Reserved For Nothing
Live (Decomposing Joey / Equilibria / Your Heart Kills / May Day Warning)
Decomposing Joey kicked off a busy Saturday night at The Joiners. The Southampton based punk-funk four-piece belted out a high-tempo hard-hitting sound, all backed by some solid drums and bass. The guitar managed to produce some excellent riffs that helped set the pace for the evening.
Unfortunately, the heaviness of the music was somewhat let down by the vocals. The talent was clearly there, as was a good set of lyrics, but the frontman needed to command more vocal power in order to compete with the music and make the songs complete.
Vocal power didn’t seem to be a problem with the next four-piece to take the stage. Equilibria gave a commanding performance consisting of a range of rock. Some of the earlier tunes had a Metallica influence where the heaviness of vocals didn’t quite fit the music. However, they then moved to the contrast of a harmonic bass shifting the mood from heavy to light and back again, and managing to show real talent in the process.
The mature and confident vocals worked well with these later tunes and it is fair to say they deserved all the attention they got; a tight unit pushing out a range of original songs.
The youthful Your Heart Kills were next to grace the stage and it’s hard to believe these accomplished musicians are as young as they are. The frontman immediately set the tone for this band with his confidence, charm and talent all wrapped up in a tasteful lime green jacket, which seemed to effortlessly flow to the audience.
The second song, with its upbeat drum and bass, and impressive guitar and vocals, was announced as a ‘pop-punk that’s a bit cheesy’. However, this didn’t seem to bother the crowd at all and just served to inject them with even more energy. Cheesy? Yes. But with a catchy chorus that allowed many people to join in, especially with the line ‘just another record that you won’t forget’, it was definitely the stand out track of their performance. As for not forgetting the song… that one line played out through my head the entire evening!
May Day Warning displayed uninhibited enthusiasm from the onset of their set. They commanded attention with both confidence and an excellent stage presence giving the impression of being the most experienced and sure of themselves of all the support acts. The frontman moved around the stage with ease whilst giving the vocals everything he could. The music was raw and edgy; with a set comprised of exuberant pummelling of the drums, vocal pandemonium, pulverising bass riffs, and a guitar that seemed to top it all off like the veritable cherry on the cake.
With The Joiners descending into darkness it set the scene for the perfect entrance for headliners, Reserved for Nothing. A change in audience mood was evident at this point as this was clearly what they’d all been waiting for. Judging by the reaction they weren’t let down.
A set list that was made up as they went along showed originality and improvisation (and a certain amount daring) but it meant the song names were hard to come by. However, it also meant they played what the crowd wanted.
With the first song the audience seemed to come alive; helped by the energetic stage-dominating frontman. As they moved into their second song it was apparent the crowd were enjoying their music even as it changed to a more upbeat song. A pause partway through silenced the crowd in anticipation as they knew was coming: Mayhem! The vocals were a mix of screaming and softer singing, which seemed to fit the music perfectly.
The singer then told us that he wanted to see ‘everyone dancing to the next song’ as we could ‘boogie to it’. Despite its catchiness, I doubt the crowd had dancing in mind as its mix of hardcore metal riffs and lighter moments gave the song more depth then dance-ability.
The next tune was announced as a six minute song that would have most of the crowd passed out on the floor by the end. Not so, as it was clear the audience were savouring every moment of the high tempo, hard-hitting sound, and the excellent bass line being pumped out.
Reserved For Nothing then took the chance to promote their website and the upcoming tour with May Day Warning. However, we were then told that, instead of the planned two final songs, they had to finish their set after one more song (maybe they turn into pumpkins at 12 o’clock). So rather than ending on ‘Black and White’ they chose the hardcore ‘Put Me Out’, beginning with a memorable guitar and bass collision and a vocal that seeped anger.
The heavy riffing and a frontman who barely stopped to breathe made for a chaotic finale. Angsty vocals, impressive drumming, and pounding guitar and bass riffs pleased the crowd and left them screaming for more of the same.
Definitely worth the effort to check these guys out on their forthcoming tour.
Reserved For Nothing Articles
Written by Brayer on
