Review | Turin Brakes at The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea: "An outstanding night of high emotion"

The indie-folk act are back in Portsmouth for a date on the tour marking the 20th anniversary of their top five second album, Ether Song.

Paridjanian butters up the crowd nicely by suggesting that from the look of us, we must all have been listening to this album since we were toddlers…

Of course, the crowd is much more middle-aged than that. Looking around the close-to-capacity Wedge there are obviously many here who have been listening to these songs since its release, and it’s a collection that means a lot to them. They are singing along to every word, their eyes often closed as they get swept along in the moment.

The four-piece are playing the album in full, so while that means there are no surprises, it also means that three of their biggest singles – Average Man (track two), Long Distance (track three) and Pain Killer (Summer Rain) (track eight) are despatched earlier than they might normally be in proceedings. However, this is the kind of audience that appreciates the deeper cuts – prior to this tour some of these songs had not been played live in a very long time.

Full of Stars is a highlight – introduced as a song about “everyone you know dying” – it’s a tender moment.

This section of the show wraps up with the title track – an epic number that gives Paridjanian a chance to show what he can do on the guitar.

After a brief break, they’re back with two songs from their latest album, Wide-Eyed Nowhere, to remind us that they are by no means trading purely on nostalgia. (Indeed, it is only six months since the band were in the same venue for that album’s tour.) Isolation and Up For Grabs are as catchy as anything in their catalogue. They’re followed by Fishing For a Dream with its infectious “do-do-do-do” chorus from 2005’s Jackinabox.

Frontman Olly Knights is on fine form, his keening voice cutting through while bassist Eddie Myer and drummer Rob Allum keep the rhythms locked down.

They finish with the emotional gut-punch of Underdog (Save Me) from their debut, The Optimist LP, and honestly, I think most would have been happy there, but the band decide to return for another Optimist cut – Slack. With the latter song not actually appearing on the setlist, this may have been that rarest of things – a genuine encore. Regardless, it’s a fine finish to an outstanding night of high emotion.