Futures - Southampton Joiners
Every now and then, Southampton Joiners plays host to a special act other venues this size would never imagine setting through their doors. With a back catalogue boasting names such as Coldplay, Oasis and Klaxons, the Southampton stage is not afraid to bless upcoming stars and on cue - welcome to Futures.
Despite the apparent lack of air con and audience sweat comparable only to an over-capacity sauna, Futures were able to evoke energy from start to finish in what they referred to as their 'greatest gig ever'. Opening with a flurry of crowd pleasers including '16', 'Take Me Home' and 'Holiday', Ant West and co performed humble yet to perfection to an exhausted and enthralled young audience.
You could argue that a band who have only been together for a year must have called in a favour to fill venues across the country, but the Buckinghamshire quartet have a free Rocksound giveaway to over 20,000 people to thank for their escalating fame. Not only did the free seven-track CD boost the magazine sales, it also opened doors that West's Tonight Is Goodbye never quite managed to, but not without an enormous amount of talent to back them up.
"So we have sold out Southampton Joiners" frontman Ant West shouts, to which screaming girls respond in the appropriate manner. "This one is for you" he continues, before bursting into 'Holiday' closing track Thank You - a pleasant fan sentiment.
Tour buddies The Xcerts proved once more that three Scottish lads can make more in-tune noise than any other nation and support acts The City Calls and Tell It To The Marines (both chosen by Facebook fans votes) brought fans along for the ride.
Dripping with sweat, the energy levels never once dropped - even relatively unheard track and new single Oxygen (due for release November 22nd) provoked a sing-along chorus from both screaming girls and aspiring skinny jeaned teen-boys.
Sal Paradise sent the crowd into a manic flurry before ending the set with 'Boy Who Cried Wolf' and unexpected crowd participation (check out the video below).
All in all, Futures opened their tour with a performance they will never forget. Things may only get better for the band, but I doubt very much they will ever be hotter.