"I can honestly say that this was one of the best gigs that I have been to in a long time. The set was upbeat and musically brilliant... The Rebs, a local Southampton band with an engaging front man who took no prisoners, stood there and proclaimed 'we are the Rebs and we are bloody brilliant!' They were not wrong. With their mix of electro funk and larger than life guitar sounds, they were more than qualified to take confidently the stage and I was more than happy to stand there and let them. With a sparkling array of achievements behind them such as opening V Festival last year (after they won the Road To V competition) and being one of the favourites on the ents stage at Guilfest, we haven’t heard the last of this amazing four piece just yet." - gobshout.com
Road To V
Channel 4
06/08/08
"Just instantly engaging, their relationships onstage, their music and also their melody. They really had a handle on the melody." - Carl Barat, Dirty Pretty Things
"The Rebs are one of my favourites out of the 14, a really great frontman and they don't look like a typical kind of 'boy band' aswell." - Sav Remzi, A&R Consultant
"The keyboard player is fantastic. I thought the songs were strong, I was excited about them!" - Paul Samuels, Crown Music Management
"Good, old-fashioned, strong indie-pop. I think that they have the opportunity to pick up a lot of fans, they're quite accessible" - Mags Revel, V Festival Promoter
"There were a lot of bands on here who had quite a good image. This was the one band that had an anti-image!! But what an amazing noise they make!" - Marc Beaumont, NME
GuilFest
Guildford
06/07/08
"The rain came on Sunday morning – but that didn’t stop an amazing performance from Ents24 competition winners, The Rebs – who seemed to be thriving on the bad weather!" - GuilFest's official press release
MishMash
The Luminaire
19/06/08
"Next up were The Rebs, hailing from Southampton this band has already built up a reputation supporting acts like The Enemy and Tiny Dancers. Taking to the stage they looked like stars, and as soon as the melodies kicked in it was clear that they have both the stage presence and music to be huge. Keep your ears peeled!" - noizemakesenemies.co.uk
Road To V Final
Islington Academy
13/05/08
"Act number two, The Rebs (my highlight of the evening) make a massive impact with their modern synth-pop, getting right down to business faster than you can scream “rock on!” while throwing corna devil-horned hand gestures. The Rebs are like a cross-between The Zutons and Dandy Warhols. Led with gusto by a couple of fuzzy-haired dudes, The Rebs play a tight set of indie, rock, reggae, ska, and pop made up of catchy original tunes and a whole lot of charm." - uk.moli.com
Max's Records Showcase
Talking Heads
24/04/08
"They look likely to pick up a huge following - they're really likeable both musically and personality-wise. Thankfully they aren't taking themselves too seriously and seem to enjoy their onstage banter. Finishing on a funky cover of 'I Shot The Sheriff', The Rebs are set for the heady world of indie pop... watch this space!" - the-mag.me.uk
Road To V Winners The Rebs are from Southampton. In mixing modern synth-pop with classic songwriting, they have created a unique and large sound with a stage presence to match. Just ask Carl Barât.
With the band taking their influences from good songs, not just hip artists, the results are unique and catchy tunes, inspired by real life stories. They don't sound like anyone else.
When playing live the band shine, endearing any audience as they quickly get across what they are all about. 2007 saw them support major acts such as The Enemy, Tiny Dancers, John Power (Cast) and Five O'Clock Heroes, as well as lining-up with Supergrass and The Ordinary Boys at GuilFest.
2008 saw them open V Festival infront of thousands, sharing the stage with Kaiser Chiefs, The Zutons and Reverend and The Makers as winners of the Virgin Road To V competition, picked ahead of 2,500 bands by top industry judges such as The Libertines Carl Barât and NME's Marc Beaumont. They also came out as the favourites in the "Gig At GuilFest" competition judged by a panel including Charlotte Hatherley and EMI Studio Group. They performed on the massive Ents24 Stage at the 24,000 capacity festival.
2009 has seen them writing and recording their debut album, consisting mostly of brand new material. One of these new tracks, "Don't Fool Yourself" won "Best Pop Song" and "Best Overall Song" at the Exposure Music Awards in April, judged by a panel of music professionals including representatives from Sony/EMI and Virgin.
no didn't go to soton institute, been in and out of soton uni working since 2003 in between freelance/employed video related work. perhaps joiners, soul cellar or festivals.. maybe we met. Izzy
Hi guys, how you doing? I wrote you a couple times already, i follow you from a long time and i will as long as you get the most famous band in the world!! I love your sound-style and your lyrics, keep it up! Greetings from Rome, a hug!! :) Simone!
just uploaded some photos to www.flickr.com/photos/liveandloud/ from the show at the joiners with Scarlet Soho. If you get a spare 5 mins take a look and let me know what you think.
