By Carron Stacey, A Humdrum Mum

WHEN?: Thursday 13 February, tour runs through 3 August 2025 with dates being added Tickets

I’ve reviewed these guys so many times, I don’t know how else to say “Go and see them!”

• Read on for reasons including how Welly will sound Girls Aloud next album

I don’t know how else to describe their music: clever observational lyrics put to foot-stomping, catchy melodies over a banging beat, with topics ranging from gap years and lawnmowers, to what makes Britain great (monarchy and poverty, and beautiful new estates named after the farmland they’ve replaced, if you wanted to know).

So let’s introduce the audience. Tonight, we are possibly among the oldest, but that’s not always the case, especially at festivals, where they attract what I call myself, the Welly Nans! Tonight it’s full of edgy youngsters who know all the words, singing them while pointing at Welly himself.

There is a smattering of older people: a late 50s guy behind us tells us he’s not felt so impassioned about a band’s music since he was a teenager. He just loves Welly. Another oldie is in this crowd, and they’re all from Portsmouth like us, so there’s a strong Blue Army chant in the audience between songs.

Welly doesn’t get into football drama much, and has said in the past that playing at Victorious for the last three years is like coming home. We are happy to share you!

One of those edgy young girls is next to me and is impressed that I’m 53 and front row! (Carron pictured below, left) She’s got a lot to learn, bless her. However this spot is quite a bit too close to the lads, I have to say. The set is more polished, with less chatter in between, but you can see the results of the recent North and South tour.

The new single The Roundabout Racehorse goes down a storm with its charm of “I can’t I can’t I can’t go home tonight”. This single sounds to me more like the meatier Me and Your Mates, which is my ultimate favourite and contender for song of the decade.

Roundabout Racehorse, Welly tells us later, was planned to sound like Duran Duran’s Rio, though I fear that might be because I’d just told him how much I love Duran Duran. But it also has an ace bass guitar almost-solo, with strong Smiths’ Headmaster Ritual vibes, which is my favourite Smiths track.

The encore is Me and Your Mates, and while we’ve loved every song by them, they’ve got to go more than a country mile to beat that gem. We catch up with bassist Jacob, his mum and his nan after the gig. Nan tells us how proud she is of him. When I ask him how he rates the new album, he tell us it’s “14 of the best tracks ever to be released”.

When asked for his criteria, he says he’s listened to a thousand albums “and it has to be at least in the top 500”. When pressed as to what else he listens to, he rates Cameron Winter, saying his whole household is into it. He also tells us, unsurprisingly, that he’s the “biggest, most pretentious person in this band for music” and tries not to restrict himself.

I do get Marr/Mozza vibes from him, his clothing choices (off stage), his hairstyle; every band needs one. But every band also needs a lead singer like Welly too. We manage to catch him after his adoring fans finally leave him.

After hearing that Jacob has placed their album in the top 500 ever, Welly feels no pressure, he says, he’s already writing the next one. ‘It’s the end product of six years of us trying really hard you know. We tried going into the studio with a producer but we found it didn’t really work. It didn’t sound the way we’d recorded the demo. So we recorded it in two weeks in my dad’s house in Scotland, did it all ourselves. It’s very organic, very homemade. We felt like you can only make your first album once, so we did it completely ourselves. We’re really proud of it. Enjoy it now, ‘cause we’re going to sound like Girls Aloud next album!”

There’s nothing wrong with that I tell him, to which he replies “exactly, I’m looking forward to it. We’re really proud of it and we hope people listen to it and are excited for what comes next.” Indeed, we’re also very proud to have supported and followed them these last three years. Next up is a record signing at A Slice of Vinyl in Gosport on March 24th. We can’t wait. Just please guys, sort out Victorious this year. We can’t imagine a year without you!

• Pictures via Facebook courtesy Welly and A Humdrum Mum. Tickets
• Read more from Carron at her blog A Humdrum Mum
• Have you seen any of these shows? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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