7

Haunts

It isn’t easy being a support act. Faced with luke-warm crowds who didn’t come to see you must be disheartening, especially when swathes of people are too busy looking at their watches, waiting for the main show to begin, to pay attention. Warming up for The Wombats on the Southampton leg of their sell-out UK tour, the Haunts received an unenthusiastic reception.

The band dabbles in a multitude of influences, forming a breed of indie that is deep, dark and brooding, brimming with thick, rumbling basslines that anchor choppy, angry guitars. The boys from south London are gifted with plenty of originality but sadly lack killer showmanship.

This slightly offbeat sound seems to alienate the already disinterested crowd and their decidedly restrained performance does little to win them back. Though the raucously catchy Live Fast Die Young, momentarily causes the crowd to stop and take notice, the following track, latest single Underground, reaffirms the crowd’s lack of enthusiasm. Realising this, the band begin to joke about not getting paid if they don’t get the crowd warmed-up.

Exuding a certain knowingness throughout their set, the band smile wryly as they introduce Black Eyed Girl, dedicating the number to the ladies in the audience. Odd, considering the females in attendance were more “girls” than “ladies”, but I suspect that was the joke.

The Haunts finish their set unceremoniously and skulk from the stage. Musically, the boys have something special but their aloof performance coupled with an irritating haughtiness, puts them at polar opposites to the band they were supporting.

While admittedly the Haunts were never going to get the warmest of receptions from a crowd waiting to see The Wombats, by assuming they were too good for the adolescent audience, their show did in fact die young.