Review | Night Currents festival with Coach Party, Sløtface Loose Articles and more at The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea

Should you so desire, and if you have the stamina, you can treat the day as a continuous seven hour concert.

This one-day festival takes over The Wedgewood Rooms and its smaller adjoining sibling venue The Edge of The Wedge, for the day. While one band plays, the next act due on in the neighbouring space sets up so they’re ready to go as soon as the other act finishes.

Its testament to the slick organisation of the day that it provides near seamless music – and the crowd bounces happily back-and-forth between the two.

Now in its second year, Night Currents is put on by ABH Promotions, Fitz Promotions and Rock Coven the 12-act bill aims to highlight the best in up-and-coming indie, alternative and punk.

Due to domestic commitments, I can unfortunately only make the latter half of the day.

Phoebe Green is onstage in The Edge when I arrive. Her confessional synth-pop proves popular with the crowd.

Aziay on the mainstage brings guitar-driven alt-pop to an energetic and endearing performance where she works hard to win over the crowd with songs by turns spikey and sweet. When she borrows a trans flag from a front-row fan and dances with it, the audience loves her for it.

Mancunian punks Loose Articles in an increasingly sweaty Edge are a revelation. Their take on punk is both fierce and funny, but that’s not to so say they don’t tackle serious subjects – they deal with misogyny and radical politics (and pinball). However, they’ll do it with a smile on their faces while their sonic attack rattles your fillings.

And bonus marks for their frontwoman instigating a limbo dance competition when she comes into the audience during their final number, using her mic cord as the bar.

Courting in The Wedge stick out, but not because of their music (sorry boys), which is decent enough rock, but because they are one of only two all-male bands on the day’s bill. When the male-dominated nature of many festivals’ lineups is still an industry-wide issue, its events like this that prove something different can be done. While this is no doubt a conscious effort on the organisers’ part, it’s not virtue signalling or ‘woke’ – these acts all stand on their merits.

And where the grassroots goes, the mainstream eventually (hopefully) follows.

Sløtface close out The Edge to a room packed to capacity. It’s the final day of these pop-punks’ UK tour before they head back to Norway, and they’re in high spirits. Fronwoman Haley Shea fizzes and bounces her way through the set while her band dish out some seriously catchy riffs.

Headliners Coach Party have headlined The Wedge twice in their own right before, indeed guitarist Steph Norris calls the venue “home from home” for this Isle of Wight-based band. Their grunge-rock often harks back to the ’90s, but like the best of that era they don’t forget to pack their songs with memorable hooks – tracks like Micro Aggression, What’s The Point in Life and FLAG (Feel Like a Girl) are among the many stand outs.

Next year’s Night Currents is already booked in – long may it continue.

And on a personal note – can bands please stop doing the whole ‘crouch down/jump up’ thing mid-song – my knees can’t take it!