Things kicked off with My Endeavour, a local band from the Portsmouth and Southampton area. The quintet gave a good performance with a varied sound, a great vocalist and riffs bouncing off the walls; aptly setting the tone for the evening. My Endeavour are very melodic yet heavy leaning towards the sound of early Linkin Park with some Alter Bridge thrown in and a dash of Nickelback for good measure.
With the crowd warmed up, Jettblack took to the stage. These were the main reason for attending the gig as I’d missed them at Download Festival and they didn’t disappoint. They have their own certain swagger much in the vain of Airbourne. Airbourne however don’t have such a rounded approach of not going all guns blazing the whole time and acknowledging that reloading is necessary from time to time. That said, for first time this tour for Jettblack, mosh pits did break out and they did bring the house down. Also, I have never seen someone crowd surf in such a small crowd but it can be done. As they finished off their set with a cover of ‘Danger Zone’ from Top Gun it felt like I had seen the headline act already but more was to come.
Finally, Reckless Love came on. This Finnish band is reminiscent of the eighties and nods to hair metal bands like Motley Crue quite overtly and the front man has definitely taken a leaf out of David Lee Roth’s book. In true eighties rock style the front man wore the tightest leather trousers I’ve ever seen and the drummer was taking regular swigs of Jägermeister. Nevertheless, they had done it tastefully as the songs were well-crafted and melodic but not too over-the-top. Songs like ‘Romance’, ‘Badass’ and ‘Sex’ aren’t pushing any lyrical boundaries and neither is the playing but that’s the point. Simple, fun and enjoyable music is what seems to be their aim and they do it very well.
Reckless Love did have a few problems throughout the night as the guitarist had no sound at one point, the front man’s mic broke and the drummer also broke the outer skin of one of his bass drums, which he proceeded to rip off. Following all that, they handled themselves very well and used it to their advantage. This was a sign of a band that can command a stage with ease and give a great performance.
The age of virtuosity seems to be returning with each person having a chance to shine with a solo, even the bass player. Reckless Love are coming up at the right time since a resurgent in eighties hair metal with the likes of Steel Panther and co. I have to say this has been one of the best gigs I’ve been to for a while and I would definitely recommend checking out all three bands.
8/10
