Rising stars can come from anywhere: as South Of Salem have been proving, even from Bournemouth! The goth-rock five-piece have only been on the up-and-up in recent years, using collaborations with producers Scott Atkins and Romesh Dodangoda to jump into place as an exciting new act that has the alternative scene chomping at the bit. Such was the case in Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms on Friday night when the band, joined by High Parasite and In Search Of Sun, played to a sold out venue on their biggest headline tour to date: South Of Salem were clearly having the time of their lives, and you can bet the audience were of the same mind.

Though a late doors opening had In Search Of Sun taking the stage to a limited audience, it could do nothing to curtail their boundless energy— as the venue began to fill over the course of their set, the five-piece’s enthusiasm and passion only seemed to blossom. Vocalist Adam Leader put in maximum effort to earn his name, engaging with the crowd confidently all throughout: getting the audience jumping and singing along is an impressive feat for a support act, and the group’s ability to do so was a testament to the sheer fun of their show. Every member of the band had their love for performance on full display, dorky dance moves and all, and the crowd responded well, nodding along to much of the surprisingly heavy show.

The set was, unfortunately, subject to the odd mixing query. The guitars, in particular, were often buried under copious levels of bass, ruining some of the show’s brighter and more funk-infused moments: for all the fun of it, we’re not sure that this particular performance has us thoroughly convinced by the band’s sound overall. Even still, that gnarly bass presence did wonders to beef up In Search Of Sun’s heaviest passages, which had us head-banging like a metal crowd. It’s the youthful energy that we’ll remember the band’s show for most of all— the sing-along lyric of “we are the lows, the highs, the love, the hurt, the lullabies” from set highlight ‘The Fire I Play With’ continues to stick with us, cementing the group as a strong opener to the event.

High Parasite may not have been headlining the show, but their bombastic entrance could’ve fooled us: ominous red lighting set the mood perfectly as the band sauntered onstage, launching into ‘Parasite’ in a frenzy. All eyes were surely on bassist Tombs, who’s striking stage get-up (covering half his face with a mask and the other with skeletal face paint) complimented the band’s darker musical style well: he was clearly going all out in his performance, amping up the band’s surprisingly heavy, menacing collection of tracks up to new heights. It was a shame to see frontman Aaron Stainthorpe— best known for his work in My Dying Bride— failing to share in that enthusiasm, though the singer nonetheless exuded confidence and character at all times.

Musically, High Parasite were the boldest act of the night, bringing a bass-forward sound that really leaped off the speakers: unlike In Search Of Sun before them, the approach fit the group’s style to a tee, allowing their gothic rumblings to echo throughout the venue. Admittedly, not every element of the sound design was quite so infectious: Stainthorpe’s clean vocals paled in comparison to his wicked growls, and we have to acquiesce that the show began with a stronger collection of tunes than it ended on. Still, the five-piece brought an exciting darkness to Rescue Rooms, contrasting their frontman’s dry sense of humour nicely: there’s no doubt that after a show this striking, the band must have picked up some new fans across the tour.

If High Parasite were aiming for the moon with their show’s presentation, South Of Salem had launched into the stratosphere: though the band have always had a penchant for the theatrical, the opportunity to embark on their biggest headline tour yet had allowed the five-piece to take things further than ever before. The drawn-out opening of the show had the entire crowd waiting with bated breath— Rescue Rooms was packed to the brim with eager fans, all of whom were delighted to see the band rip through ‘Let Us Prey’ to kick things off. South Of Salem certainly knew how to make an entrance (cheerleaders and all) and the show’s energy would only barrel onward from there.

Every member’s energy was truly commendable: from the moment they walked on-stage to the very end of the show, South Of Salem exhibited an electrifying enthusiasm. The group made it clear that they truly love to perform, bounding across the stage one after the other, and that energy was infectious— whether we were watching bassist Dee Vower throwing (and often dropping) his pick, guitarists Kodi Kasper and Denis Sheriff dancing around on platforms or vocalist Joey Draper putting the crowd in the palm of his hand, we were grinning the entire time. That intimacy is the band’s greatest strength in the live setting: you can tell that the Bournemouth-based group feel so incredibly lucky to be in the position they’re in, and the five-piece are undoubtedly committed to delivering the absolute best performance they can every single night.

As far as setlists go, the ‘Death Of The Party’ tour really wears its heart on its sleeve: the band played the new album in full, rocketing through hits like ‘Jet Black Eyes’ and ‘Vultures’ in an absolute blur of synchronised actions and stomping choruses. In fairness, that blur may be particularly due to the relative homogeneity of the various tracks— playing a record in full was arguably a poor choice this time around as a number of cuts started to resemble each other, dragging the middle of the show down a touch. That couldn’t stop an absolutely rip-roaring encore from closing the night out in style though, packing the one-two punch of ballad ‘Demons Are Forever’ and show-stopping ‘Cold Day in Hell.’

The band’s performance at Bloodstock Festival last year was no fluke: if anything, the group’s own tour gave them greater opportunity to make use of their light-up gravestones, enthusiastic backing dancers and all-around infectious energy. The alternative scene in Nottingham came out in force to support South Of Salem, and for good reason: the band put on a show deserving of some attention, and we can hardly fault the sheer passion pouring off them.