Southcott Reunion Concert Draws Hundreds

Southcott's final album "Flee the Scene," recently marked its fourth anniversary.  The quintessential pop-punk band, whose founding members have signed deals with record labels,  had to do something for this upcoming event.

So what better way to celebrate the occasion than a reunion show alongside three other accomplished Hudson Valley bands?

Southcott played one of the most memorable nights of music in Rockland County at the Indigo Paradise venue in downtown Nyack. The Feb. 5 concert, alongside Det by Row, The Rise and Fall, and Atrium, drew hundreds of new and old fans from across the U.S.

The event lived up to its hype from the very start. Southcott, the Rockland County legend of independent music, played the night with a vengeance. 

They hit the raw sounds of sets from their 2006 hit album "Flee the Scene," and many from before.

"Red Lights and Rooftops," the epitome of the Southcott spirit, rang as the crowd roared back every lyric.

The band appeared on stage to loud applause and cheers, amid circle pits that had formed during sets by Atrium, the top unsigned metal band of 2008.

Despite a somewhat awkward start due to lack of balance by singer Chris Pennings, causing him to fall into drummer John Damiano's set, the band went directly into the upbeat pop-punk that is their signature sound.

They kept it up with the unrelenting momentum that Nyack's own The Rise and Fall opened the show with, followed by Det by Row, Dear Submarine and Atrium.
Rock Out Records released Southcott's first EP, "The Lost Art of Saying Goodbye," in 2003, just a year after Barry Walsh, Mike Morina and Damiano formed the group. They then recruited Chris Pennings, their lead singer.

One of the hallmarks in mainstreaming Southcott was their cover of  "Apple Shampoo," off the Blink 182 tribute album. The band was on the road through 2005, eventually signing with Less Avenged Records in Seattle and then a Universal label, Imperial Rust Records.

With the release "Flee the Scene" in 2006, the band hit the road even harder while touring with bands like Houston Calls, Gym Class Heroes, Hit the Lights, and fellow pop-punk musicians All Time Low.

"We've been everywhere across the state, dude. Delaware, Florida, California. You name it, we were there," Pennings said.
 
But by the end of that year, Morina and Bateman left the group to pursue other aspirations, and despite the growing buzz around them, the band eventually broke up. 

And this is where Southcott left off until their reunion on Feb. 5.

With Pennings signed to Vagrant Records under his new band Thieves and Villains, and Damiano's new band Floral Terrace charging toward potential record deals, fans will have wait for another reunion.