Cavetown w/Dreamer Isioma @ Engine Rooms, Southampton - 18/03/2026

Cavetown proves that real impact is not measured in numbers, but in emotion and deep understanding of audience connection

I have to admit that before tonight, I had only heard of Cavetown by name and nothing else. Walking into Engine Rooms on a school night is not a rare occurrence for me, but it is when the whole school is in attendance. I haven’t seen a room full of younger people in a while, yet everybody and their mother (literally) was there for Cavetown in Southampton tonight. Judging by the enthusiasm and the outfits of the room, we would be treated to a band that is well-loved, bringing a vibe of softness and sincerity to the South Coast. And we were all ready for it.

Opening the night was Dreamer Isioma, an artist of Nigerian-American origin who brought a mix of indie, R&B, alternative pop and a disarming sense of honesty into the room. Dreamer Isioma’s set was gentle, fluid, and full of swing, blending genres with impactful messages that the audience immediately resonated with. Importantly, Isioma is renowned for exploring identity, queerness and emotional nuance through their work and that was evident from the start of the set. Songs like ‘Sensitive’ and ‘Why Must Everyone Die’ were instantly embraced by the crowd that bounced, swinged and followed Isioma’s groove, whether that was music sampled from MJ’s Beat It, to guitar solos, to screaming back lyrics like ‘Bitches these days are so sensitive’.

To give context to the music and the sounds, Isioma took a deep dive into their personal life and struggles, vulnerabilities and experiences an artist only shares when they feel like the audience understands them. Talking about past attempts and how their music is inspired by living the life, the audience was loving it. Ending off with some ‘freaky’ numbers and unreleased tracks, they delivered a speech that was raw, and a set that was introspective and gentle. As a response, the crowd kept the momentum and showed that Isioma had earned their status as a recognised force in the Southampton ranks.

Shortly after, when Cavetown took the stage, the reaction was immediate but different. There was an explosion, which slowly developed into the kind of cheer that felt more like a collective hug. Robin Skinner has built Cavetown on relatability, and live, that translated into something that was simple, intimate and raw. Even in a packed room, the performance felt personal, as though each song had been individually addressed to someone in the audience (apart from Robin’s girlfriend, who got a heartfelt callout as inspiration to a song, yet was in the States).

Cavetown’s setlist was structured on balance, pace and accuracy. Songs like ‘Cryptid’, ‘Rainbow Gal’, ‘Baby Spoon’ (said song dedicated to Robin’s girlfriend), ‘Juliet’, and ‘Sailboat’ triggered instant recognition, their choruses sung back by a crowd that came prepared. Yet, there were songs such as ‘Running with Scissors’, ‘Straight Through My Head’ and ‘Home’, that felt like a complete shift in the mood, going from fragility, to tension, to explosion. It was a setlist that was efficient and steady, and the crowd’s emotional energy seemed to be loving it. Paired with a simple production of an elevated round platform, soft lighting, gentle colours and a clean mix, there was enough visual spectacle to frame the songs without overpowering them.

The Southampton crowd operated on a different frequency to your typical rock or metal gig. At least for me, who has forgotten what mellow music sounds like, it seemed like there was a collective attentiveness and a shared enthusiasm that is hard to describe when there are no pits and chaos. Yet, the people there were loving it, sharing the experience of watching a gig together, shouting back the lyrics to their favourite song, and swinging to music without breaking their neck in the process. It was a dynamic I hadn’t seen for a while, and when ‘Devil Town’ came on, it was clear that the band is very very loved by their fans. Sometimes, it is the most unexpected gigs that surprise us the most – ones where there is no chaos, but just a quiet calibration of sincerity and a deep understanding of how to connect with the audience. And Cavetown did exactly that!