Saturday saw the genre-crushing sounds of the mighty Skindred take to Southampton’s O2 Guildhall. It’s hard to pinpoint what genre they exactly fit into, as they mix a few together over their span of 20+ years. However, heavy metal is generally the base of all their music, with a sprinkling of reggae for the most part. Not something you’d necessarily think goes well together but they make it work very well.
Hailing from South Wales, the band have been going over 20 years as mentioned above. They’ve been touring their new album, Smile, and I was fortunate enough to go and cover their show local to me. Having never seen Skindred live I didn’t really know what I was in for, but I had heard that they’re quite the captivating performers, of which was totally true.
Benji Webbe of Skindred, 11/11/23 © Alia Thomas
Headed up by Benji Webbe, a sight to behold on his own with his charismatic stage presence and edgy styling, and completed by Daniel Pugsley on bass, Mikey Demus on guitar, and Arya Goggin on drums, the band put on an incredible show. They know how to hold a crowd, lets just say that.
If you missed this tour, they’re playing a few shows around the UK next year too, and I’d highly recommend catching one of those. I had a lot of fun attending and shooting this show. A big thank you to 7pm Management for enabling me to have that opportunity.