Lower Than atlantis, milk teeth & the faim - engine rooms Southampton 12.04.18

The spirits were high as the crowd piled in clutching inflatables for a night of fun. The venue packed out quickly, as excited faces were waiting for their favourite bands to play.

 

The night started out with a bang as Australian alt-rock quartet The FAIM took to the stage. I overhear a young girl at the barrier state how emotional it was. It is clear that these boys are a big hit with their fans. The stage presence was sensational, with lead singer Josh Raven performing at the barrier to screaming teens, they passed him their inflatables and he rocked a sombrero whilst donning the stage.

 

It is safe to say these boys are performing naturals, completely wooing over the hearts of the crowd. If you are a fan of Fall Out Boy, Cobra Starship and/or All Time Low – these are the new boys to look out for.

 

The second band to take the stage were four-piece pop punk band from Gloucestershire Milk Teeth. Unfortunately, their singer Becky Blomfield had been sent home from the tour early due to health issues. The boys had to pull this performance out of the bag with a few changes around. Needless to say they still gave it their all and the crowd were loving their tenacity, bopping around singing their hearts out.

 

Once Milk Teeth finished, the crowd was heaving full, with fans patiently waiting for the Headliners. Chants of “LTA” echoed around the venue whilst the lights dimmed. The band dramatically entered the stage one by one. The band opened their set with their hit 'Had Enough' from their latest album 'Safe in Sound.'

 

From the second they started performing, the band put in 110%. Frontman Mike Duce had a phenomenal stage presence, interacting with the crowd at any given moment. At one point he picked on certain members of the crowd to chug their beers, and would cheer them after they completed the challenge.

 

A truly memorable moment occurred when Duce unplugged his guitar and got into the crowd to perform a perfect acoustic of 'Another Sad Song.' Members of the crowd circled around him, whilst he intimately performed the hit. The venue echoed with the crowd and Mikes vocals creating a truly wonderful occasion.

 

Mike purposely took to social media before the show, telling fans to bring inflatables, and boy, did they deliver.

Mike introduced their song 'Beech Like A Tree' as “a song for crowd surfing” and the crowd didn’t disappoint. Amongst inflatables bouncing around, one young lad was surfing the entire crowd in an inflatable paddling pool.

 

Mike gave it a go too and crowd surfed for their last song – the absolute banger that is 'Here We Go,' from their self-titled fourth album. The nostalgia was real, as this song throws me back, and I’m sure most of the crowd to a couple of years ago. The crowd were going absolutely mental whilst Mike was crowd surfing on a lilo. This is definitely not a gig to be forgotten in a hurry.