LIVE REVIEW: Superlove, One Dead Thief, Arid Wave, Heartbreakers, Southampton, 06/06/2023
Photo Credit: Ethan Porter
Following the release of their new album follow:noise, Superlove headed to Heartbreakers in Southampton with Arid Wave and One Dead Thief completing the line-up.
In the small, loud and slowly filling up attic room at the venue, it was time for Southampton locals Arid Wave to present their grunge-rock to the crowd. From the onset we were a little confused about what we’d walked in to, given the headliners tonight, the face meltingly heavy tracks Arid Wave performed stood out. Performing tracks including Karma and their sludge metal, System Of A Down take on Britney Spears’ toxic, it was a messy set with the sound mixing sadly letting the band down. With the vocals hard to make out and the musical backing overpowering, unless you were one of the handful of fans the band already had in the room, it was hard to get behind their set on this occasion 6/10.
The supports for tonight show were both local, which in turn meant they had pockets of fans throughout the crowd for their supporting set. One Dead Thief had a wall of fans standing front of stage and beaming as they sung back word for word to tracks including A.T.E which even had us singing along to ‘spin me another story’ which was littered with ferocious riffs from Jack, Reece and Nate. Performing as if this was their own headline show, they even took this opportunity to perform new, previously unheard track Phantom Pains, offering up a delightful mix of breakdowns and calm within the chaos of their set. Their punchy tracks, dual vocals and onstage chemistry within the band and with the crowd made it one of our favourite support sets we’ve seen this year. 8/10
Having first come across Superlove when they supported ROAM back in 2020, after a line-up change and with a new album under their belt we were excited to see the Bristol-based trio perform a headine show in Southampton for the first time. The intimate settings of Heartbreakers made for all the more fun, with the crowd getting to know each other, look out for each other and bounce of each other’s energy as the band bounded onto stage into GO!.
Their eclectic musical sound goes from frantic to melodic to the raw, spoken chant vocals of BARFIGHT! and right back around again as you don’t really know what rollercoaster you’re on but can’t help but love it. Take THINK ABOUT U for example; this slower number gave a chance for reflecting and to enjoy the emotive, vocals of Jacob Rice before the gutsy guitar-breakdown came around as the crowd found their voice carrying the track out to the end. Early contender for setlist stand out moment came with Easier, with its pop-rock guitar lines and funky electronic elements, complimented by a trademark catchy Superlove chorus.
From throwing yourself around in a mosh pit to swaying with your new best friends in the audience, Yours turned the tempo down but upped the emotion in the room. Everything was calmer if only for three minutes to focus on the sincere lyrics about the special people within your life and needing them to always be around, did we feel a little teary? Yes. Yes we did! Throwing us right back into Something Good, continuing the lyrical appreciation of those around you theme the driving drumlines of Tom Hennessey came back in with a vengeance alongside the dual guitars from Rice and Jon Worgan. Despite admitting this was only the fourth time performing the track live, you wouldn’t have noticed thanks to the power and confidence the trio put across whilst onstage.
Rounding off their set came with Save Yourselves, the pits opening up for one last time as Worgan and Rice stomp it out onstage whilst the aggressive riffs fill the air. As the night draws to a close, the crowd chants of ‘one more song’ kicked in and we all had a feeling we knew what was coming, the trio were as Rice explained ‘bullied’ into taking us all on a summer holiday with their vibrant track Book A Holiday. Arms were flying and ‘let’s book a holiday, maybe the South of Spain’ look set to remain in our heads for the rest of the week as Rice’s vocals were at times overpowered by the passionate crowd who were simply having a great time.
You know what helps makes a Superlove show such a super lovely time? The fact it’s evident the band are making music they enjoy and having the best time whilst performing onstage. Fluttering from genre to genre, why stick with one when you can try a bit of everything especially when it translates into one of the most fun live shows you’ll be lucky enough to see! 8/10.
Written By: Nicola Craig
