A toga party with love songs covered by top Portsmouth bands for charity - must be The Valentine's Day Massacre at The Wedgewood Rooms

​The show in February 2020 was one of the last at The Wedgewood Rooms before the Covid lockdown began. Last year’s event got bumped back to July, again for Covid-related reasons, when it morphed into Summer Lovin’.

But now they’re back for a 10th anniversary spectacular, with a whole host of local acts covering/massacring love songs in the name of charity – all money raised from the night goes to Youth Music. Donations will give musical education and equipment to children who wouldn't receive it otherwise.

Co-organiser Matthew Tiller says: ‘It's a little bit of the shock of the system – but we're excited to jump back into it and hopefully raise lots of money. It's a very quick turnaround after Christmas because there's obviously the Christmas Covers Party as well, which we're closely associated with – having pinched the format from them!’

With this also being the 10th massacre, Matthew says it could be time to draw a line under the annual event.

‘This will probably be the last one we do in February. It's a good round number, and it's a difficult decision to make, but we feel like we're ready to move on to some different things. Summer Lovin' was an eye-opening experience in that respect, it made us realise we can move it around and maintain the vibe.

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‘I have said before that “the next one would be the last one”, but I did also say that 10 was the number I'd be quite happy to leave it on.’

As is standard, the night will feature bands put together for the night as well as other talented acts. This year’s bill includes Amba Tremain, Fleet Loaf, Halliwell, Hoochawakes, Mush Bird, Stone Cold Chili Peppers, VDM All Stars, Waif & Stray and Daft Chemistry.

‘When it started it was a lot more punk bands having a laugh, we're still having a laugh, but the bands are definitely of a higher caliber now!’ adds Matthew. ‘People are willing to jump in and let people know they love these songs, where as before it was with more of a smirk. It's still tongue-in-cheek though.

‘The bands are mostly people who've played in the past, but might be in different bands this time. It's great that so many people want to be involved. There is a lot of crossover in the Portsmouth music community, and it is more varied than people might think. It's an interesting collection of people – and that's the side of it we've enjoyed most over the years – it doesn't work without the people. And where some of them are professional musicians, this is a Friday night where they could be working, but instead they've decided to do this and raise money for a good cause. In that respect, it's validation of what we've done.’

The audience are invited to get in on the fun too, with the event becoming a toga party – The Wedge will become a ‘Hellenistic love palace’ for the evening.

The event will also feature a raffle with numerous donations from businesses, events and creatives. And they aim to go out on a high. The Massacre started in The Edge of The Wedge, before stepping up to The Wedge, with the amounts raised also going up – Summer Lovin’ raised £3,800.

‘You always want to top last year's total, but considering how tough things are we're not necessarily expecting that, but we'll try our hardest. We're really happy with everything we've raised but we want to hit £20,000 as a total for the 10 years.’

The night’s poster also includes reference to one ‘God’ taking part, but as Matthew adds mysteriously: ‘I don't want to divulge too much about their involvement in case they can’t make it...’

It takes place on Friday, February 10, from 7.30pm. Tickets £10. Go to wedgewood-rooms.co.uk.