Rock Regeneration

The Joiners, Southampton

Taking a break from a joint jaunt around the UK with Northern Irish punks “Stiff Little Fingers”, British folk punk legends The Men They Couldn’t Hang stop off for a intimate headline gig at the prestigious Joiners in Southampton. The band have played here many times before and it is usually a energetic and riotous affair.

Tonight’s crowd is full of the bands friends, family, and the band’s most loyal fans who just know they are in for a great evening of entertainment. The band have been around in since forming in 1984, and performing their controversial politically charged The Clash meet Cash style of high energy folk music. In 2014 the band will celebrate their 30th Anniversary and rumour has it that a large musical celebrations are planned. During the current “Stiff Little Fingers” tour the band have been going down a storm playing sell out shows including a annual St Patrick’s Day celebration at the Barrowlands Ballroom in Glasgow.

Sean McGowan 1–2

As is usual with virtually all Joiners gigs top class support acts are lined up to make sure the evening starts off really well. The first of these is local lad Sean McGowan who has recently been making a great name for himself in these parts. The young singer songwriter, who is joined by a second guitarist Dean Paul, provides Sean provides some angry passionately delivered lyrics along the lines of a young Billy Bragg, or more recently troubadour Frank Turner. The songs are stories with a underlying message, Sean’s impressive fast pace motor mouth delivery gets his message across well in songs such as “£5:25”, and “Be Counted”. The best is left to last in the form of “This Old Town” a song all about the sights and sounds of Southampton, with the twin acoustic guitars being played at a frantic pace the set ends on a high with plenty of appreciative applause from the well entertained audience.

Bournemouth’s Willowen are up next, and the 3 piece provide a unique blend simple folk tunes with some well crafted songs that seem to hit the mark with the sometimes difficult Southampton crowd. The band comprise of Jonny (Acoustic guitar/Vocals), Jasmine Watkiss (Violin/vocals) and George Fullerton (Cajon/vocals) who have recently released their 3rd EP entitled “Monster”. The uplifting happy songs with well delivered harmonies have been influenced by their beautiful surroundings alongside the surf in Bournemouth. The songs such as the very mad “Monster (In My Paddling Pool)”, and new song “Things” have a distinctive 60’s flower power vibe but with a modern and very appealing twist that really sets them apart from any other bands out there at the moment. The band left the stage after a great set that really impressed the Joiners audience who cheered and clapped as the delighted trio left the stage.

Willowen 1–2–3–4

As show time for The Men They Couldn’t Hang draws nearer the space in the venue seems to get less and less as the people pack themselves in front of the stage for their imminent arrival. The six piece band climbed on to the stage and were given a fantastic welcome almost like a homecoming. The familiar tunes were executed with ease and looking around the room virtually everybody were singing the words to the songs right back at the band, with songs like “Rosettes” and the band’s first sing “The Green Fields Of France” just rolling back the years. An acoustic set with various interchanging duos within the band during the middle of the show threw up a few unexpected gems. Such as “Dusty Fields” from Phil Odgers recent solo album “The Godforsaken Voyage”, along with a nice reworking of the Johnny Cash classic “Folsom Prison Blues” by Stefan Cush. This section of the set ends with Phil Odgers doing a stunning solo acappella version of “Barrat’s Privateers” which for once keeps the rowdy crowd quiet throughout.
The Men They Couldn’t Hang 1–2–3–4–5