Live Review: Skindred, Danko Jones and CKY at O2 Guildhall, Southampton

Danko Jones

Danko Jones, CKY and Skindred played to a packed out O2 Guildhall, Southampton, on Friday night.

Toronto’s Danko Jones started the evening’s music in some style as Danko, John Calabrese and Rich Knox all gave 110% throughout their set. They provided rap, old school rock with a hint of metal as fans really engaged with their music. Danko Jones started with I Gotta Rock which was a perfect way to start a set and this was quickly followed by Sugar Chocolate and The Twisting Knife. The band then played the brilliant such songs as First Date and Had Enough which went down a treat with the buzzing crowd. Before they played Lovercall, the band thanked all the fans for all kind of reasons from requesting songs to simply staying and checking them out at the back of the venue. Danko Jones finished on My Little RNR which was a great way to finish their set and certainly warmed up the crowd.

Next up was Philadelphia trio CKY who never fail to dissapoint. Consisting of Jess Margera, Chad I Ginsburg and Matt Deis, we managed to catch up with the band before their set as they talked about supporting Skindred, latest music and more!

CKY took to the stage and the crowd was starting to get packed. The band provided plenty of amazing riffs, old school rock and in places even some scream. The trio started with The Human Drive in Hi-Fi as fans began to really get involved, dancing and singing along. Next up was the likes of Attached to the Hip and Replaceable which really went down well with the Southampton crowd. The atmosphere was electric as they carried on playing some killer songs such as Head for the Breakdown and a GG Allin cover of Bite It You Scum which was superb. They finished on Escape From Hellview which was a great addition to the set and no doubt CKY will back in the UK in time to come and will certainly not look out of place headlining O2 Guildhall.

Last up was the brilliant Skindred featuring lead singer Benji Webbe, guitarist Mikey Demus, bassist Dan Pugsley and drummer Arya Goggin. The South Wales quartet really got going from the start as they were promoting their upcoming album Big Tings, out this Friday (27th April). The band came on to AC/DC’s Thunderstruck and Star Wars Imperial March Remix. Right from the start Benji really engaged with his fans which was really great to see. Skindred played the title track of their upcoming album, Big Tings, which was a great way to start the gig as they continued to play song such as Selector and Pressure as well as Machine that features on the upcoming release also. A real favourite of mine on the night was Ninja which which really got the crowd pumped for the rest of the set and then this was quickly followed by Sound of the Siren which was epic. Benji got the crowd to chant the lyrics ‘That’s My Jam’ as the band then followed to play That’s My Jam, their latest single released. The band then played the likes of Kill The Power and ended on Nobody before the encore.

The encore included Rat Race as they finished on Warning which was a perfect way to end a night of kick ass rock music. Skindred left to the music of Carly Simon’s Nobody Does It Better as the crowd were left pumped from a fantastic night of music.