Gig Reviews

Words & Review: Katie Fisher (Guest Contributor) & Grace Wearn Photography Credit: Sienna Lorraine Gray (Header Photograph) & Katie Fisher (Group Hug Crowd Photograph in Article) Maroon 5. What a band! Their headliner set at BST Hyde Park, on a sunny Friday evening in London, was just magical and so well thought out. There were times where they were reminiscing, specifically on playing BST Hyde Park’ ‘Butterfly Stage’ in the mid 2000’s, before graduating to the same festival

Words, Review & Photography Credit: Grace Wearn Don Broco, the band that stormed my twitter and tumblr feed circa 2018 upon the release of their ‘Technology’ album, of course featuring ‘T Shirt Song’. The theme of that very storm was very much photos or videos at their gigs of their fans with a t shirt in one hand swinging it around their head, exactly like the song. Since then, I’ve been captivated by the want to be able to catch them live, until today - previously I had ne

Words, Review & Photography Credit: Moira Reilly Walt Disco turned The Boileroom Guildford into a fever dream — a small room bursting with big, theatrical energy. Twirling, twisting, and prowling across the stage, they delivered a set that swung between high‑octane chaos and haunting melancholy. Clad in leather and chunky biker boots, the band looked every bit the art‑rock creatures they are. Deep growling rumbles from the mic cut through the room, followed by sudden bursts o

The Cure - Marlay Park - Jun 26 Words, Review & Photography Credit: Moira Reilly It was a warm summer evening on the south side of Dublin, on the edge of the Wicklow Mountains, with the setting sun touching everything with gold. An audience 40,000 strong streamed into Marlay Park, goths braving the summer sun, and wisps of cloud forming a painted sky. The Cure quietly took to the stage with the rain from Prayers for Rain, before a pause, and the chimes of Plain Song began. R

Words, Review & Photography Credit: Moira Reilly With the room buzzing after the support performance of Within Reach, the house lights dipped for the second time, and, weirdly, the next thing we all heard was the Wii Fit Theme floating through the speakers. The crowds erupted, with audible shouts of “yes I knew they would!”. It was the perfect kind of fun entrance, playful, unserious and a total misdirect before the band tore straight into their opening song with roars and ri

Words, Review & Photography Credit: Moira Reilly With support from Cigarettes at Sunset. Cigarettes at Sunset opened the night with a warm, kinetic energy that set the tone perfectly for what was to come. Their vibe sat comfortably in the same emotional universe as Rainbow Kitten Surprise — moody, melodic, and full of movement — but with a playful edge that immediately won the crowd over. They hopped around the stage with genuine excitement, clearly grateful to be on tour wit

Words, Review & Photography Credit: Grace Wearn St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton - an incredible 35,000 cap venue located on the South Coast. My local stadium, that can be adapted for concerts like McFly. What was essentially a mini one day festival inside a venue, within the battles of the typical British weather.. wind, threats of rain and not weather related but in an open air venue.. seagulls. Opening up the one day concert first and foremost, was a local band from Southamp

Words & Photography Credit: Tessa Van Eijkelenburg Natalie Jane - The World I Didn’t Want World Tour - Tilburg Natalie Jane, the 22 year old American singer/songwriter/performer taking the world by storm! Natalie is on her world tour as we speak and made a stop in Tilburg 013. This is where we got to see her give an absolutely incredible performance. The moment she walked on stage, the room erupted into cheers. Starting off with the song “Any1 But Myself”, the show began. Dur

Words, Review & Photography: Grace Wearn M60, the Manny four piece taking the indie-rock scene by storm. On a packed out Thursday evening, they played my hometown; but more specifically one of the local grassroots gig venues that I spent many a time, in my teens - Wedgewood Rooms, or known to locals as “The Wedge”. Their support, the incredible The Manatees were also present to warm up M60’ dedicated but also so welcoming, community of fans. I’ve been fortunate enough to wor

Words & Review: Grace Wearn Photography Credit: Brian Ziff, Lucy Cheyne From an outsiders view, if you’ve heard of the band ”5 Seconds of Summer”; the general perception is “the band with the underwear song” , but that couldn’t be further away from the truth. The band have been labelled as a boyband for as long as I’ve been a fan, from specific news outlets, individuals outside of the fan community and live music lovers; who’ve either caught their show or seen the band suppor

