Day 4 of the tour begins with the drive down from Chris’s in Leeds. 5 hours or so before getting to Southampton. The boys have played Joiners before so we kind of knew what to expect in terms of load in etc. Parking can be difficult depending on how busy the car park behind is. After the other bands loaded in we pulled the van up to the side and loaded everything through. There isn’t much storage space for shells or cases so we had to store a majority in the van, to make the changeover run smoothly.

The venue supplied us with an incredible Shepards Pie. Now I don’t mean incredible on a rider food level, I mean on a restaurant-grade level. The staff were amazing and very welcoming.

So if you haven’t been toThe Joiners before. The room layout is kinda like an L shape. the main front areas with a long corridor going back from one side, with a little corridor by the toilets to access the stage left side. That corridor by the toilets is a lifesaver from getting to the front of the room to the back of the room for photos. There isn’t a barrier, however, the stage is quite a bit taller than some of the venues on this tour, for example, Cathouse. Photographing from the crowd can really make the photos seem personal and up-close. You just have to be careful with the odd mosher getting chucked in your direction. As always the boys smashed this set. Stage access was really hard due to the amount of equipment that was on the side of the stage and the lighting rig on the stage. Once the set was finished, we opened the fire exits and flung out all the equipment to be put back into the van where all the cases and shells were. Trying to do it as quick as possible before Thousand Below started as I was covering them for photos and footage that night too.

Once I finished photographing TB I briefly said hi to a few friends before going upstairs to the green room to get on with the edits. I wanted to get them turned around asap for the band as I know London tomorrow might be hectic. Once the editing was sorted I came down to find the plan had changed for the evening. Originally we were gonna crash at the mine which is closer to London, But we decide to go out for the night in Southampton, get a few drinks. One of the publications that interviewed the boys kindly offered us a place to stay and park the van up. Thanks Jodie!

The night out was really good. Half the boys stayed in, but the other half went around town and caught up with some other band pals. The cocktail pints in the Hobbit and Star Inn will get you drunk quickly. The rest of the night is a blur, I just remember partying with the TB boys and the lovely blue pints. To come back to find the house had a garden bar. How we drank so much we will never know.

Woke up in the van in the morning to be greeted by the best fry up breakfast by the hosts. We couldn’t have been taken better care of.

Next stop London, with a very hazy head. Enjoy the photos and video below!

Charlie