Young Rebel Set - Lennons Southampton 17th April

The seven piece band from Stockton-on-Tees stepped up onto a very small stage barely leaving a single member with any room to move.



The immediate thing that was striking about this band besides the seven of them stood up on stage was the voice of their lead singer. He has a strong voice and sung with his northern accent, creating a similar voice to that of Liam Fray.



Their music was definitely lively and offered a folk feel, which naturally led to a lively crowd bobbing up and down to the bouncy bass lines to songs such as ‘Rosie’. The folk influences that the band have shone through in this song and scratchy sounds of the acoustic guitar that were played in sync with the bass and mandolin made it stand out.



As well as creating bouncy lively songs with punchy drumming these young rebels have the ability to create a song with a much more meaningful edge to it. ‘I won’t get up again’ was one of these songs – with catchy lyrics and forceful drum beats, it had the feel of a ballad, slowly building up to the big sing-a-long, which made this song one to stick in your head – no wonder is it set to be released.



The band managed to show us a softer side with ‘If I Was’, which came across as a gentle love song. The guitar during the intro was parallel to something from Bright Eyes. This song immediately came across as a wonderfully wrote love song and could easily something you’d hear on Valentine’s Day swapped between many couples. Lyrics like, “If I was a betting man, I would bet you loved me too, I’d bet everything I had for chance to be with you”, paint an image of a song wrote for a loved one.



Listening to the lyrics in more depth there seems to be more to the song. “I wish I never learnt a chord” and “I wasted so much time” could have led the audience to believe that the song may be about love lost due to music.



A fantastic performance from Young Rebel Set containing something for everyone.



Rating: 4/5

Review by Craig Thomas

This has been published on Southsonic's website.

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