The vibe at last weekend’s Night Currents Festival was great before we even stepped through the door of Southsea’s Wedgewood Rooms. A happy and eclectic mix of punters milled around, alongside a few artists from acts on the bill.

Once inside, we got ourselves a couple of Fightback Peach Lagers (new to the Music Venue Trust-supporting beer brand) and settled in for some epic live indie, pop and alternative acts. It turned out to be a brilliant day full of just that, as well as one of the most refreshingly representative festival line-ups I’ve ever seen.

Night Currents is now in its fourth year and unlike other similar events, there are no artist clashes. As one act finishes on the main stage, the next starts in The Edge of the Wedge, and so on. What’s more, the crew from Piecaramba were on hand serving fresh pies at the venue, so you really could stay all day and evening.

When we arrived, Irish grunge-rock artist SPIDER was about to take over the main room. She was a force of nature to watch, commanding the space with intensity. She covered every inch of the stage, summoning raw emotion into her performance that ranged from anger to humour to self-doubt and back again just as quickly. A highlight for me was An Object of Desire, with its classic grungey chorus and SPIDER’s sweetly sardonic vocal.

Chatting effusively between songs, she dedicated one to an audience member’s ex, and later split the room down the middle for a cathartic singalong to F*** Everyone, F*** Everything. She also spoke candidly about sexual assault, consent and body autonomy, to heartfelt applause in the room. I’m a firm believer that the world needs more artists who take a stance, so this alone made me an instant fan. She was a breath of fresh air to watch.

Another favourite performance was from ARXX, a power-indie-pop duo from Brighton. ARXX (Hanni and Clara) have a presence that seems bigger than just the two of them, and they just radiate positivity. Theirs is bold, bouncy indie pop that makes it hard to stay still, and lead singer and guitarist Hanni is just magnetic, with a voice that soars above their 80s-inspired synthy pop sound.

Crying in the Carwash (which I realised I’d heard before on the brilliant BBC series Riot Women) is an absolute bop, and the set felt like watching a whole room become loyal ARXX devotees in real time. I also really loved Swim, which Hanni explained is about non-binary joy and celebrating top surgery, and had us all singing the line, “Baby, you made it, you’re gonna swim with your t-shirt off”. Dedicating their last song (Ride or Die) to Hanni’s new puppy, ARXX left us on a high that lasted the rest of the festival.

The no-clash format means Night Currents offers great value for your ticket price. It was sometimes tricky to get into Edge of the Wedge quick enough to get a spot due to its smaller size, but we still saw loads of fantastic performances and discovered some new faves. CATTY’s main stage set was pure theatrical extravagance and her new single – the insanely catchy Tax Evasion – is going straight on my playlist once its out. I also instantly adored Cashmere by SOFY, a gorgeously dreamy slice of electro-indie, and loved hearing Chew my Cheeks by Prima Queen, who delivered one of the most polished sets of the day.

Last up were quirky ‘wonk-pop’ foursome Lime Garden. The four-piece (Chloe, Leila, Tippi and Annie) released their second album Maybe Not Tonight earlier this year, and we got to hear a great mix of new and classic songs. They’re a genre-blending band, so watching them live for the first time felt like a going on a bit of a musical adventure, with hints of post-punk, disco, emo and 70s rock.

Wearing a bright yellow slogan tee that read ‘Julian Casablancas’ controversially young gf’, lead singer and guitarist Chloe’s deep, rich vocal sounded amazing as the band gave us new songs including Lifestyle, Always Talking About You, and Moving Target, released just five days ago. The last of these is a warm tambourine-laden number that really shows off Chloe’s crooning voice, lamenting unrequited love in way that’s all-too relatable.

At one point, Chloe commented that they’d never played with so many female and non-male artists before, vocalising something we’d been remarking on all day. Night Currents 2026 repped artists so often in the minority on a bill, which gave the festival a really unique energy we really loved.

Lime Garden closed their set, and the festival, with crowd-pleasers Cross My Heart and 23, complete with an extended guitar medley outro from Chloe, Leila and Tippi.

If you’re looking for your new favourite band at a festival with immaculate vibes, you should add next year’s Night Currents Festival to your calendar right now.

Main photo credit: Tony Palmer