REVIEW: The Pigeon Detectives at Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea
It's no surprise that, after their triumphant performance at last year's Southsea Fest, Pigeon Detectives were swiftly booked in for a return match.
Such is the band’s confidence that they open with new song Enemy Lines, but they then hit the ground running with the classic Emergency – and soon the sold-out venue is full of sweaty fans leaping around with joyous abandon.
Lead singer Matt Bowman skips around the stage like a shadow boxer, engaging the audience with aplomb, though sometimes his exuberance gets the better of him, as at one point he mistimes a leap and ends up in the security pit.
Along with the crowd, the band are in celebratory mood for drummer Jimmi Naylor’s birthday, in a room of raised hands and fans standing on each other shoulders.
It’s only March but this is fast becoming the gig of 2017.
As the band wave goodbye with the crowd-pleasing I’m Not Sorry, they announce a comeback show in Portsmouth in the autumn, where they will perform debut album Wait For Me in full; a gig I wholeheartedly warn youto miss at your own peril.