By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

SETLIST: It’s Not Like This In France; Take 5; Home For The Weekend; Shopping; Deere John; Me And Your Mates; Flowers; A Right Royal Show; Big In The Suburbs

WHEN?: Thursday 24 August 2023, tour continues until 22 September 2023

We’ve not fallen quite so much in love with and head over heels for a band as we have with Welly since Pulp in the early 90s.

• Read on for reasons including why Welly are your next favourite band and will be as big as 90s Blur in 18 months

Buoyed by A Humdrum Mum’s reviews of the band in Southsea in July and in March as well as at Victorious last year, we’ve been very slow off the mark but, finally, we saw Welly live tonight.

Their latest set is up on YouTube (see below) from Paris earlier this year and we’ve watched it many times but what we weren’t expecting tonight was how enthusiastic the crowd reaction would be for the gorgeously idiosynchratic and individual 5-piece band.

London is probably 2nd only to New York in terms of being the world’s toughest crowd and, although admittedly this was a free gig, we weren’t quite expecting the mass dancing and absolutely joyous celebration on the southern bank of the Thames in the shadow of Tower Bridge (see picture above) from Deere John on.

Live In A Village Hall was an album of the month for us in March and we weren’t expecting them to follow it with quite so many strong songs so soon. We bellow out the lyrics to Shopping similarly bemoaning our part in the death of England’s high streets at the same time as Welly does.

They open with It’s Not Like That In France which is The Fall goes Elastica with the poppiest bits of Blondie thrown in for good measure but we love it most because we’ve seen them play it in Paris on YouTube, it speaks to our loathing of Brexit and yet it’s utterly here and now.

On new song Big In The Suburbs we’re probably all over the YouTube footage from this gig because we’re up the front and dancing and singing along and it truly feels as though, despite all the willingness to crowdplease, Welly is finally nailing his/their political colours to the mast about ‘nationalising hate’.

Mid-gig we speak to the curator of tonight’s show to thank her for bringing Welly to such an iconic venue with such a gorgeously receptive crowd on what turned out, despite all odds, to be a gloriously balmy and fantastically poppy evening.

Tomorrow we do it all again because we’re seeing Britain’s best new band on the Casemates Stage at Victorious Festival at 3.30pm with mates who introduced them to us. Please join us there. You won’t regret it.

We make notes but we’re struggling to read them and there is Welly banter about chain stores of old like Rumbelows which are sadly now no more.

A Humdrum Mum called it right when said Welly were the next big thing when she interviewed him last year and, on tonight’s London reaction, we can see them being as big as 90s Blur in 18 months or so. Should that be their wish.

Whatever happens, they are our new favourite band and we can’t wait for the rest of the world to catch up – and soon. Roll on tomorrow – and do check out your next favourite band, now.

• Main picture via Facebook courtesy Welly Tickets
• Have you seen a Welly show or heard 1 of therr songs? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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