The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
It’s early afternoon on a relaxing Sunday when a spare ticket becomes available to see Bournemouth’s best and most up and coming act, opening for Manchester Indie Royalty, none other than the Inspiral Carpets. With our planned roving reporter and scribe having cried off after a few too many Wine Gums the previous evening, it was left to chief editor yours truly to pick up the baton, come out of retirement and pen this review. With my right hand man for company on media duties, we set off for Pompey and one of my favourite South Coast venues. The Wedge has always been a popular venue on the circuit for touring artists, be it those on ‘the way up’ or down. Either way this 400 cap venue boasts a well stocked bar, great sound and an ambience rarely bettered locally.
South Street are no strangers to me – I have observed with interest their meteoric rise from Student Showcase to personal invitation tonight by our headliners. They obviously made an impression back in May when they supported the Inspiral Carpets at Bournemouth’s Old Fire Station. With a few more titles to debut tonight they take to the stage at 8pm sharp. We arrive just in time to catch them after the traditional parking search around the backstreets off the Albert Road. Not only have these boys upped their game musically, their attire is noticeably sharper.
They open with “English Garden” and proceed to deliver a set largely comprising original material. Their stagecraft has improved too as they appear to move a little more. Fin (drums/backing vocals) is chief compere tonight, introducing all the songs, while Albie (guitar/lead vocals) is chief shapeshifter. Phoenix plays the bass. “Spare Change” comes next as they grow in confidence. Early highlight “Mr. Sylvester” has a Ska flavour, followed by a new one to me “One Man Mission”. “Quincy Abbott” slows the tempo somewhat before they unleash arguably their best number in the form of the Rifles-esque “Busybody”. This gets the biggest crowd reaction and rightly so.
Albie throws in a few Weller moves for good measure before they depart on a wonderful cover of The Beatles “Get Back”. The applause is generous as this trio depart the stage with a new found confidence. One can only hope they grab the baton and run with it, this youthful trio are in it for the long haul, watch this space…..
And so to the headliners. This quintet are no strangers to me having seen them back in the 90’s with Tom Hingley on vocals and now with original singer Stephen Holt, firmly back in the fold. This Winter Tour not only sees a best-of set, but a chance to hear new tracks from the forthcoming album, set for a late Summer 2026 release. Bang on 9pm these five take to the stage, announce themselves and open with “Real Thing”. The still marvellous “Generations” follows as heads start nodding and bobbing as they feel their way in. The frenzied mosh pits of the early 90’s have been replaced with a more middle-aged shuffle and fan appreciation, the singalongs however continue throughout. “She Comes in the Fall” induces the first of these with this Pompey crowd in fine voice. “Weakness” is new to my ears and not unpleasant while “Move” lowers the tempo somewhat. “Two Worlds Collide” is mesmeric and again the singalong is immense. At this point Clint (keys/backing vocals) laments their intake of Pie n’ Mash (pre-gig) weighing heavily on their stomachs – Stephen (lead vocals) offers little sympathy!! “Let You Down” precedes a cavernous “Beast Inside”, while “Find Out Why” ups the ante once more.
Forthcoming single “Drag The Bag” is announced upon us, which I found a tad overlong in the choruses. Stephen was eloquent in encouraging the singalongs but I’m not sure it’s their finest work? “Sackville” is that great thing – a mid-set breather song! “Uniform” opens up more before a wonderful rendition of ‘This Is How It Feels’, preceded by Clint paying tribute to absent friends Craig (Gill) and Mani. We even get our own crowd solo post/song and bellow it back toward the stage. “I Want You” is arguably the set highlight to my ears, which sees more movement in the room. Penultimate song “Joe” is always a live favourite before they depart us on the brilliant “Dragging Me Down”. They leave to great applause, but we know they’ll be back?!
A mere 5 minutes later they return with one more newie to my ears, and a banger before departing on a classic. “Wolf Is At The Door” has a wonderful Sixties vibe going on and “Butterfly” keeps the pace busy. No Inspiral Carpets set would be complete without “Saturn 5” and they duly oblige. They then pose for a crowd selfie, thank us once more and depart while promising to return.
While a certain other Manchester band are filling stadiums worldwide, it’s great to see these true originals still filling venues, albeit at a different level. The Inspiral Carpets always had that enduring quality of being great live and coming up with the goods on every album – and the line-up aside, nothing much has changed.
Setlists
Inspiral Carpets
Real Thing
Generations
She Comes in the Fall
Weakness
Move
Two Worlds Collide
Let You Down
The Beast Inside
Find Out Why
Drag The Bag
Sackville
Uniform
This is How it Feels
I Want You
Joe
Dragging Me Down
Encore
Wolf Is At The Door
Butterfly
Saturn 5
South Street
English Garden
Spare Change
Mr. Sylvester
One Man Mission
Quincy Abbott
Busybody
Get Back (Beatles Cover)
Words and Media by Ross A. Ferrone
