LIVE REVIEW: You Me At Six, Kid Kapichi, Not Advised, O2 Guildhall, Southampton, 15/03/2025
Photo Credit: Alia Thomas (16th February – Portsmouth Guildhall)
For a band that has existed for twenty years, You Me At Six set out on an ambitious feat to say goodbye to their fans, even if drummer Dan Flint had to miss shows due to ill health. Luckily, Flint’s talented drum tech Harry Jennings stepped in. From setting up wakes for fans to mourn the loss of a band that mean a lot to many, to embracing on one last global tour, they knew it would be hard for fans. The band wanted to remember the good times. You Me At Six wanted to go out with a bang and bring those they have toured with along for this emotional goodbye tour. Southampton O2 Guildhall was treated to Not Advised and Kid Kapichi. The nostalgia was well and truly alive.
Kicking off the gig, Not Advised came onto The Boys Are Back In Town by Thin Lizzy. “Southampton, are you fucking ready? Let’s do it” before launching into a pop-punk frenzy of a song. They played loud, proud and knew from the get go that the energy was only going to get better. “This is our first fucking show in 14 years.” . Jim Thomas (vocalist) then asked for audience participation as, “I’ll sing woooaaaaahhh and I need you to sing… Well,l I guess some of you already know it. Sing There’s something different in here.” The front were bouncing away and vibing with the band and the band got the crowd to clap along to the beat.
As their set went on, they shared a few memories of touring with You Me At Six as “back in the day, they took us out on tour a lot. They mean a lot to us.” They then launched into A Red Light Situation and to add to the ambiance, the lights matched the title and gave it a little extra. For a band that hasn’t performed live in fourteen years, they were fun and sounded good. Although a lot less edgy looking than those years ago, they still remember the words, chords, beats and were energetic. 8/10
Not Advised clearly got the energy going as the crowd sang to Swing, Swing by The All American Rejects and a very fitting, I’m Not Okay by My Chemical Romance just before the next act was up. With atmospheric red lights, eerie police sirens and a build up, Kid Kapichi knew how to make sure everyone paid attention, before launching into one of their heavier, gritty guitar songs, Artillery. They were not stopping and launched right into Let’s Get To Work.
With Jack Wilson (vocalist and rhythm guitarist) donning a suit and sunglasses, he had fun bouncing around as the set went on. With the charisma of Madness’ Suggs and political awareness in his lyrics, Wilson worked the crowd to scream back with anger at the world, it was therapeutic for a lot of people. With the support of Eddie Lewis (bassist), Ben Beetham (lead guitarist) and George Macdonald (drummer), they got the crowd bounding and electrified for You Me At Six. Kid Kapichi were also appreciative of touring with You Me At Six and declared a “thank you for all your support and they are honestly lovely blokes” as the aforementioned band watched from the side. 8/10
Announcing the arrival of You Me At Six, the lights went down and the sound up to a well curated choice of Oasis’ Don’t Look Back In Anger. The crowd knew exactly what to do: sing their hearts out to a classic. With a little bit of dry ice smoke and build up from the band, Josh Franceschi (vocalist) took to the stage to welcome fans to their last tour, before launching into Room To Breathe.
They launched right into Loverboy and the crowd obliged to sing the guitar riff as Chris Miller (lead guitarist) played. Franceschi gave it his all, bouncing around the stage, as did Miller, Matt Barnes (bassist) and Max Helyer (rhythm guitarist). Although the song was released over fourteen years ago, the band knew it was a crowd favourite and gave the energy they did when they first played it live all those years ago! The crowd knew all the words, riffs and went nuts.
When it came to Save It For The Bedroom, Franceschi asked “do we have any old school fans in?” to which the crowd whooped. Once again, the performance was high energy and when it came to the word “whore”, Franceschi left it out but the crowd filled it in. Sticking with the nostalgia, they then launched into 2008’s hit, Jealous Minds Think Alike.
After Give, the stage lights changed in time to the drum beat as the band interacted with the crowd with Queen’s We Will Rock You before quickly leading into Night People. With purple, blue and green lights with the smoke machine on, the band were just silhouettes. As the lights went out, there was little time to recover before they launched into Fresh Start Fever. With vigour and grit, they got the crowd to bounce, pound the air and song their lungs out again. As the the bridge came, Franceschi wanted fans to open a bigger pit… They obliged.
Mid set, Franceschi addressed the crowd and shared his thoughts about the show so far. He addressed the no crowd surfing rules in the O2 Guildhall before being told he cannot, but the crowd was chanting to change for Lived A Lie. Franceschi got his way and security worked hard to help the surfers safely make it across.
As the set started coming to an end, the band slowed it down with Crash, an acoustic version of Liquid Confidence (where Franceschi invited a fan on stage to sing with him) and Take On The World before going out on a high with Beautiful Way.
The debate about encores continues… but there was no debate here. No You Me At Six concert would be complete without an encore. Despite covering a whole range from their discography, there were only a few songs missing. To round off an incredible goodbye to Southampton, they hit fans with Bite My Tongue, Reckless and a song that would underpin the band forever, Underdog. All of which Flint drummed on.
There was so much love in the room, it is hard to sum it up. However, these five people defined a lot of people’s lives for years and mean so much, that’s how they managed to sell out the majority of their Final Nights of Six tour! Although it is a bittersweet time, the band did the fans justice and the fans wished Franceschi, Flint, Barnes and Helyer all the best for their future. R.I.P You Me At Six, No One Does It Better. 10/10
