Fast Trains at The Edge of The Wedge, Southsea: Get on board, it's a fascinating journey | Review
Openers The Alternates are a scrappy bunch of indie-rockers from Gosport.
It took a few songs for me to warm to their pugnacious charms, but the four-piece have a gritty urgency to what they do, and a good way with a tune.
They also brought a good contingent of supporters ‘across the water,’ who were obviously well familiar with the lads’ songs, which raised the energy levels several notches.
As frontman of headliners Fast Trains Tom Wells admits, this is something of a transition period for his band.
So if you’re going to try out something new, where better than in front of a partisan hometown crowd?
Even so, opening with a new song is a bold move. With Wells at the piano – he flits between keys, acoustic guitar and solely singing over the course of the set – it’s no great departure and eases us gently into this new phase for the band.
It’s good to hear former single Sea Change up next before another new number.
And this is where things get really interesting. Since the departure of guitarist Dan Sawyers in recent months the band have opted to remain a four-piece with a single six-stringer, Matthew Tiller.
The song, Connect, is a rather more funky, loose-limbed beast than we’re used to from Fast Trains. Some bands will tell you they have a new direction and then proceed to release more of the same, but this is more groove-based than we’ve heard before. Tiller’s guitar work shines and it also highlights the rhythm section of Roy Ludford on bass and Chris Arrowsmith on drums. And it is excellent.
The rest of the set brings in songs from debut album Escape to OurWorld, early EP tracks, all winning slices of melodic indie, as well as more new material.
But when Wells performs A Thousand Tiny Cuts solo at the piano it’s a showstopper. An emotional gut-punch of a song, it’s devastatingly beautiful. Goosebumps stuff.
They finish with the band’s traditional singalong This Roundabout – an absolute earworm if ever there was one.
This Train is on a fascinating journey, I recommend getting onboard for the ride.