The Exits + Gilkicker + Lux Luther - Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth.14/01/06.

Exciting times for The Exits as heads are turning and here they are with a sell out crowd at The Wedgewood Rooms. The beer is flowing freely and the first of the hand picked support bands is Lux Luther, a band fronted by Ben formerly of major label types Ben&Jason who swoons his way through a number of well crafted tunes while playing his keyboard and the rest of the band move between bittersweet melodies and good old rocking out; they sound like Keane with a harder edge and have decent enough tunes to warrant a crack at the wider market which is the feeling you get when watching them, that they are aiming for higher things and the set tonight is well received and you see that they may just get somewhere.

Gilkicker are a local band relocated to London to try and make that breakthrough into the big time, they are a perfect support band in that those that have had a few beers and want to get down can dance along to the head nodding beat that hints at The Coral and a kind of cowboy twang. They have that head wobbling Beatles kind of thing going on that fits with the beats perfectly and they get the crowd moving, you get the feeling that they spend their days listening to 60s bands like The Kinks and letting the influence seep into their sounds although it can sound a bit samey after a while but as I said, perfect warm up material for those that like a dance.

The Exits have gone all professional and got a big posh backdrop and a new bass drum with their name on it and it all looks very good as a siren begins to wail and the packed crowd start to cheer as if this is some sort of chart topping band. It would appear that word is spreading about The Exits as people are pushed up against the barrier and the boys emerge looking confident and ready for action. I've reviewed the band several times before and I'm really pleased that they have pulled this gig off, they sound big and fantastic, the tunes need a big space and sound so the synth lines can vibrate your teeth and the beats infect your body. The crowd love it, some seem to know all the words to every song while others are just getting on down. Up on stage the band are looking and sounding confident with front man Ray swaggering around and who can blame him tonight with the reception they are getting; on the down side I feel that the sound wasn't quite as top notch as the last Wedge gig, the synths and guitars seemed to get a bit lost at times but it is a minor quibble as I don't think too many others noticed. As I said once before, I don't think there is a weak song in the set, each tune has a bright character of its own and there are plenty of big pop hooks in there to latch on to and swing around your brain until the cows come home and the new tune aired at the end sends the place wild, a sure fire club classic if ever I heard one and it deserves to be pressed up on 12" vinyl and pumped out at full volume. A well deserved headline gig and a great night, let's hope they go from strength to strength this year and in the mean time I will try to find something to slag off about them so their heads don't get too big.