As we kiss 2020 goodbye, we turn our attention to 2021. With many shows rescheduled and with the hopes of life returning to normal this year, here are the shows you should not be missing!
The Snuts – O2 Forum Kentish Town (15/05)
If there is any gig you don’t want to miss out on this year, then it would be seeing The Snuts on their UK tour in celebration of their upcoming debut album. The Scottish indie four-piece have been a force to be reckoned with in 2020 and have released multiple catchy singles as well as a Mixtape EP.
If you watch any videos of the band performing live, you’ll see the crowd going absolutely crazy throughout the entire set and that kind of atmosphere is everything you would wish for from any gig. The high amount of energy from both the crowd and band is one of the things that make their live show so memorable and special – even if you do get a bit sweaty. Tracks like ‘Elephants’ and ‘Juan Belmonte’ will get you jumping/dancing around and having so much fun you’ll forget about everything else going on in the world for a brief snippet of time.
The Scottish indie rockers are set to tour the UK in May 2021 and whichever date you attend it will be one of the best gigs of the year. When seeing The Snuts live it is guaranteed to be a fantastically fun show with a sprinkle of swagger and charisma from Cochrane and co. – Charlotte Brennan
Fontaines D.C. – O2 Guildhall Southampton (25/05)
Fontaines D.C., the Irish 5-piece who have quickly scaled the scene of indie/alternative/post-punk music over the past couple of years, announced a nation-wide tour for 2021, and it is one that you just cannot miss. Having only just formed in 2017, the band have done exceptionally well. With their newest release A Hero’s Death (2020), the band proved their multi-faceted talents and sound, and in just two years, managed to gain the most dedicated fanbase, all of whom showed their immense love for the new album.
Post-punk shows are not like your regular gigs. They are filled with emotion, angst, and fun, with a little something for everybody to enjoy. Fontaines D.C.’s discography is fairly well-balanced between its heavier and softer tunes, with songs like ‘Oh Such a Spring’ being the perfect head-swinging song, whilst their hit ‘Boys In the Better Land’ never fails to get the crowd rallied up for an energetic, powerful evening. Stage presence is also key to a gig, and lead vocalist Grian Chatten takes this very seriously. Maintaining a sort of distance from the crowd, lacking your general chitter-chatter, Chatten presents a mysterious presence, but a lovable one nonetheless.
Their UK tour starts in May of 2021 in Nottingham and ends in Warrington at the end of May. As a Southampton University magazine, we are incredibly lucky that the band are visiting the Southampton Guildhall on May 25th. If you weren’t able to grab tickets for one show, it is definitely worth trying to grab them for the other. Knowing Fontaines D.C., they will no doubt put on an extremely memorable show, filled with energy and love, which is what we all need after the dry spell of UK gigging. And even if these shows do not go ahead with their scheduled dates, a show of Fontaines D.C. should be on everybody’s to-watch list. – Georgie Holmes
Enter Shikari – O2 Guildhall Southampton (09/06)
The Shikari boys have been strong leads of the heavy-rock music scene for a while now, and their upcoming tour – which has now been postponed to the 9th June at the O2 Guildhall Southampton – is one which I’ve been looking forward to for a while!
The four-piece are known for their general chaos when performing live, and this is what I love about them the most. From encouraging the audience to mosh like hell (in a safe way of course), to making the crowd sing melodies from some of their most notable songs like ‘Sorry You’re Not a Winner’; Enter Shikari really knows just how to put on a cracker of a show.
It should be no surprise when they’re in their 20th year as a band, but every time I see them live I am blown away by their ultimate stage presence and political messages. Frontman Rou Reynolds proves that politics and music work so well together, as he never fails to call out the system for all its wrongdoings when he has the platform to do so.
If you’re looking for a gig to attend in the new year when everything is hopefully back up and running then go and support the entertainment industry by grabbing yourself a ticket to Enter Shikari’s show – there’s no doubt that you’ll come away from it a newly-formed fan! – Katie Evans
My Chemical Romance – The Stadium MK (20/06)
There isn’t a concert next year that hasn’t got more hype surrounding it than My Chemical Romance’s return to the UK, after a 6 year-long hiatus from music. 6 years y’all, that’s a damn long time. The band are due to play 3 dates at Milton Keynes’ Stadium MK, to a sold-out crowd of 30,000 people each night; I was lucky enough to snag tickets. Let me tell you, that was the MOST stressful ticket buying experience I’ve ever had, and I’ve done a fair few rounds with Ticketmaster at this point.
It felt like the entirety of alt-rock fans in the UK were trying to get tickets; they sold out in less than 2 minutes. I myself had 2 laptops open, my phone, my sister’s laptop, and my friend’s computer open at 8:59am just to try and get the tickets, I was THAT determined. But god, if My Chemical Romance’s return in California 2019 is anything to go by, that show is going to be absolutely legendary (granted that COVID doesn’t get it delayed for a second time). It’s gotta be the biggest gig of 2021, or at least the biggest gig for the alternative music scene, and it’s going to be incredible. – Alice Fortt
The Score – London Dingwalls (09/11)
It’s hard to imagine that an American indie duo who gained recognition because of an advert could, in the span of a few years have over a million subscribers on YouTube and an international tour, but The Score have done it. With memorable pieces like ‘Revolution’ and ‘Stronger’, they’ve captured fans around the world, and with a jam-packed tour to match.
It was the first time I was going to be able to attend one of their gigs and you can imagine the heartbreak when it was cancelled mere days before the UK leg of their ‘Run like a Rebel’ tour was meant to start. Originally meant to be playing four dates including a venue in London and Brighton, the duo announced on March 12th that they were having to postpone.
Thankfully, the four dates have been rescheduled for November 2021, and after dropping an album during lockdown, the upcoming rescheduled dates are bound to be filled with music and the energy we were once deprived of. I can’t wait to get back into a venue and The Score is definitely going to bring the joy of seeing live music back to me. – Louise Chase
