Southsea Fest is back again, taking over one road in Portsmouth for the sixth year in a row. Testament to how successful this one day event really is, in a time when other festivals are struggling in sales, this event managed to sell out all 3,000 tickets. In an easily accessible location along with a very modest ticket price, oh and not to mention one fantastic line-up, Southsea Fest is really sailing the high seas (oh ho).
However, one huge recurring issue with the festival that has more of a knock-on effect than it should is the unfortunate clash of weekends with the nearby Goodwood Revival weekend. As thousands and thousands of vintage cars and posh folk block all roads from all angles, it’s unbelievable the effect this has on the festival. Bands due on early have no chance as they find themselves still stuck on the motorways when they’re supposed to be on-stage, as some pull out and others are swapped around with acts that are already in town – already your schedule is incorrect and times have fallen way behind.
Even when you try and be clever and leave early to take another route (like ourselves) you find yourselves stuck down a country lane due to roads being shut because of a fatal accident, til hours later you eventually get to Portsmouth only to find yourself stuck in football traffic. In my third year of attending this festival, I’ve still not not been able to do the usual 50 minute journey in less than two and a half hours no matter how carefully travel is planned. Of course, this is no fault of the festival but as a yearly and significant problem, you do need to wonder if something else can be done. Especially when it comes to warning people about stages being hours behind and bands changing slots – in a world dominated by Twitter and Facebook there is no excuse not to have up-to-date timetables and schedule changes online, though this heavily relies on bands and venues bothering to update the organisers.
Adam Kammerling
Daddsy
I’d never been to a spoken-word show at a festival before, so I felt a bit privileged that my first one would be in a coffee shop, the way that they were always shown on American TV shows in my youth. I felt even more privileged to know that I was going to be watching this years Hammer And Tounge Slam Poet Champion for my first spoken word show. Sitting down on a comfy sofa in a depressingly quiet cafe, Adam was already into his first section, and already had the audience gripped. He had some stories prepared, and some stories seemingly improvised (for example, after asking an audience member how the cake was, he went into a poem about cake), and his wit and speed of delivery kept us easily entertained. It only took twenty minutes to convince me that I needed to stop overlooking spoken word at festivals, because it can easily be as entertaining as music.
Bryony Marie-Fry
Lindsay
Because of the horrendous traffic issues, I missed the first few acts of the day that I’d wanted to see, such as Beatamax and Amongst the Pigeons, but managed to make it in time to see some of the lovely Bryony Marie-Fry at the Social Club. A solo acoustic act, the pink-haired Bryony quickly soothed away those travel stresses with her gentle folk style and sweet voice, and her songs were a delight to listen too. Well, if I could hear them properly that is – despite only a handful of folk being in the room at this point, it’s clear they were here for a loud afternoon chat rather than listening to any music. Sadly, this becomes a pattern of this venue during the entire day, even aforementioned act on ATP tweeted about how poor the crowd were, and that barely improved the entire day. I hope I can catch Bryony somewhere else amongst a more appreciative audience as she has all the makings of a new favourite for myself.
Dirty Legion
Antony
It’s only the start of a hectic day, but Dirty Legion have already packed out the Drunken Sailor to wake up the early-comers. With a sound reminiscent of early Strokes, the local four-piece hammer through a 30-minute slot to a well-deserved good reception. There’s a good camaraderie between the band and their audience. Though most of the communication is checking with the drummer what song is next, this is certainly a band with promise, and hopefully one we haven’t seen the last of.
Doctrines
Daddsy
It took me a while to catch a band after Adam’s spoken word set. The scheduling being off, and a lack of notifications meant that I had lost an hour waiting at venues for bands who hadn’t turned up. But no matter, I’ve wanted to see Doctrines since their wonderful ZE EP. I must admit, I was a bit confused as to why they were in the Social Club and not the Alcopop stage, but no matter. Musically their set was great, incredibly tight to their recordings (impressively so), and performed smoothly. I must admit, for a band of their sound they were fairly static compared to what I would expect, although maybe this was more down to the small audience. The sound in the Social Club for this set was perfect, and I have massive respect for the engineers – If this gig was recorded it would be very hard to tell it apart from the EP.
