The south coast gets loud as Takedown returns, and PRESIDENT, Therapy?, The Wildhearts, WARGASM, As It Is and plenty more raise the roof in Portsmouth.
‘Rest in peace Phil Campbell’ is one of the defining statements of this year’s Takedown Festival. Announced as headliner, then having to withdraw due to illness, before suddenly passing away in a tragically short space of time, the Motörhead legend left an indelible mark on heavy music, so much so that it’s been decided that the Kerrang! Stage that he should have headlined will be named after him on the Friday, in salute.
However, even with such a loss, there is much to celebrate over this weekend of noise at Portsmouth Guildhall. With a rough musical split giving way to an older school, hard rock hallelujah Friday and a more modern alternative focus on Saturday, there is plenty to be found. A first-ever PRESIDENT festival headliner feels like the blockbuster moment in what will surely be a stepping stone to many more, whilst coming in for the inimitable Motörhead man are the legendary Therapy?. Elsewhere, WARGASM and The Wildhearts bring the noise, As It Is continue their return, and plenty more besides.
Join us, as we explore what went on at the south coast’s loudest weekend of the year…
Opening the main stage with some serious metal pedigree comes Kill The Lights. The Welsh-American outfit feature former Bullet For My Valentine lads Jason ‘Jay’ James and Moose, and their high-octane, anthemic metalcore certainly displays more than a few similarities. The quartet might have a smaller audience than they deserve, which could simply be down to them kicking off proceedings, but still play with all the effort and commitment you’d want from a headliner. They bare their teeth with new single Iron Bite and its furious shredding, and between their aggressive howls and pedal-to-the-metal drums they leave everything onstage in an awesome display of riffing fury.
Springing onstage and diving straight into a no-frills barrage of Motörhead-and Airbourne-inspired speed metal, Asomvel are clearly taking no prisoners. With a defiant call to action of, "If it’s too loud, then you’re too old!" they launch into the song of all but the same title, before smashing a cover of Motörhead’s Born To Raise Hell dedicated to Phil Campbell, to huge applause. The hard rocking foursome are a properly great, energised rock’n’roll throwback, and – when you haven’t got too much hair in your eyes from headbanging – are as much a riot to watch as to listen to.
It’s time to go to church! South Of Salem have arrived, and their emo-tinged hard rock mass has plenty of worshippers amongst the Takedown faithful. Adding in the theatricality of Creeper and a vivid set only adds to the faux fear factor and immense sense of fun that pervades the whole time they spend onstage. With cheerleaders, LED coffins and sing-alongs like Pretty Little Nightmare, the band power through their set, even after having recently parted ways with one of their guitarists and having to borrow Callum Downing from Awake By Design to ensure they could still play. Ave Salem!
Playing their second show since vocalist Ginger announced his cancer diagnosis and choice to not undergo treatment, The Wildhearts are still no less than a force to be reckoned with. In a show of sentimentality, Ginger addresses the crowd to say that, "The best thing about this place is that we’re here, and you’re here", in amongst a high-volume, high-energy rock’n’roll show to match any other. Not for nothing have The Wildhearts earned such a strong live reputation, even if they've had more members than Spinal Tap, and tonight it feels like they’re only bolstering it further, where even them cruising through their cover of the opener to Cheers feels like a spectacle.
Filling in for a legend like Phil Campbell is no easy task, but Therapy? seem more than up for it. Armed with bouncy grungy riffs that scream with potent ’90s force, the trio are more than prepared to lay waste to the Guildhall. Their noisy, dissonant alt.metal feels fresh and powerful and innovative, even today, and with a crowd all too willing to join in a chant of "Evil priest!" firmly in the palm of the band's collective hand. Some time into the set, vocalist Andy Cairns asks if Portsmouth is "Ready to make some positive noise?" then lets fly into the maelstrom of Positive Noise itself. With this, the chaos begins anew and not once does it show any sign of retreating until curfew is knocking on the door. With all that said, it wouldn’t be an overstatement to suggest we need more Therapy? and we need it now.
With an ominous video announcing their arrival, Leeds quintet Artio wake the crowd up on Saturday afternoon with their polished alt.rock. As they tear through tracks off of their latest full-length Soul Rot, they look so very comfortable running the roost. It’s also a real pleasure to see As It Is join them onstage for a run through of Full On Fight For Fun in what makes for a great early collaboration, before breakout single Product Of My Own Design summons an explosive light show and plenty of applause.
