Review: Wanderlust Festival 2025 – Southampton

By Darren Grayer. Additional reporting: Anita Foxall, Russell Foxall and Dan O’Farrell. Saturday After a highly successful first year, Southampton’s Wanderlust Music Festival returned at the weekend. Expanded to two days this time around, it saw well over 50 artists appear, spread over Saturday and Sunday at three local...

Review: Better Joy, Joiners, Southampton

By Darren Grayer. Formed in 2023, Better Joy is the creation of Manchester based singer/songwriter Bria Keeley. She began writing songs at university before forming the band which then released four singles in 2024, followed by last month’s six track ep, Heading Into The Blue. The band have been...

Review: Heartworms, The Joiners, Southampton

By Darren Grayer. Photo courtesy of Simon Ward.  Heartworms may well sound like a band name, but it is essentially the solo project of  singer/songwriter Jojo Orme. Hailing from Cheltenham, she has been confronted by sexist  attitudes and racism on her (so far) short journey in the music industry....

Southampton gig guide: February

By Vicky Greer. Live music is the perfect escapism. Not long ago, I was out in the wind and the cold on my way to Vinilo Record Store to see DITZ’s instore. My shoes we soaked through, and if I’m honest, I did consider packing it all in and...