Kassassin Street
Lindsay
Kassassin Street kicked off events in The Wedge although despite being first on, they are already running behind schedule. They also manage to pull in a decent crowd, though whether this had to do with the band being a local act or because people naturally head towards the largest stage when they don’t know what to do remained to be seen. Whilst the crowd seemed to be enjoying, their mix of Kasabian/The Music tunes and vocals it just wasn’t doing it for me and prompted a swift exit. And next door at Edge of The Wedge wasn’t faring much better. With this venues line-up consisting of non-local acts the opening bands had found themselves stuck in traffic, and so delays and band-swaps were already taking place so early in the day – leading to the awkward situation of walking in on a band playing to a near empty room that deserved far better.
Black Moth
Antony
A female-fronted quintet heavily influenced by Black Sabbath bring a hard-hitting, stoner rock vibe to the Wedgewood Rooms with one of the best performances of the entire day. Slamming out tracks from their debut album The Killing Jar, Black Moth channel bands such as Red Fang and Black Spiders while Harriet Bevan’s vocal’s give them a distinctive edge that’s bound to work wonders in future. Spit Out Your Teeth and Chicken Shit are the highlights of a fantastic evening set.
Ajimal
Lindsay
Back over to The Social and the room is fuller, but the noise is far more terrible. Groups of people shouting over themselves and ignoring the musician onstage, whilst three fans stood in front of the stage trying their best to concentrate on Fran O’Hanlon as his alias Ajimal. A creator of beautiful skin-tingling, atmospheric folk music deserved so much more but once again this talent was ignored as pub chatter roared over the venue and all connections with the songs and their artist were quickly broken. So incredibly frustrating, but at least another fantastic discovery added to the list for the day and I know I’ll be making the effort to catch Ajimal again in the future.
Above Them
Antony
If the One Eyed Dog is packed by the end of the Muncie Girls’ set, then by the time Above Them take to the stage, the room is bursting at the seams. The energy with which the band smash through their setlist is echoed by a fantastic crowd. Mosh pits prove not to be enough on this occasion, as the pit is take over with a well-executed five-tier human pyramid at one point. With the Blue Nun doing the rounds in the crowd and amongst the band members, this set is all about having a bloody good time. With this in mind, there’s certainly not a single disappointed face by the time Above Them’s second visit to Southsea Festival draws to a close. Here’s to the third.
Screaming Maldini
Daddsy
Another band I’ve been psyched to see ever since hearing the hit of the summer Life In Glorious Stereo, that I was so desperate to see I set my calendar to busy for the duration of the set to avoid any kind of clash that could occur. I was worried when the band were setting up, as the number of bar staff outweighed the waiting crowd of, erm, myself. Thankfully though, the doors opened as the band started and the band got their crowd. Not as big as they deserved, but still, better than just me. Playing songs off their previous EP as well as the previously mentioned recent single and new song Summer Somewhere, the band showed off their musicianship and their marvelous vocal chords. They’re an interesting band because they write brilliant intelligent music, that still sounds catchy and poppy. I was impressed at how well the vocals survived live compared to on record; when I say marvelous, I really do mean it. If they’re playing near you soon then you have to see them.
Oresteia
Lindsay
Over at Little Johnny Russells and it’s a completely different story, and really just highlighted how attitudes change from venue to venue towards bands. The place is rammed as droves of people are out in support of local act Oresteia, who have been scheduled at just the right time of night where people are in that merry state of mind. The sound in the venue is a bit off, but no one really cares as they’re bouncing
Shoes And Socks Off
Daddsy
I feel like a bit of a let down that I’m a huge fan of Meet Me In St. Louis, and yet have somehow made it through four years of Toby’s solo project without seeing him perform live. With him deciding to end his Shoes And Socks Off Project this year, this was likely to be my only chance to catch him performing the songs that I’d loved on record. In what was an intricate set of emotional vocals and interesting guitars, the set was slightly let down by the lack of soundproofing between the venues. Toby’s dynamics lost slightly to pounding bass drums and melodies sneaking in from the room next door. A brilliant set non-the-less, and a great shame that he’s calling it a day; hope the next project is as great as this one!
