Crystal Tides are having a whirlwind of a time right now and from day one exploded onto the Portsmouth music scene from the very start of their musical career back in 2018.

After nearly 3 weeks on the road supporting The Lottery Winners, it was time for Billy, Harry, Neil, George and Joe to return to Portsmouth with their very special hometown show at The Wedgewood Rooms.

I first saw them play at a small venue in Brighton a few years back and to see how they have grown and progressed, is a remarkable achievement and just shows how passionate and dedicated these guys are.

Over the last few years, the band have toured with the likes of The Hooisers and The Sherlocks and opened for Feeder at Portsmouth Guildhall earlier last month. They also won Road to Victorious last year winning them the opportunity to play Truck Festival, Tramlines and then finally Victorious, where they opened the Castle Stage both the Friday and Saturday.

I’ve always been a huge advocate for support bands and always encourage people to get down to any venues before the main act to watch the support band as you may find your next favourite band!

This evening’s support came from Herefordshire four-piece Pentire. Their infectious melodies and catchy guitar riffs have already had huge media success from being played on Radio 1 and Radio X as well as their own UK tour last year. Their recent release of ‘Don’t Let Your Love (Let You Down)’ had the room dancing. Pentire are a band that everyone should be keeping an eye on and are set to head back to the Wedgewood Rooms at Golden Touch Festival later in the year.

Special mention to the nostalgic playlist that was played between sets which was full of 90’s pop anthems and was such a fun way to build the energy levels up, with many of the crowd dancing to Steps and S Club 7 was fun to see.

With some dramatic background lighting and an eruption of cheering from the crowd behind me, it was time for the band to make their way to the stage for their sold-out show.

Throughout the night, the band showed what a fantastic back catalogue they now have, playing almost an hour and a half of indie-rock songs, most of which were sung back to the band word for word. You could see how much this meant to the band and how hard they have worked to get to this point. With Billy telling us between songs how the last few weeks have been amazing but a little tough on his voice, the crowd did not disappoint and helped by belting out the lyrics to each song as well as chants of ‘Blue Army’ in reference to Portsmouth FC who also play an important part to the band and the city.

As well as my favourite songs like Detonate, Headcase and Honey, we were treated to the first ever live play of a new single ‘Give it My All’. Although it was only released the day before the show, the crowd already knew the words and sung them back to Billy who explained this song was dedicated to the bands wife’s and partners for their support throughout the years.

Crystal Tides are a band who are going from strength to strength, and I am really excited to see where they are heading next, maybe an even bigger venue next time.

Their new single ‘Give it All’ it out now on all streaming platforms and their new EP ‘The Middle’ is set to be released later this year, things are set to be huge for this band.

Words and Photos – Hannah Kenyon

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