Takedown Festival - Southampton University - 18th March 2012 (Live Review)
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Written by Matthew Williamson
After a year’s break Takedown Festival has moved to Southampton University to allow it to be bigger, and better – Even the suns out to welcome it. There’s already a healthy amount of people around when we arrive, half an hour into the afternoon.
Housefires are throwing themselves about with their spikey post-hardcore. The band were handpicked to play, and managed, by photographer Marianne Harris. There are hints towards Alexisonfire, but also toward a more outright hardcore. Lead singer Dan Callis comments that everyone, “should be spending the day with the woman who gave you life, but thank you for coming out”, before throwing himself around one final time. A quick walk over to the Guitar Central Stage sees The James Cleaver Quintet take to the stage (that’s the band on the old Lucozade advert singing 'Buck Rogers', for the uninitiated). It seems that most of the people in the room are seeing the band for the first time, although golden oldie ‘I Do, You Do, We Do Voodoo’ has a couple of people singing along.
Our first trip over to the Main Stage is to see Bedfordshire boys Don Broco. The room’s almost full already, and we’re only 2 hours into the day. Broco are on their way up, after having singles on Radio 1, and finishing their album. However, their biggest reaction is for ’Thug Workout’, the oldest song in the set. Their tip to check out Burn the Fleet is one of the best pieces of advice all day. There seems to be a good following for the band, as the front are singing as loud as they can. It’s announced that the band’s debut album will be released for free with Rocksound in May, “Or our EP is £3, and you get a free copy of Rocksound.” Twists frontman Andrew Convey. The band finish with ‘hit’ ‘Handfuls of Sand’, a track that it’s impossible to hate, with a mass sing-a-long and gradual crescendo.
After a quick break for some food we head over to watch the all-girl Evarose. Despite some catchy hooks the set is somewhat average, and they never really capture the crowd. In direct contrast Max Raptor have to be one of the best live bands in the UK. With in your face aggression, mostly about the state of the nation, the band give off energy, and it’s clear to see from just looking at the onlookers that it’s all hitting home.
The main stage is packed for Lower Than Atlantis (small pic), it’s surprising people aren’t collapsing from the heat. After supporting You Me At Six the quartet’s fortunes have picked up, after a headlining tour in January and a support slot with Twin Atlantic in April. 'Beech Like The Tree' is easily the biggest sing-a-long of the afternoon, alongside 'Deadliest Catch'. It’d be wise to cotton onto LTA before they’re headlining events like this themselves.
Fellow YMA6 support, Deaf Havana (main pic), are up next, although the crowd seems to have thinned slightly. Like LTA they’re also on an upwards trajectory, debut album, 'Fools and Worthless Liars', has gone down a storm. Tonight they introduce James Veck-Gilodi’s younger brother, Matthew, as an additional guitarist and backing vocalist, and it seems to add an extra dimension to the band, which was surely the point. ‘Friends Like These’ still gets the biggest crowd reaction of the set, in a band moving ever further away from their debut. ‘I’m A Bore Mostly’ and the band’s favourite ‘Hunstanton Pier’ are the standout moments from the band from King’s Lynn.
Due to trains stopping extra early on a Sunday we had to leave before headliners, Skindred, took to the stage, but I think it’s safe to say that Takedown 2012 was overwhelmingly a success. Although it may not yet rival Slam Dunk or Hit The Deck, it certainly could do soon.
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The main stage is packed for Lower Than Atlantis (small pic), it’s surprising people aren’t collapsing from the heat. After supporting You Me At Six the quartet’s fortunes have picked up, after a headlining tour in January and a support slot with Twin Atlantic in April. 'Beech Like The Tree' is easily the biggest sing-a-long of the afternoon, alongside 'Deadliest Catch'. It’d be wise to cotton onto LTA before they’re headlining events like this themselves.
