Idlewild
Last time they played Portsmouth it was to a half-empty Pyramids. Much better a packed Wedge.
But starting with a couple of songs from your new album, Post Electric Blues, may not be the best way to get the crowd on side.
However, after that, they rarely put a foot wrong.
American English, A Modern Way Of Letting Go and a spine-tingling You Held The World are all massive crowd pleasers.
And the 90-minute set is littered with power-pop gems from their 15-year career – occasionally surprisingly thrashy, sometimes sweetly melodic, and rarely disappointing.
We may never get to see frontman Roody Woomble's tie-dye T-shirt under his shirt, which he tells us he is too embarrassed to show in front of his bandmates, but he employs a decent line in banter.
And an encore that is filled with songs from debut album Hope Is Important is going to be something for the die-hards – I'm A Message and Closer When I Argue may lack the frenetic energy of way-back-when, but they're still powerful finishers.
It would be churlish to criticise them for lacking the exuberance of their youth – somewhere down the line they matured into a fine rock band (Woomble's huge beard not withstanding), just one that didn't fulfill the commercial promise they initially threatened.
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Weather for Portsmouth
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
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Temperature: -1 C to 2 C
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