Karin Park
Lindsay
Then follows my favourite discovery of the festival as electro-princess Karin Park takes on the Wine Vaults – the venue feels like one of the smallest, but the floor is filled with people grooving away to the sound of her synths. And any chic that rocks a keytar is always going to be a winner in my eyes, whilst her Bjork-like voice and slick-style just gleams the makings of a pop superstar. I felt privileged to be watching Karin in such a small venue, whilst her act and performance mirrored that of someone who should be playing venues four-times the size.
Bear Cavalry
Daddsy
Alcopop! Record’s newest signing, Bear Cavalry, played a surprise (well, for those of us who don’t read signs) set at the Edge Of The Wedge shortly after their main set at the thankfully not too far away Wedgewood Rooms. It seems that either they’d brought along a big fan base or at the very least they’d amassed a large crowd from the venue next door, because for the first time all evening Edge Of The Wedge was rammed before the band hit the stage. I was impressed by their familiar sound, and how enjoyable their music was, with tracks like Custom Hands providing a density brought along by the additional instruments played, with synthesisers and trumpets layered over the dual guitars, along with crowd backing vocals. The crowd ate it up, and there wasn’t a soul in that room who wasn’t dancing throughout the set. Brilliant Stuff.
Tall Ships
Lindsay
Pelting back to the dreaded Social once again in fear that it’s already going to be rammed for the venue’s incredible headline act, I’m shocked find the venue still more than half empty for penultimate act. However, finally, things turn around when Tall Ships take to the stage and finally for the first time today I actually witnessed music fans in this venue. Playing new material from their soon-to-be-released debut to older EP material, the crowd are going the wildest I had witness during the day. Especially when singalong favourites such as Vessels and Hit The Floor make an appearance the voices of the audience become so loud that singer, Rick has to take a step back from his microphone and laugh in amazement at the response. Though pretty much during the entire set the whole band have wide grins across their faces at the amazing reception that the band receive.
Tellison
Daddsy
Tellison were the headliners in the Edge Of The Wedge, and were another band I didn’t really want to miss, having been massively impressed by their performance at Truck earlier in the year. This show was a totally different beast however; the stage being too small part of the band had to set up on the floor with the crowd, conjuring up memories of last years amazing Talons set. While Talons’ set was relatively reserved; intense yet without risk of serious injury, Tellison’s set was a demonstration in how small gigs can escalate into something crazy in a short amount of time. Playing a serious greatest hits set (my request of My Wife’s Grave Is In Paris was rejected for being too depressing), comprising material from both albums, the set brought with it the first real sing-alongs of the day, with arms in the air and choruses belted from everyone involved. I don’t recall seeing Stephen stop grinning through the entire set, throwing himself/being dragged into the crowd repeatedly. Finishing their set by announcing “We’ve been Tellison, this is our last song, I’m about to pass out” and getting the whole room dancing before having a lie down on stage, Tellison happily made sure that those of us who decided to catch them over the massively popular Tall Ships were treated to one of those incredible shows that’ll no doubt stick in my memory forever.
Clock Opera
Lindsay
It’s a trek back to the Wedgewood Rooms to end today’s festival on the marvelous Clock Opera, and it’s great to see that the organisers must also agree on how great this band are when you consider they played this same venue just last year as the penultimate act. There wasn’t enough dancing for my liking from the crowd as the band blasted through their debut ‘Ways to Forget’, but it was fortunate to see so many still standing when most were having to crawl along Albert Road from about 4pm onwards.
7bitarcade - Archive 