The Skids at The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea: 'Plenty of life in the band yet' | Review

Kicking things off with Open Your Eyes from new album Destination Dusseldorf, the new songs are as muscular as lead singer Richard Jobson’s forearms, with a familiar football terrace-style chorus.

the 62-year-old Jobson is a force of nature – from the onset he is on his toes, almost shadow boxing round the stage. There is the occasional high kick which I fondly remember from when they were on Top of the Pops in 1979 and tried to imitate them myself as a rookie punk-rocker at Weymouth youth club

The Skids’ biggest hit follows, albeit thanks to it being covered by U2 and Green Day as a post-Hurricane Katrina fundraiser, The Saints Are Coming is always played with a sense of irony when played in Portsmouth. The crowd naturally respond with a rowdy chorus of ‘Play Up Pompey.’

By now the crowd have have warmed up nicely and the band respond with a brace of hits from their golden years – Working For The Yankee Dollar and Masquerade, but the biggest cheer of the night comes for Into The Valley. The band were clearly one of best from the post-punk, new-wave era.

Richard Jobson is also a wonderful raconteur and between songs has many wonderful tales to tell, perhaps catching his breath from his onstage footwork, including a poignant tribute to former guitarist Stuart Adamson (who went on to further success with Big Country before dying in 2001) and thanking the fans for making the new album number one in the charts, proving there’s plenty of life in the band yet.