Airbourne w/Asomvel & Avalanche @ o2 Guildhall, Southampton - 03/03/26

Riff, Rinse and Repeat as Airbourne bring beers and chaos to Southampton

If rock n roll were a science experiment, Airbourne would be the control group. Loud guitars, big riffs, beers in the air and jumps mean that the band brings all chaos and no compromise when it comes to their live shows. There is no reinvention necessary. At the O2 Guildhall in Southampton, the band’s Gutsy Tour proved once again that sometimes the most effective strategy is simply doing one thing extremely well – and doing it very loudly.

Opening the night are Australian band Avalanche, who wasted absolutely no time in establishing the evening’s agenda: riffs, speed and no subtlety. You know a band is pure rock n roll when the front man comes on stage bare-chested and the rest of the band is turbo-charged on hard rock energy. Even though I missed the start of their set (because it was too early for an office worker to make it to the venue on time), the gig was what one would expect from a band with that name: sharp, punchy, loud, and designed to have heads moving quickly. The early crowd filtered in with hair everywhere, drinks in hand and enthusiasm that was contagious from the stage and beyond the barricade. By the end of their set, the room was primed for chaos. Notable mention that the band was very proud on their UK run and warned us they are coming back in August – hopefully with less spiders in their merch, as the frontman joked. To be honest, I stayed away from the merch just in case, but would definitely love to catch the band live again.

Second up we had Asomvel, the band that detonated the powder keg after Avalanche lit the fuse. Asomvel (as their intro warned) are a dream to some and a nightmare to others and their sound is a clear debt to the spirit of Motorhead but with an injection of gritty and old-school heaviness. I was warned the band had ‘toned down’ the Motorhead theatrics to add their own twist into things, with distortion and groove that felt nothing but dangerous. The pit began to stir properly here, the crowd warming up to the idea that tonight might become a contact sport. Asomvel’s setlist was a blend of old-time hits and a few teasers of new songs that they had learned just to play live, which the crowd seemed to enjoy a lot. A few people even had a Jack and coke around me, in clear honour. Overall, Asomvel offered a great homage to Motorhead and a carefully engineered escalation to the headliner act.

The Guildhall was primed for impact when Airbourne hit the stage. Big amps, big lights and loud riffs meant that the first line of vocals exploded the atmosphere. For those who have not see Airbourne live, their gig operate according to a very simple algorithm: they start loud, they get louder and then it’s pure chaos. And it works! 

Frontman Joel O’Keeffe remains one of rock’s greatest kinetic forces, as he is part guitarist, part ringmaster and part the toughest head in the game, smashing beer cans against his temples for fun. Whether it is sprinting across the stage, climbing the mountain of amps, delivering riffs with military grade precision, jumping off speakers or throwing beer glasses to land straight into the hands of the audience, his commitment level to the part is insane (and very enthusiastic). The pacing of the setlist also provided a great backdrop to the antics and shenanigans of the night: starting off with ‘Gutsy’, onwards to ‘Hungry’, ‘Back in the Game’ and ‘Raise the Flag’, moving to fan favourites and sing-along anthems such as ‘Alive After Death’, ‘Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast’, and ‘Live it Up’, they had the pit expanding and the singalongs escalating. When the final two encore songs ‘Ready to Rock’ and ‘Runnin’ Wild’ hit, the crowd was already manic. And shall we mention that he went into the audience 2-3 times, playing the guitar on the shoulders of his crew, smashing beers and throwing cans around? Yes, that happened too. And the magic of it? Some of the pints landed straight into people’s hands as without a drop wasted! 

The Southampton crowd had understood the assignment of tonight. Airbourne’s music thrives in anticipation and the audience delivered exactly what was needed to make the gig fun and slightly unhinged. In an industry that often overcomplicates itsefd, Airbourne remain gloriously efficient and direct. And judging by the state of the floor by the end of the night, their strategy is still working perfectly.