A Friday night in Portsmouth’s Wedgewood Rooms showed the beginning of something special as Arcade Hearts played their biggest headline show to date to promote their brand new EP.

This show comes off the back of an amazing 2018 for the band, which started with airplay on Radio 1 and their first tour leading towards a huge home town show before they embark on supporting fellow indie band Riscas on selected dates on their tour. Certainly a band any music fan would need to check out.

The night was kicked off with local indie band Hallan, a band that seems to blur the lines within their defined genre creating a vibe which can only be described as a hybrid between Slaves & Foo Fighters. Despite a small technical issue, they powered through to give an impressive set showing there is definite potential for the 4 piece.

It was then the turn of local favourite Jerry Williams, who wooed the crowd with songs such as ‘Mother’ and her song ‘Left & Right’ which was recently played by Gordon Smart on Radio X. Her set seems to go by in a flash as she dances around the stage, she seemed to avoid her more downbeat tracks in order to keep the momentum going leading to the huge headline set.

Lead singer Dan Surridge-Smith seemed right at home on the big stage as he belted out his songs with his piercing vocals. Opening song ‘Crawling’ set the pace for the rest of the set with the crowd bouncing along with the band who were clearly loving every moment of their time on stage.

Their indie-dance vibe with a clear 80’s influence was a constant throughout the set with songs such as ‘Settle Down’, ‘Y U’ & ‘Different Place’. Their big summery vibes and enthusiasm within their music is simply brilliant and is definitely what draws the audience in.

As the set began to draw to a close, they played as their final song ‘Humble’ arguably their strongest and most popular song. During its climax Dan was ushered into the crowd and held aloft by his adoring fans across the packed venue.

Arcade Hearts’ down to earth personality was personified by their lack of preparation for an encore causing them to replay ‘Crawling’ after rapturous applause and calls for one more song.

Keep an eye out for this band is headed- they’re only on their way up.

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