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Personal Trainer in Brighton

Live Gig Review

Pom Poko, Personal Trainer & The Itch

Date - 26th April 2024
Venue - Concorde 2
Town - Brighton

A delightful threesome have just completed their Tour of the UK with a finale at The Concorde 2 in Brighton, having not seen any of the other dates I can only conclude from this show that things look to have gone well. The atmosphere was pushing the roof to it's structural limits and all the bands were tight as the proverbial snare drum.

First up at a very early 7:15pm were The Itch not a band I had heard of as yet, they are possibly hiding from the limelight as there is not much info to discover. They were extremely well rehearsed and had a plethora of very well crafted songs. They may well be playing their dues to get songs tight and stage craft practised, as to me they look already for bigger things. A strong influence of other artists but it is always the songs that you remember and theirs were good. The last track played particularly stood out Can't afford this which has a slower vibe with a more constructed melody and ready to be sung back to the band before long. Only one single released so far Ursula a strong 80's synth tension builder of a tune, no doubt they will be gaining praise as their presence is noted and the media catch on.

The Itch in Brighton
The Itch in Brighton
The Itch in Brighton

Personal Trainer have a fair few in their entourage, it takes all the stage and some to house them. At various points during their show they use parts of the stage not normally available to play instruments from. The Dutch indiepop outfit put on a mesmerising hour of entertainment led by their charismatic frontman Willem Smit, he looks for mischief around the stage like a slightly tipsy Artful Dodger, at one point climbing onto one of the speaker stacks and hiding under a large speaker cover while still singing the song to mic from underneath. So yes great entertainment but also backed up with a blinding setlist.

Personal Trainer in Brighton
Personal Trainer in Brighton
Personal Trainer in Brighton
Personal Trainer in Brighton
Personal Trainer in Brighton

For the last time on this tour Pom Poko arrived on stage following their Bellaunion label mates. It's been a year or two since Pom Poko's last UK Tour, they return with a new album coming and new songs to unleash on us. There were 3 played from Champion with the title track already available to hear online. These songs hint of a different direction with emphasis maybe on the song writing following slightly more conventional routes, though with still a large dollop of Pom Poko sauce on top.

 They also played the well known Like a Lady and Cheater to the joy of all listening.

The guitar work of Martin Tonne needs a mention, it is really special, he produced sounds that were hard to believe were produced from the guitar in his hands, though his armada of foot pedals may have something to do with it...

Personal Trainer joined on stage to finish it all on a Bellaunion team effort with If U Want Me 2 Stay

​

Thanks to Love Thy Neighbour Music

Pom Poko in Brighton
Pom Poko in Brighton
Pom Poko in Brighton
Pom Poko in Brighton
Pom Poko in Brighton
Pom Poko in Brighton
Pom Poko in Brighton

Photographs by Dan Reddick

Review by Dan Reddick

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