Review | Teenage Fanclub at The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea: 'A reliably class act'

Having long-since cornered the market in uplifting melancholy, the Scottish indie band are a reliably class act.

They open with recent single Home, and Endless Arcade, their latest album's title track, before stepping back to About You, the sole track played tonight from their 1995 masterpiece Grand Prix.

Dual vocalist/guitarists Raymond McGinley and Norman Blake trade leads as they reel through a set that draws liberally from their 11 album back catalogue.

It is strange for long-term fans not to see co-founder Gerard Love on bass and vocals (he left the band in 2019), but Stephen Black, depping tonight for new regular bassist Dave McGowan provides solid rhythmic cover, while Euros Childs fills in on harmonies.

The latter, an indie stalwart with his own band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, is a welcome addition to the fold on keys and backing vocals.

As Blake told The Guide, this is a band with no desire to become a heritage act - it would be easy for them to trot out a set leaning far more heavily on their '90s commercial peak.

The band, clearly keen to show off Endless Arcade play several of its songs, and they all slot in nicely.And their trademark harmonies are there in abundance throughout.

When it comes to the encores there aren't many bands who'd kick things off with a 25-year-old rarity - Middle of The Road - before playing an entirely new song, I Left a Light On (not about the environmental or energy crises, Norman reassures us).

They finish with Everything Flows from their 1990 debut, A Catholic Education, and it sees the band really let rip, with a swirling finale of screaming guitars.With so much material to choose from, fans are always going to miss personal favourites, but it's a solid set that it would be churlish to pick holes in.

And with new material already on the horizon it seem the band are raring to go with album 12.They'll always be sure of a warm welcome at the Wedge when they're ready.