It’s quite a novelty stepping on to an old German cargo ship to see a gig in the cargo hold and in 2024 Thekla celebrated its 40th anniversary as a live music venue. Judging by the snaking crowd greeting the discharged rockers club nights are especially popular.

In truth it’s not the biggest of venues and line of sight is poor. But, whatever, South of Salem chose the place to open their spring tour. We last saw them early last year when the larger stage suited their theatrical approach. ‘Death Of The Party’ was my album of 2024 and they were contenders in the Breakthrough section of our yearly poll.

They have been plying the festival circuit since at least 2022 and last year promoting their sophomore album at events like Maid Of Stone, Steelhouse and Bloodstock whilst touring with Wednesday 13 in the autumn.

The surprise tonight was that they played the whole of that album from start to finish.

They started with the older ‘Let Us Prey’ and their new cover version of the Savage Garden classic “To The Moon And Back”. A brilliant opening salvo.

The band are an infectious mix of 80s sleaze, 90s goth and noughties nu-metal. Here lies the conundrum; the average age of tonight’s crowd was at least 50 and an older punter is not best disposed to either standing or poor line of sight. And not least poor sound.

This is not to detract from the band, they just need to play bigger venues with more space for both themselves and their audience.

To be critical when hearing the album, and without a larger hall revealing the subtleties, the songs can seem one paced a fact noted in our review. Only the encore ‘Demons Are Forever’ introduced more light and shade.

To increase their momentum they obviously need to get album number 3 out soonest. Sink or swim South of Salem still stand a better chance than most but maybe not buried in the bowels of a small cargo ship.

Review and photos by David Randall

Album review (Death Of The Party, 2024)

UK Tour Dates

THURSDAY 27TH MARCH – THEKLA, BRISTOL

FRIDAY 28TH MARCH – RESCUE ROOMS SOLD OUT, NOTTINGHAM

SATURDAY 29TH MARCH – KEY CLUB SOLD OUT, LEEDS

SUNDAY 30TH MARCH – THINK TANK?, NEWCASTLE

TUESDAY 1ST APRIL - CATHOUSE, GLASGOW

WEDNESDAY 2ND APRIL- CLUB ACADEMY, MANCHESTER

THURSDAY 3RD APRIL – KK’s STEEL MILL, WOLVERHAMPTON

FRIDAY 4TH APRIL – UNDERWORLD SOLD OUT, LONDON

4TH MAY – ROXOFF FESTIVAL, THE BRICKMAKERS, NORWICH

8TH AUGUST – FIREVOLT FESTIVAL, MANCHESTER

21ST AUGUST – CHEPSTOW CASTLE, WALES

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 2 March 2025.

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Power Plays w/c 24 March 2025

HARRI LARKIN Too Close To The Sun (Robot Distro)
SANDNESS Not Your Dog (Rockshots Records)
DOCTOR BLACK Drag Me Down (indie)
COHEED AND CAMBRIA Goodbye Sunshine (Virgin Music Group)
LEONI JANE KENNEDY Closer (indie)
SMALL TOWN POLITICS Red Lights (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 24 March 2025

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Singer Songwriter)

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