The ever-intriguing duo behind Zetra appear out of the mist on the Phil Campbell Kerrang! Stage like ghosts, hypnotising onlookers with their industrial-tinged gothic shoegaze. A simple request is made of those watching: "Fists in the air. Join us." Their entrancing power make it near enough impossible to tear your eyes away from them, as they rain down melancholic chords and morose vocals that soar above their guitars and banks of keyboards. From beginning to end they are excellent, with each new song showing off more of their unique sound, and no doubt garnering themselves plenty of new fans.
Vexed’s hammer blow approach to alt.metal hits as hard at Takedown as it has anywhere else they’ve played recently. The Hertfordshire heavyweights can duke it out with anyone else on the bill today, and are sharp enough to draw blood. The small injections of djent and deathcore make for a fascinating sound that is crushingly powerful in the live setting, where each new song is met with whoops, cheers and moshing galore. It would be criminal not to see them on the main stage next time they visit Takedown, even if they might demolish it in the process.
Atmospheric post-hardcorers Lastelle certainly know how to garner attention. The soft, mournful trumpeted opening of Pine abruptly breaks into a huge post-hardcore anthem, and serves to capture the hearts and minds of everyone in the room. Of course, this is by no means the high point, as the Oxford quintet play a stellar set largely made up of their two Exist l EPs. The heart-wrenching anguish found within both is found front and centre here, and makes for a truly compelling performance. As they kick off their finale, Breathe Me In, vocalist Adam Rigozzi asks "Portsmouth, sing along!" and everyone does. Very loudly.
Making good on the concept of burnt ground leading to fertile growth, VOWER have risen from the ashes of Black Peaks, Toska and Palm Reader to become a serious force in UK alt.metal. Bludgeoning the stage with their aggressive chugging and vicious shrieks, one could almost mistake them for a steam train with particularly bad brakes, if not for the incredible groove they possess on songs like Stuck or the anthemic Dawn In Me. Few bands have such a fantastic variety of experience in live music, but VOWER make theirs count to brutal, blissful effect.
Leicester’s Mouth Culture show off the best of modern indie-punk in their bouncy appearance, representing the more upbeat and energetic end of today’s line-up at their Portsmouth debut. Don’t Pull Up is an early highlight that gets the room jumping, before vocalist Jack Voss asks if "anyone has heard of Mouth Culture" and receives a resounding "yes" for an answer. Whether slowing down or keeping the tempo at full steam ahead, the band stay in fine form and rock the house down. Each new earworm riff or infectious bassline finds itself fighting to be heard against a cheering Guildhall, before the mischievous opening riff of Ratbag signals their last few minutes at Takedown. A band definitely set for very big things.
Pop-punk heroes As It Is have a whole room of people jumping from the very first note of their set. Such is their enduring popularity that, even with a few years away, they’re still conducting huge sing-alongs to The Fire, The Dark and The Wounded World. New songs Marilyn and Lose Your Way & Find Yourself make appearances, with this being the first time the former has ever been performed live, while elsewhere old classics like The Stigma (Boys Don’t Cry) ring out brilliantly across the venue. Inspiring plenty of movement and giving as good as they get, it still feels great to have As It Is back in action.
West London’s WARGASM are directing the new wave of nu-metal from the front of this big stage, whether that’s with recent single Vigilantes or 2022’s Fukstar. As Sam Matlock tells the room, "We’re gonna give you everything, give us everything back!" the atmosphere becomes more charged, and the crowd bouncier. Each new song brings more visceral output from the band, to the point of Sam asking the audience to fight them. Early single Spit goes down as well as anything across the weekend, with the adrenaline-pumping bass lick and inescapable bridge marking a moment to remember before they finish up in style with Do It Real Good.
The big finale of the weekend. The masked stars who came from seemingly nowhere. The giant glowing symbol of the band, looming above the stage… it can only mean PRESIDENT are in the building. The room is chock-full, and an ecstatic roar goes up as they take to the stage for the most hyped and anticipated slot of the festival. Playing through their admittedly less than gargantuan back catalogue, each track is provided a huge reception, from the live debut of Mercy, to their cover of Deftones’ Change (In The House Of Flies). Then there's the gigantic whoop that goes up for In The Name Of The Father. It seems like an inevitability that PRESIDENT will go on to headline many more, and larger, festivals from here, but this set at Takedown will always be the very first. It will take some beating.
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