Live Review: Lastelle with Seven Blood and High Regard at The Fighting Cocks, Kingston (21/01/26)

Ah Kingston. Sort of London, but also not quite. That’s where you’ll find The Fighting Cocks, a grotty looking venue that is playing host to a trio of bands who all sit on the more emotionally open side of alternative rock and metal. It’s a night to feel something, so it’s not too much of a surprise when I glanced around several times throughout to see a few wet eyes in the crowd. Such is the effect that the likes of High Regard, Lastelle, and Seven Blood have on the emotions. Although, overall, the night does belong to one band more than any other.

It’s packed for the opening band High Regard, an alternative rock trio out of Hertfordshire. A band who brings plenty of energy, excitability, passion, and emotion with a bevy of likable, but familiar anthemic tunes. They are a good band, easily digestible and with obvious musical mass appeal, and they go down well here. Especially as they perform with confidence. To my taste though, they’re a bit too familiar and during a couple of songs I found my mind wandering.

Whereas the opposite happened with the next band, Seven Blood, even if the general vibe is similar. Seven Blood have a bit more bite though and across a fabulous 50-minute set, they show just why they’re one of the more exciting modern alternative metal bands in the scene right now.

This is a big deal, not just because the band are on excellent form, but because this is coming off the back of a great debut album, ‘Life is Just a Phase’. Released in the latter part of 2026. A massive debut that did more than turn heads, and the Berlin based band get a suitable reaction here. Not just having their songs sung back to them loudly, but getting the crowd dancing and pitting to the likes of House ≠ Home, To the Unknown, No Breakout, Fall from the Sky, and Killing from the Inside.

Banger after banger nailed in exceptionally tight fashion via a band who are extremely watchable. In fact, you can tell that the small stage kind of limits them and it would be cool to see just what kind of live performance they could put on a bigger stage. Chances are that it would be even more energetic.

Highlights of Seven Blood? It’s got to be the potency of the new track, Goodbye. One of the more tearful moments. As well as a roaring version of Not Your Misery, a Seven Blood anthem, and a fun cover of Just Dance (Lady Gaga). They were great and on any other night, it would have been their night.

Alas, this is a crowd here for Lastelle, evident by the amount of t-shirts and while everyone was super appreciative and into both High Regard and Seven Blood, the place freaking explodes for Lastelle. Within two songs, vocalist Adam Rigozzi is being carried aloft and the chaos doesn’t stop. It’s not just that the pit is wild, and heavily encouraged by the band, it’s every word of every song is sung back loudly and intensely. Lastelle played Exist in full (both volumes of the EP) and it is staggering to see just how much these tracks have connected with people.

I really like the band (I’m there to review Seven Blood, so they are my focus band), and it’s clear that they really should be playing venues larger than this. Especially when they have tracks like Life in Silhouettes, Breathe Me In, Exist and Tired Eyes in their arsenal. Behemoth efforts delivered with the kind of chaotic composure that only ever comes from a band at the top of their game. Lastelle were so impressive, turning an intimate show like this into something even more personal. By the end, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.