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Top 10 Sets of Takedown 2015

• 12th Mar 2015

Takedown 2015 and it’s Uprawr afterparty came, took our souls for a few days, and reminded us why festival season is the best time of year. Attending the first all-dayer of the year in Southampton this year with personal obsessions possibly pushing our writer Jess Kempner over the edge, there was a particular focus on the brilliant performance of the many lead singers gracing the stages. Without further ado, here’s our 10 highlights of Takedown 2015…

10. Zoax
A fascinating opener on the main stage and a real raucous show to get the party started. With the most to say out of the bands we saw throughout the day, frontman Adam Carrol certainly captivated us. Not necessarily for the right reasons…with some faux-pas comments, but mind blowing music. When it came to crowd participation he was the winner of the day, getting not just his vocals to the crowd, but full on performing in the crowd.

9. Miss Vincent
A beautiful bunch of boys, fresh on the festival scene. Frontman Alex Marshall was a lovely addition to the day, opening the Obsidian stage (the one that was curated by Fearless Vampire Killers). With clear Alkaline Trio influences, and a clean-cut set, with clean-cut haircuts, they’re ones to keep your eyes on.

8. Astroid Boys
Grime. In the middle of the day. In the light. That’s right. A weird vibe, missing a guitarist and therefore their slightly more rockier edge, but they still managed to have a party in the middle of the day. Frontmen Traxx and Benji still managed to deliver the set of the rock-grime nu metal dreams, at some point during their set every member of the band was up at the front having a mid-day party! The only thing we could have asked for was a bit of dark so that we could have danced and not felt conscious about our lack of coordination!

7. The Hell
It’s hard to tell when Watford-bred hard guys The Hell are having good or bad days, but front man Nails invited some of his ‘famous friends’ (sic) on stage with him throughout their riff-laden set, scattered with songs from all of their albums. The room was dark, which was a bonus, and the crowd seemed to be enjoying it almost 100% more than the bouncers were.

6. Creeper
Frontman Will Gould knew that they were in for a treat when he entered the stage to see the room so full. Keeping the audience’s attention for an entire set is something even the most practiced front men and biggest bands struggle with, but there was the biggest anticipation for Creeper, and they did not disappoint. Nearing the end of their tour, they showed Southampton exactly why there was so much hype behind this band, pop punk to the max, and as much as it pains me to drop it, showing pop punk’s not dead.

5. Moose Blood
Ones to watch is an understatement. Personally the most mind blowing and opinion changing band of the day, Moose Blood, still on tour with Creeper, showed that live, their album is even better than it sounds on record. Playing the white Cobain Fender guitar, front man Eddy Brewerton wowed the crowd in The Stags, packed full to the brim. He spent the time impregnating the women in the front row with the sweat dripping off his fringe, and left the men wanting to be him. Emo sounds representing the Seattle 90s bands that we have loved and lost, and a real boost for British music.

4. The Blackout
Frontmen Gavin and Sean made sure that the last festival that The Blackout played was one to be remembered. Playing hit after hit, being crowdsurfed and hanging from the little they could find, they even managed to get the old cynics at the back of the room on the floor mid-song as has been their routing for the past 5 years. This set just proved that as front men they are the most charismatic, and The Blackout will be sorely missed, doing what they do so well and with so much fun.

3. Charlie Simpson
As far as frontmen go, Charlz was the most famous of the lot. An emotionally charged set, with full band, just proves that he is good at what he does, with a whole crowd singing along. We thought it would be hard to beat the emotion and excitement from the act before, but Simo managed.

2. Mallory Knox
Fresh off their America tour with Peirce the Veil, their set was well polished and sounded extraordinary. Frontman Mikey Chapman sounded as on point as ever, and it was difficult to tell that the whole band were jetlagged and sleep deprived. A-list track after A-list track, this set was one that couldn’t be faulted, with the sweat rising off the crowd in time with their dance moves.

1. The One Hundred
Finishing off the night were Surrey babes The One Hundred. The night before their tour with Papa Roach, nu-metal newbies absolutely destroyed the smallest stage at the festival. It could be argued that it was a shame that they were on at the same time as the mainstream headliners, as there were many people that could have missed out on the beautiful Jacob Field and his street get up, these Gs raised the roof with their set.

Stay tuned for interviews from the day…