Issues with the original venue meant a last minute move to a new location, which despite being smaller resulting in an early sell out actually created more of a buzz, that feeling of being part of an event rather than just a gig – after all Citizen Fish don’t get to play live that often and bizarrely I don’t think I’ve ever been to the Birdcage before (for those not in the know, the venue is hidden above the Festing Pub in Southsea), so bring on the music and a night of skanking:
The Silhouettes
Opening the evening were Portsmouth ska/reggae act the Silhouettes, who fresh from having played the real ale tent at the successful Victorious Festival are back in the realms of a sweaty club gig. It didn’t take long for the venue to start filling up and it soon began to get ridiculously hot, although with the Silhouettes on stage it would have been rude to seek some fresh air this early on.
The sound engineer was also enjoying the reggae vocals of Mikey Silhouette, with the additional reverb being well suited against the funky bass lines of Garlic Brad (who’s stage name still amuses me) and Mikey never seemed to come up for breathe, whilst the ska rhythms got your feet moving and the night off to a great start.
Geistfight
Making their Portsmouth debut were the ska-punks from Guildford, whereas the Silhouettes provided more chilled out summer vibes Geistfight were pushing towards the metal end of the musical spectrum.
There were some great duel guitar riffs between Nick Oliver and Tom Adams, but you had to feel sorry for vocalist Luke Daniels who despite trying his best to get the crowd going was (through no fault of his own) a little lost in the mix so banter with the crowd didn’t quite get the reaction he was hoping.
That said Daniels did however also blow the hell out of his saxophone in a Dog Eat Dogs “No Fronts” style as Geistfight were definitely the missing link between the nights openers and local act Black Anchor that followed, hopefully Geistfight will be back in Pompey in the not too distant future to start winning over more new fans.
Black Anchor
They may not have had any horns like the rest of tonight’s line up, but that didn’t stop Black Anchor from getting a mosh pit going – utilising the speed of Jochen’s drumming Black Anchor delivered a fast and frantic set, again the vocals from Thomas “Dabnuts” Eacott may have been slightly lost but his voice was soon heard when dividing the crowd in two for possibly the shortest run up for a wall of death…
So as the handful of fans ran at each other the pit kept going and ended with Thomas and bassist Richard Rawlings in amongst it for the normal chaotic ending of a hard-core show, one that had definitely got the crowd ready for the main event.
Citizen Fish
Whilst frontman Dick Lucas decided he needed to use the facilities at the last minute, the rest of the band jammed through a random instrumental before Lucas finally made his way onto the stage and it was then time for the headliners to really get going.
As with his other band the Subhumans, Lucas adds political rants and social commentary into Citizen Fish at every opportunity – often blaming the introduction of television as the result in the decline of human development, however whereby the awesome Subhumans are a straight to the point punk outfit Citizen Fish are more uplifting with their horn section and ska-influences making you feel the need to dance along as they blasted through songs drawn heavily from their 2011 release “Goods” as well as earlier recordings.
The venue at around one hundred capacity was rammed and although it was stupidly hot the condensation dripping off the walls added to the atmosphere, after all this was good old fashioned ska-punk at its finest and Citizen Fish had the crowd literally bouncing as you felt the floor vibrate underneath.
The original venue may have missed out, but tonight still went on to be a huge success and with people traveling from out of town for such occasions let’s hope we get more of the same as the punk scene in Portsmouth is one that continues to stay very much alive and kicking.
