The Amazons, one of the most hotly-tipped guitar bands of the year, are currently on tour in support of their Top 10 debut album, and I was lucky enough to catch them at their sold out show at the Southampton Engine Rooms on Friday night.

As always, the gig didn’t disappoint. Playing all the top tracks from their album, including the punk ‘n’ roll rush of Stay With Me, the playful rhythmic drive that underpins Black Magic, and the foreboding grunge of Little Something. The evening came to a surprise conclusion with the lighters-aloft piano ballad, Palace, a softer performance which demonstrated another angle to the band away from their fiery wall of sound.

The Amazons opened the show with an energetic performance of their latest single, Ultraviolet, in light of their recent release of their vigorous new music video.

The new video features an emotive performance of the song, augmented by animations. It captures the band excelling in their natural environment with an explosive performance which reflects the raw energy of their gigs. Each scene was shot on 16mm film, with dynamic animations scraped by hand, frame by frame onto the negative before being run back through the scanner.

The video is the result of the craftsmanship by director Oscar Sansom, whose previous credits include videos for Biffy Clyro, Belle and Sebastian, Idlewild and Twin Atlantic.

The word on everybody’s lips at The Engine Rooms was surprisingly the ‘dramatic’ transformation of lead singer Matt after his recent controversial haircut. I can confirm that his performance was no less fiery even with the unexpected loss of a couple of inches off his iconic flame-hair.

With the rest of October’s headline tour sold out, The Amazons have announced further UK dates for February 2018. Tickets for the dates are selling quickly with several nights already sold-out, but remaining tickets are available here: www.theamazons.co.uk

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