Review: Fozzy, Tailgunner, Marisa and the Moths at The1865, Southampton

By Chris Taylor.

Heavy metal is clearly alive and well in Southampton.

I haven’t been to a sold out gig at 1865 for a while, so it’s a bit of a shock to the system to walk in at 7.15pm to an already-packed venue (19/2/26). The main floor is full with people staking their claim to a good spot for the evening, and the balcony merch area is buzzing with people planning their purchases.

It’s great to see, because all three bands on the bill deserve to be playing to crowds like this, but – to quote something I overheard a few times – “I didn’t know so many people like Fozzy!”

Unlike similar ’00s bands who have sold out the 1865 recently, Fozzy never had a specific hit that exploded on Scuzz or Kerrang. They’ve always been “if you know, you know”, despite being fronted by wrestling superstar Chris Jericho and praised by critics.

And their tour supports are two relatively new UK bands, rather than another US band from the same era (which seems the current norm to sell tickets). It’s a testament to the work Fozzy have put in that this is their biggest and most successful UK tour to date, in a landscape where it often feels like the only way to put on a show is to appeal to nostalgia.

Judging by the amount of Tailgunner and Marisa and the Moths shirts in the crowd, though, Fozzy have made an excellent choice by supporting upcoming talent. I know both bands via connections to Reading, so I’d consider them relatively local, but I imagine the scenes are much the same across the whole UK. They’ve both been touring relentlessly for the past few years and winning people over at various festivals, and it’s easy to imagine them taking over as headline acts in the near future.

This old-school attitude of “put on a great show and support new talent” is the perfect fuel for the community atmosphere in The 1865 tonight. Everyone seems friendly, considerate, and genuinely there for the music. It’s not about getting a good photo, filming chunks of the set, or ticking a band off your bucket list. The area around the merch tables is busy all night with people hanging out with Marisa and the Moths or Tailgunner while we listen to the other bands, even though the view isn’t great. It’s like an evening at a festival: the sound and buzz washing over you whether you can see or not, bumping into unexpected friends, chatting to the artists, and enjoying being around like-minded people listening to good music.

The line-up, too, feels like it’s been chosen precisely to create that festival experience. Genre-wise, the bands don’t really match, but they fit together like the highlighting on a Download clashfinder.

Marisa and the Moths (pictured below) hit the stage with a blend of grunge and hard rock which instantly makes you wonder why you’d go out of your way to see Halestorm or The Pretty Reckless when these guys are up the road in Reading. In fact, there’s something about the energy, the riffs, and the effortlessness of Marisa’s hauntingly-perfect vocals that – for me – lifts the band above the big mainstream artists. Maybe it’s a touch of punkiness from early grunge, and the unexpected Cobain-style screams, or an edge of alt-rock experimentation that mixes different melodies into the bluesy riffing, but whatever it is, they’ve added a unique vibrancy to the genre. There’s also a sense of vulnerability to the lyrics and crowd engagement that adds a welcome contrast to the hard rock swagger. The half an hour set flies by, and judging by the queue at their merch table for the rest of the night, they made a massive impression.

The crowd starts clapping along with Tailgunner’s intro track before they even take to the stage. They’ve been to Southampton a few times and clearly already have a good following here. As soon as they start playing, it’s obvious why. Sure, ’80s metal revivals aren’t new. But, while a lot of bands try to forge their own sound by drawing from obscure bands, Tailgunner immediately aim for the big guns. There’s elements of Priest, Maiden, and Metallica from the jump, but they manoeuver so seamlessly between them that you can never place what’s coming next. It obviously requires a lot of skill and bravado to fly that high, and Tailgunner have it in spades, owning the stage while the guitars shred, drums pound, and vocals wail. “These guys are the real deal,” is thrown around a lot; these guys are exactly what you want to hear if you enjoy ’80s metal, orchestrated with a unique spin and performance.

Finally, to complete our line-up, Fozzy are the perfect festival band. Groovy riffs that are simple to understand and easy to dance to, but never boring. A charismatic frontman who effortlessly owns the stage at all times (I took three photos completely blind, and he had a perfect pose in each one). Original tracks that sound like the best bits of wrestling walk-ons mashed up with an encyclopaedic knowledge of what makes heavy metal great. An Abba cover. What else can I say? If I had to compare them to anything more well-known in the UK, it’d probably be Skindred. They’re a band you have to see live.

In short: you couldn’t have asked for a better night of heavy metal showmanship and pure entertainment.