You’ll struggle to find another live band with such energy, as well as enthusiasm for whatever venue or setting they’re in and their performance is very much exhilarating. Expect to see them in much larger venues very soon. Watch this space.

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