Miles Kane, One Man Band, Well Four - Engine Rooms, 6 Feb 2024

Miles Kane and his not so One Man Band played a packed Engine Rooms in Southampton last night with support from The Royston Club.

First time seeing The Royston Clu b and obvious from the outset there was a following in the crowd. No theatrics or showboating, no crowd banter, just straight to business with a flurry of crowd pleasing songs from a well rehearsed guitar band, all great musicians and musically, a perfect accompaniment for the main act. Looking forward to seeing them again at Victorious in August.

This is the second time I’ve seen M iles Kane, the last time back in May 2022, also at The Engine Rooms. Roadworks delayed our arrival but still managed to get a couple of rows from the front. The road crew dismantled the support acts kit uncovering the final stage setup. A central drum kit on a riser with a rotating light setup branching out either side fronted by three microphone stands.

Music played to fill the space awaiting the arrival of the band. A perfect blend of indie music culminating with Supersonic by Oasis, not a band you normally hear at gigs but certainly got the crowd singing at full volume. Another track followed, the actual song escapes me? but was cut short as the lights dropped and Miles Kane walked out followed by the band to a loud cheer and applause. He clearly loves playing Live, his face and smile alive looking out at those who came to be entertained and without hesitation his guitar rang out into ‘Troubled Son’, the opening track from ‘One Man Band’ then proceeded to roll through other tracks with the same vigour.

Much to his delight and certainly not unexpected, the crowd was right there vocally, everywhere I looked it was hard to see a face not singing along. Fan or not, it’s hard to deny he writes brilliant infectious songs. At the end of ‘Baggio’ and the raucous applause, he looked at the crowd, smiled and asked, who fancies a bit of a party? The spinning lights went pink, then blue, then red, then blue and so on engulfing the band and the crowd jumped even higher, if that were possible! Everyone was there to party! a wide range of ages but only one idea!

Finishing up with ‘Come Closer’, the track he finished with back in 2022 then ‘Don’t Forget Who You Are’ as an encore, it’s a sing along dream, multiple choruses ran through with a more than willing crowd adding support. He rinsed the song to its long drawn out conclusion and could have gone on longer.

The gig drew to a close, the band took a bow and thanked the audience, the standard throwing of guitar picks and drumsticks followed along with handing out setlists pulled off the stage, gaffer tape still hanging off them. I caught a pick mid-air, passed it to my daughter who in turn gave it to a young girl at her first ever gig. My daughter already had a pick and setlist from 2022 so made me proud.