Review | The Skints at The Wedgewood Rooms: 'Certainly a lot of love in the room'
The last time The Skints were in town a few years back the band had a medical emergency as guitarist Joshua Waters Rudge had twisted his ankle in the previous nights show.
With no time to go to A&E , a mayday message went out asking if anyone had any crutches. Thankfully two fans came up trumps and the show was saved.
Tonight there are no such dramas as the return to a normalised live music scene continues apace with the group playing to a packed house.
It must have been tough on one of hardest working bands around during the pandemic, as they are renowned for their relentless touring.
And the band are genuinely grateful for the crowd coming back in such huge numbers.
The Skints have their own unique blend of lovers rock and ska-tinged reggae.
Jonathan Doyle lays down some devilish basslines, suitably backed by drummer Jamie Kyriakides who has that rare quality of a sweet soul voice, taking lead on several songs.
The aforementioned guitarist Waters Rudge is the perfect ringmaster creating a lot of the energy in the room, reminiscent of Mick Jones from The Clash.
However the star of the show is multi-instrumentalist Marcia Richards. Not content with playing keyboards, guitar, saxophone, vocoder and flute she she has the sweetest soulful, voice this side of Marcia Griffith.
The show is a smorgasboard of rock, soul, ska and and lovers rock reggae.
There was certainly a lot of love in the room tonight, reciprocated by band and the audience alike.
It was fitting that Al Green's Let’s Stay Together was the perfect, well-deserved encore.
A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron
Subscribe here for unlimited access to all our coverage, including Pompey, for just 26p a day.