Takedown Festival 2014: Review

Headliners: Funeral For A Friend, Rise To Remain, Heaven's Basement
When: 15th March 2014
Where: Southampton University
Reviewed By: Dan Stoten

Although I spent a lot of time interviewing bands at Takedown this year, I was still able to go and see some top quality bands do their thing. The first of these was Blitz Kids, who are a band which have consistently impressed me on the occasions I have seen them. Although I only caught the end of their set, a phenomenal cover of Brand New's Sic Transit Gloria was a pretty incredible thing to catch. The band clearly knew their crowd, and blew the roof off.

I then made my way to the Southampton Music stage to see one of The Punk Archive's hot picks for the festival, A Tale Of Two Cities. Leading with the incredible Home, this is a band who genuinely are on the cusp of big things. Huge choruses, brilliant melodies and catchy lyrics abound, A Tale Of Two Cities delivered a brilliant set, and one which wouldn't have looked out of place on a much bigger stage. Keep your eyes out for these guys.

I Divide came next for me. These Exeter rockers clearly know how to put on a show, and rattled through their tracks with a huge amount of energy. The Big Deal Clothing stage was packed, and it was easy to see why, the triumphant rendition of Follow being the highlight. From their soaring melodies and harmonies, I moved to the Jagermeister stage to see Jamie Lenman absolutely smash his set. Hugely technical, challenging music, the pace and ferocity with which him and his band attack the tracks is something to behold. Even if you're not a fan of the genre, I would recommend seeing him: as a spectacle, he is brilliant.

Having already spoken to ska-punkers Ghouls a little earlier in the day (http://thepunkarchive.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/takedown-festival-2014-interview-ghouls.html) , I was looking forward to seeing if they could pull off the party vibe they had spoken about. A resounding 'yes' was the answer. The band had their crowd skanking right from the first track, and looked like they were having a genuinely brilliant time onstage, only adding to the happy, party atmosphere their unique brand of ska-punk created. Dive In was a triumph.

Kids in Glass Houses were next, playing their last ever set in Southampton. Up until seeing them at Takedown, I don't think it had really registered with me that they were breaking up, despite spending a good bit of time earlier in the day talking through their career (http://thepunkarchive.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/takedown-festival-2014-interview-kids.html). It was only after their set that I properly registered what a significant loss their break up is to the scene. They played a brilliant set, ripping through some tracks from Smart Casual, including Give Me What I Want, with the surprisingly still crowd really beginning to join in closer to the end. Closing with the anthemic Matters At All was a masterstroke. This Welsh five-piece are going to be sorely, sorely missed.

I then caught the final five minutes of Chasing Cadence, who impressed with their energy and enthusiasm. Rise To Remain ably stepped in for Chimaira, delivering a note-perfect set of aggressive yet bouncy hardcore on the Uprawr stage, before I ended my Takedown seeing Hacktivist, who were now playing the Big Deal Clothing stage having left some equipment behind. This really is a band you need to see, their stunning energy and passion almost palpable. Leaving the crowd buzzing as ever, this was a fitting close to what was a triumphant festival, which The Punk Archive was exceptionally proud to sponsor.



Thank You's:
We would like to extend our thanks to Zan Lawther and Marianne Harris for giving The Punk Archive the opportunity to sponsor the festival, and for being so patient with us in the lead-up!
Thank you also to the PRs who helped us set up such a huge amount of interviews.
We'd like to thank Kev Tungatt for designing our fantastic flyers which we handed out at the festival.
We'd like to thank Jamie Kerr and Eve Wan for their support and for their incredible photographs.