After an unexpected pause in 2024 due to building works, the festival made its triumphant return to the historic Guildhall, proving that passion and perseverance always win. While this edition of the festival was slightly refined, featuring the main stage and two side stages, the streamlined setup made it easier than ever for attendees to plan their perfect weekend of music.
Though the Total Rock stage was absent, this shift ensured a more focused line-up, allowing attendees to fully immerse themselves in the energy of the performances without juggling too many set clashes. While the main headliners couldn’t perform, the majority of the beloved support acts remained, delivering a weekend packed with electrifying performances. Another notable change was the move to hosting the event across both Friday and Saturday, which brought a fresh dynamic to the independent festival.
Despite the challenges and adjustments, the festival’s return was nothing short of a success – proving that even with delays and changes, it was a weekend filled with incredible music, unforgettable moments, and the undeniable excitement of being back together again on the south coast.
Day 1
The Friday evening starts off with S.O.S. on the main stage. The local pop punks have plenty of energy and some catchy songs to start the evening with. From there the stage times are well staggered allowing for uninterrupted listening pleasure, so it’s not long before it’s off to the We Are Trxsh stage to catch Thuum. The stage has been setup in the venue’s café and the band has the sun glaring in their faces through the open door. It’s then onto the Metal For Good stage for Empyre who get the crowd rocking before heading back to the Laney stage for The Raven Age who put on a show well above their billing, this is a band making a statement. Sunk take to the stage in the café as the sun sinks in the sky. It’s then back to what is turning into a hard rock night over on the Metal For Good stage as Skarlett Riot crank it up. Chloe is a real powerhouse and is obviously loving being onstage. There’s a bit of a change in pace on the main stage as Ferocious Dog bring their folk punk to town. Oxford lads Desert Storm bring the bad weather to an unusually well-lit stage for them. Matt is at his growly best. Hard rockers Bad Touch are up next and put on a great set. Stevie Westwood must be giving his all as his vocals sound coarse by the end of the set. First of the night’s headliners is Kris Barras on the main stage. It’s a set that throws everything at the crowd, hard rocking tunes, metal solo riffs, and Kris getting down and dirty in the crowd. It’s then back to the We Are Trxsh stage for Urne who get downright heavy. The night finishes off with Scarlet Rebels with a set showing why they’re so popular on the more hard rock oriented festival circuit.
Mark’s Best of the Day: Ferocious Dog
Picking a best of the day out of this line-up isn’t easy, but Ferocious Dog just gets it by a whisker. You’d be forgiven for thinking these Notts lads are from Ireland, they have an old folk punk sound that gets everyone dancing. There aren’t many bands that can pull off high energy punk with a violin but they do it well, so well in fact that they’d be worthy headliners in their own right. They certainly deserve their main stage billing. They also wear their political leanings on the sleeves with a very popular “fuck the Tories, and Keir Starmer” getting a round of applause from the crowd.
George’s Best of the Day: Desert Storm
Sticking with the excellent We Are Trxsh stage Desert Storm are a total revelation, low slung heavy stoner grooves with an incredible raspy vocal delivery that could rival anything the Nevada desert could spew out. These Oxford guys are the real fucking deal! Monolithic riffs that pack way more punch than any single guitar, bass, drums and vocal set up should, this is giant! They’re air a new track tonight called, Cut your teeth from their upcoming album and on this evidence it’s going to be a must for your speakers! Frontman Matt Ryan is a force to be reckoned with, he’s equal parts Tom Waits and Neil Fallon which might sound odd on paper but, trust me, if you see this stunning band live this will totally make sense. Essential!
