‘Smart lyrics and massive choruses’
Halliwell are becoming one of the Portsmouth scene’s secret weapons.
Often to be found lurking in support the Southseabased bunch have matured enormously as a band since making their debut a couple of years ago.
They’re missing bassist/ vocalist Hannah Thomas as she’s due to give birth any day now, but her fellow co-vocalists Ali Coote and Katy Ricks carry the show nicely in her absence.
The acoustic, folkier sound of their earlier material is giving way to a harderedged pop-punk sound and is all the better for it. Their songs preach empowerment and equality with a nostalgic nod to the ’90s.
Up next are Brighton duo Regal Cheer making their Portsmouth debut. Their guitar and drums combo make a healthy racket – their songs charge to the finish line at breakneck speed.
Guitarist Max Cleworth and drummer Harry Menear share vocal duties on these highly-charged punk bangers. Judging by the number of people at the merch table for them afterwards, they made a few well-deserved new fans.
Rounding off the night with something rather different are headliners Me Rex. This London trio trade in synth and keys-heavy indie-rock with a good side order of emo-angst. That’s not to say it’s heavy-going, there is plenty of humour in what they do too.
Guitarist Myles McCabe leads the vocals, but he is often joined in some rather lush harmonies by bassist/ keys player Rich Mandell and drummer Phoebe Cross.
Since forming in 2016, the band has released a string of dinosaur-named EPs and one sort-of concept album of 52 tracks, mostly 32 seconds in length which are designed to be played on shuffle. The rest of their material is more conventional in length but the latter is represented here by a grab-bag of some of its highlights in one ‘extract’.
There is a group of hardcore fans down the front who’ve been following them on tour and it’s easy to see how Me Rex could become your new favourite band. Their smart, heartfelt lyrics and massive choruses are tailormade for obsessing over.
They finish with an epic Sinkhole, and are done – no encore. A perfect finish.