Words & Review: Grace Wearn Photography Credit: Grace Wearn Scouting For Girls.. what a band. For a band that’s almost having its 20th year anniversary, they’re still such a timeless band. The first time I caught the band live’ was at Hyde Park British Summertime Festival back in 2014, I have such fond memories of hearing and singing along to “She’s So Lovely” on the ferris wheel with my friends. To fast forward to now - 2026, being fortunate enough to be their only approved

Words & Review: Courtney Hansford Photography Credit: Courtney Hansford Asha Banks – Roundhouse, London (15th March 2026) Review Asha Banks’ headline show at the Roundhouse on March 15th felt less like a typical concert and more like a shared moment between artist and audience. From the very start, there was an electric feeling in the crowd—one of those rare atmospheres where you can tell something special is about to happen. The anticipation paid off. As soon as Asha stepped

Words & Review: Manon Hardcastle Photography: Manon Hardcastle The gig was opened with an outstanding set from Irish Alternative band, Bleech 9:3. They completely and utterly rocked Southsea’s Wedgewood Rooms, with crowd interaction and stage presence so well executed, you might’ve assumed they were the headliners of the evening. Lead singer, ‘Baz’ Quinlan made himself very well known off the stage within the front row, encouraging the entire audience to scream along, and ev

Words, Show Review & Photography: Jenna Stoch The Lumineers at SunBet Arena in Pretoria was nothing short of unforgettable. From the moment they stepped on stage, the atmosphere was electric! I had chills from the very first note. Their performance was completely captivating, and even after finishing my first five songs shooting, I couldn’t bring myself to leave. With incredible stage presence and a crowd fully locked in, it was a truly special night. I’m beyond grateful to h

Straight off the back of their debut album release, Reading-based Only The Poets sold out their biggest show to date at the iconic O2 Academy Brixton. Having previously housed the legendary likes of The Clash, Kasabian and Coldplay, the band stepped onto the stage with confidence to mark the biggest night of their career so far. Image credit: Jordan Logan Even before the night itself, the band were making headlines for a bold statement about accessibility to live music by cha

Words & Review: Jenna Stoch Photography: Jenna Stoch & Benjy Stoch Calum Scott - The Avenoir Tour - Show Review: As a concert photographer, there is no better moment than just before the main act begins. The lights dim, the crowd goes absolutely wild, and then BAM - the show starts. And having Calum Scott right in front of you with a roaring crowd and all that energy was a dream come true. Last night I had the privilege of capturing Calum Scott live in Pretoria, and it was o

On a very chilly night in an unassuming city, Loyle Carner cultivated an evening rooted in honesty and authentic storytelling. As the second date of his Hopefully! tour landed in Birmingham, the O2 Academy was transformed into an intimate space built on vulnerable lyricism and connection. The night was set in motion by a short but punchy opening set from Rejjie Snow, whose sharp delivery and effortless confidence quickly warmed the crowd. His performance struck a perfect bala

Words & Review: Grace Wearn Photography Credit: Grace Taylor On a frosty, Wednesday evening in November- By The Fans Magazine were invited to review and Photograph The Lottery Winners Gig at the 1865 in Southampton. Cusp started off the show with a set jam packed with indie vibes and an unexpected surge of energy. From my perspective, their sound draws heavily from the kind of bands that dominate my own playlists—think Catfish & The Bottlemen, The Vaccines, Sea Girls, Blossom

Review & Photography Credit: Grace Wearn Bag Of Cans - The night kicked off with support from Norfolk based Bag of Cans, a band who somehow manage to combine sharp humour with punchy, hook-laden rock — and make it feel genuinely authentic. Their set was packed with unfeigned laughs, substantial personality, and infectious energy, captivating the crowd from the first note. One moment that had both the audience and me cracking up was when the frontman announced, “We’ve come up

Review & Photography: Grace Wearn Kissing People (first support): Despite having not released their first single as of yet, and being relatively new to the music artistry world in that sense - Kissing People were great. I love the fact they were very much female majority and girl power prominent. They were crowd engaging, electric and definitely give off that indie type rock and roll. Bleech 9:3 (second support): Bleech were the second band on, and they brought what I think w