Declan McKenna, Wedgewood Rooms 22nd March

Declan McKenna, an extremely talented 18 year old who has just started to come up on the radar, is currently embarking on a UK tour. I was lucky enough to experience one of his gigs in the venue of Wedgewood Rooms. Being younger himself, the crowd was generally of an adolescence age so I was intrigued to see how the atmosphere would develop as the night progressed.

The sole supporting act was Orla Gartlandd, an Irish singer/songwriter who found fame through her YouTube channel. She took to the stage with nothing but herself and her guitar, looking somewhat empty on the dim lit stage. Despite the lack of accompaniment, she managed to woo the crowd and some sort of trance was placed around the room. Even though there was a young age bracket in the audience, Gartland’s maturity showed through and her music was deservedly respected.

After a short interlude it was time for the main event, the room filled quickly with slight pushing and shoving to catch a glimpse of the artist himself. Mckenna didn’t mess around, opening with the well known Isombard definitely riled up the crowd. The buzz went from 0 to 100 instantly with almost all of the 500 capacity in the venue singing along. Mosh pits began to open and the smell of sweat began to fill the room, but no one cared as we were all experiencing such amazing talent from such a young artist. Basic, The Kids Don’t Wanna Come Home and Brazil all featured on the 12 track setlist to which even on the slightly mellower songs, the buzz did not drop. These 12 songs were not enough for this audience as chants engulfed this Portsmouth venue for McKenna to grace the stage again. He made yet another appearance where he performed a Beyonce cover and Isombard for a second time. The crowd just couldn’t get enough!

It was a real eye opener seeing such a young talent hold a crowd so well, so I suggest you catch him on the rest of his UK tour.