Salvation Jayne brought the party to Folkestone on Friday night when they celebrated their third birthday at The Quarterhouse. As with most third birthdays there was a lot of dressing up, a rowdy, noisy atmosphere, plenty of glitter, an ample amount of face paint, glo-sticks, lots of bunny ears and even a smattering of inflatable guitars. 

Salvation Jayne

A coterie of Kent bands combined to put on a spectacular show in front of a sell-out crowd. Neon tights, silver patent boots, rainbow hair, tartan braces, platform Dr Martens, hot-pants, pork pie hats and leopard print leggings added colour to a trio of performances that lit up the stage. 

Medway's finest threesome, The Ovines, were first to tread the boards of The Quarterhouse stage as they kicked off proceedings and brought the night to life with an energised and impassioned performance. The Punk trio played a tight set that combined a Punk sensibility with a brilliantly added dose of subtle Ska to give it a great USP. New single 'Mind Of Mine', 'Fire In A Meth Lab', the harder still 'Fish Tank' (played out with barely contained but suitably captured aggression) and an unexpected but cleverly and sympathetically covered 'Psycho Killer' were all early evening highlights. 

Karobela were the proverbial filling in the Kent band sandwich. The Faversham quartet delivered a lively show with an unshakable rythmn section provided by Ben Gower on drums and Katie King on bass. It was, however, lead vocalist Lauren Diamond that drew the greatest attention with her hard hitting and powerful vocal. Rob Freeman's fevered guitar licks combined with Diamond's classic rock vocals were hard to resist. Their debut single, released in June this year, 'No Mercy', and latterly their latest single, to be released in six weeks, 'Skin And Bone', were both potent and incisive. 

The main attraction, and party protagonists, were last onto the Folkestone stage. Salvation Jayne were clearly happy to host their third birthday party as they celebrated the milestone with great energy and enthusiasm; combining new an old material in a very enjoyable headline set. Lead vocalist Chess Smith strutted and bounced around the stage all night, even occasionally taking the odd saunter into the crowd as she sang out her songs in fine voice. 'Black Heart', from the band's eponymous E.P, this years driven, pulsating and anthemic single 'Jayne Doe', and new track 'Coney Island' were early highlights from an electrified performance. 

The partisan crowd fed off the energy emanating from the stage as the bunny ears rocked out, bobbing back and forth with tremendous gusto. More new material, in the form of the immediate velocity of 'Violent Silence' and slower starting 'Cylinders', ripped The Quarterhouse apart before the band returned to more familiar territory with a string of four songs that were headed up by 'The Art Of Falling'. The more considered, soulful passion of 'The Art Of Falling Apart' gave way to the more up-beat tempo of 'Juno' before a raucous duet of 'Whorehouse Down On The S.E.' closed out the main set. 

The lights were dimmed briefly to allow the band to take a breath but it wasn't long before they were back out for their encore. The finale of the show wasn't to disappoint. The heavy rock rythmns of 'Cortez' closed out Salvation Jayne's first headline show, ensuring it was brought to a spirited end. Chess dropped down into the crowd as the ticker tape confetti fell like snow from the rafters. The enthusiastic crowd rocked out as the party peaked. 

Salvation Jayne's third birthday bash was a riot of colour and a celebration of a band very much enjoying what they do whilst fully appreciating that they have the opportunity to do it. It was a pleasure to witness an unpretentious, enthusiastic and unabashed performance from such a genuine band. Friday night felt like a proper party or an end of school disco and who doesn't love a good party?

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