Day 2
The second day gets started on the Metal For Good stage with Tribe Of Ghosts who show that opening the day is the wrong billing for them. These guys need to be higher up the bill or at the least opening the Laney stage. Speaking of the Laney stage, Wide Awake Club are the openers on the main stage, plenty of Portsmouth pop punk pleasure. Unfortunately the stage organisers seem to have stopped talking to each other as the Metal For Good and We Are Trxsh stages clash until the final headliners so the decision is made to alternate between the Metal For Good stage and then the We Are Trxsh stage in between the Laney bands, so next up is SWARM6IX on what is looking to be the heaviest stage of the day. Glass Grave get the café crowd going with plenty of screaming vocals and the rhythm for the day is set. The Laney stage is certainly keeping the pop punk fans happy as The Bottom Line get the crowd singing along with every chorus of “woah”. Lastelle get the crowd clapping along. They’re popular and bring plenty of their fans along with them. Not many bands can pull of a trumpet at a metal show. Swear Blind look more like a Nirvana tribute, with the singer’s checked shirt and bleached hair, but that’s where the comparison ends as these Notts based alt rockers entertain the café. The Hurt Process live up to their name as their guitarist takes a stumble onstage, landing on his ass. Impressively he doesn’t appear to miss a note as he goes down. Blanket slows things down, it’s head nodding shoegaze time. Save Face are a whirlwind of manic pop punk energy. Tyler Povanda doesn’t stay still for the entire show and at one point climbs onto the speakers before jumping off them back onto the stage. Fort Hope fail to make the most of the stage they’re on, the band seem almost laconic and lack energy. Harbinger nearly don’t make it onstage as their singer is AWOL, stuck in traffic on the A3. Adam from Tribe of Ghosts takes over vocal duties briefly, the plan is to swap singers every few songs, but before Adam finishes his duties on the second song Dilan arrives to take over. Kite Thief make the most of the café stage with plenty of audience participation as Elen Allan gets right up to the crowd against the barrier. It’s a good blend of pop metal that gets the crowd singing along. Seething Akira do what they do best, getting the crowd to party along with them. With this much fun they could easily have been higher up the billing. Black Coast show that heavy metal is perfectly happy to mug other genres for their music as they mix up nu metal, metalcore, and grunge to heavy effect. Slackrr only have to pop down the road from Southampton for their set, it’s some good old fashioned punk rock and roll from the three piece. Lake Malice put on a blistering set that takes the crowd by storm. They’re very nearly the best band of the night. Anywhere else and they would have been. Shields show that they’re still a force to be reckoned with in the metalcore scene. They’ve been back 2 years since their pre-covid breakup and look ready to stay for many more years. The Nightmares are definitely the odd band out for the weekend as they seem perfectly suited to a weekend in Whitby rather than Portsmouth. Plenty of goth goodness from them. Dream State have been looking forward to playing after last year’s cancellation and Jessie is full of energy. It’s only been a few years but she’s really grown into the role of fronting the band. InVisions get a good crowd in the Metal For Good stage and really get them going. It leaves the question of whether they should have been booked for the main stage instead. Tova put on an energetic display of alt-rock that gets the heads banging. Elvana are the main headliners for the festival and they show why they’re so popular at the big outdoor events. Unfortunately this isn’t an outdoor event and the crowd has gotten tired. Even so they give it their all with their mix of Nirvana and Elvis covers and Elvis even manages to crowd surf and gets into the middle of the mosh pit to get everyone singing along. In a change to the regular day’s schedule the We Are Trxsh stage clashes with the main stage. Kid Bookie puts on a great show, very nearly getting best of the day. Fast and frenetic metal mixed with rap that verges on punk. Acres are the last band to take to the stage and they have a crowd willing to do anything asked of them. Not content with just having a mosh pit they call for crowd surfers and the crowd is more than happy to comply.
Mark’s Best of the Day: Lake Malice
Right from the start Alice has the audience in the palm of her hand. Blending anime influences and a raw alt metal sound it’s easy to see why they’re so popular. It’s great to see a UK band that’s ready to go toe to toe with the likes of Lacuna Coil and Epica. This is a full on show that sees Alice bouncing around the whole stage, making sure to work the entire crowd into a frenzy. There aren’t many singers that can pull off clean and screamed vocals at the best of times, but Alice does the switch between vocal styles with an ease that show that she’s here to stay and they intend to dominate.
George’s Best of the Day: Tribe Of Ghosts
The biggest shock of the weekend seems to be that Tribe Of Ghosts are opening day two on the Metal For Good stage. Not bothered one bit by the time of day the band are simply stunning, fully relaxing into their role as one of the most exciting bands on the UK scene, Adam Sedgwick and the Tribe give a confident focused performance which surely testament to the hard work this band have put in on the road and in the studio. Full on intensity from all sides with Beccy Blaker’s vocals actually bringing at least one audience member to joyful tears. Their performance is so artfully executed and exudes so much energy, class and wow factor that even with a low billing you look at Adam in the crowd with his guitar with the mosh pit around him screaming, “I want to feel your sweat!” and you know that no one is doing it quite like Tribe Of Ghosts currently.
The One We Both Agree On: Seething Akira
Mark
Anyone who has been following Devolution for the last few years knows how much we love Seething Akira. They always put on a great show, whether it’s a small pub in Oxford or the Laney stage in Portsmouth’s Guildhall and this show is no exception. It’s full throttle energy on and off stage as they get the crowd bouncing. No surprise that they get the biggest crowd of the day as they fill the floor from the barrier to the sound desk. Every show is a party with these guys, and today they make it a birthday party as they wheel out a cake for Kit.
George
Upping the ante once again over on the Laney Stage Seething Akira bring the dance metal hybrid sounds, and the crowd suitably loses its collective shit with walls of death huge, deafening sub drops and the biggest bounce-a-thon Portsmouth has seen since… the last time Seething Akira played their hometown and that’s all in the first two songs! The rapid fire twin vocal attack and the dancefloor smart beats clearly are the edge this band have over their peers in this game as Seething Akira understand dance music as well as they understand metal, which is a rarity. Their cover of Insomnia has live glory written all over it and we can already see it destroying the Download main stage at some point in the future. On form like this surely Seething Akira will see their star in rapid ascendence this year. Go see them on a smaller stage while you still have the chance!
Review: George Miller & Mark Bestford
Photos: Mark Bestford (Alienation Photography)
Day 1 Gallery
Day 2 Gallery
