19/03/2026

The Clause brought their indie disco groove to the glistening south coast last week.

I’ve been fortunate enough to catch The Clause multiple times along their journey, and their progression has been tenfold. I first saw them open Isle of Wight Festival Main Stage in 2022 and most recently on part 1 of their album tour in Southampton.

This week, they returned to Portsmouth’s Wedgewood Rooms for part 2 of the Victim of a Casual Thing Tour. Named after the debut album that saw them penetrate the top 20 of the Official UK Album Charts, towards the end of 2025.

Located just a stones throw from the bustling Southsea seaside, The Wedgewood Rooms has seen many musical legends grace its coveted stage. This week, The Clause added their own moment of history, performing to a sold out crowd.

The support act for the second leg of the VOACT tour is the Liverpool band Keyside. The indie rockers favour feeling and emotion over flashing bravado. Think The La’s meet modern indie acts like Blossoms and Fontaines DC.

As the 4-piece took the stage, the air was full of that sense of catching future stars perform in their infantry, formative years.

They opened with latest single ‘Rock My Love’, a catchy and upbeat melodic number, serving as a perfect opener for a night of indie disco and post punk.

The upbeat vibes continued to stroll their way into ‘If You Don’t Try’ and ‘Nikita’. Their soothing indie-pop evidently draws influences from the jangly melodies of The Smiths, echoing the “Merseybeat” bounce and storytelling approach of Cast, The La’s and Lightning Seeds.

New tracks ‘Echoes’ and ‘Cocodamol’ found their way into the atmospheric setlist, alongside their next upcoming single ‘Lemon and Lime’.

They rounded off their set with the breezy, soaring track ‘Angeline’ and the hazy and euphoric ‘Runaway’. My wife and I have been fortunate enough to see Keyside before, and they’ve soon become a go-to classic for car journeys.

My wife particular likes frontmen and singers who perform in their native accents, such as Gerry Cinnamon and Dylan John Thomas. Frontman Dan Parker particularly leans into this sound, as his quivering vocal delivery lends its hand to the soft Scouse accent.

I’m certain Keyside are going to cement themself into the future of the live indie touring scene.

Following a short pause, the venue lights plummeted, plunging the young, chattering crowd into a suspenseful silence. The cinematic soundscape of the album’s opening prologue rang through the venue speakers, filling as the perfect opening credits to the next hour of indie-disco groove.

The Birmingham quartet emerged from behind the cool, blue light to an eruption of applause and cheers, before casting the otherworldly synths to one side. They roared into the thunderous guitars and bass of ‘Nothing’s As It Seems’ before frontman Pearce Macca glanced across the packed-in crowd and bellowed the first words “Misery in the morning papers”.

The band continued their high energy with the bouncing and energetic ‘Tell Me What You Want’. Bassist Johnny Fyffe takes a starring role with a funky, swaggering bassline that plunged the room into chaos. The room descended into a sea of waving hands and flailing limbs.

Just when the crowd thought they’d get the chance to relax, guitarist Liam Deakin plunged into ‘Fake It’ with a signature gritty riff. Niall Fennell’s crashing drums swiftly accompanied. The catchy chorus reverberated around the crowd as Macca’s powerful vocals conducted the preceedings.

The Birmingham rockers rounded off the fiery opening display with my personal favourite song from the new album ‘White Lifelines’. It’s a swaggering track that’s perfect for the dark, historic rooms they play. There’s a snarling, energetic riff that pulls on the tension in the room. The fast and chaotic track has cemented its place as a dance floor filler towards the start of the set.

The band were in their groove and conducting the audience through the opening tracks, but now it was time for ‘Electric’. Compared to the opening tracks it felt slower, but it still has that combination of groove and rock that flows around the room. The crowd continued to hold on to every word of Macca’s vocal delivery.

They continued to storm through the set with hits like ‘Pop Culture’ and ‘Never Ending Affair’ before reaching a poignant moment in the night. Since its release on Victim of a Causal Thing, ‘Exception’ has well and truly cemented its place as a fan and band favourite in the setlist.

This acoustic driven ballad suddenly took a hold of every single person in the crowd. All eyes were on Macca as the range in his voice is laid out for all to hear. It feels like an intimate moment shared between the band and their fans.

The band take a moment to Basque in the scene in front, before turning back into full disco mode. They roared into the intro of ‘Pump Up The Jam’ by Techtronic, which seamlessly transitions into the disco anthem ‘I Don’t Care’.

The energy is pulled straight back into the heart of the room, each pocket bouncing and flailing with a sense of defiance as they roar the lyrics back to them. The whole room cried “I don’t care. What you tell your friends.” as one.

‘Elisha’ served its purpose as a moment of calm ahead of ‘Fever Dream’, which descended into its usual chaos. Moshpits opened up all around the room, and the sound of a generation all pleading to be heard poured into reality. There was a continuous roar of “None of it will ever make sense to me” from both band and crowd.

Ahead of a couple more moments of disarray, they slowed things back down with the euphoric-but-cathartic ‘Don’t Blink’ and a phone lit moment for ‘Where Are You Now’. Both these songs invite those arm-in-arm moments between friends and family, inciting a powerful singalong.

Now approaching the end of another thunderous set by The Clause, Pearce Macca took the opportunity to thank Portsmouth for attending, and selling the 400-person venue out. The Wedgewood Rooms is home to ‘Golden Touch Festival’ each year, and The Clause has played every event.

They noted how incredible it was to now be selling out venues they’d been playing small roles in. Before things got too emotional they powered into ‘Weekend Millionaire’. The indie-funk anthem took the crowd by storm. The jangly guitars and disco beats offer something slightly different compared to some of the heavier tracks that came before it. As the chorus built, the football chant-style “ooh-ah” rang around the room.

The Clause weren’t quite finished with the Portsmouth crowd just yet. It was time for ‘In My Element’, a song which has arguably outgrown the band on social media these days, cementing itself as a modern-day indie banger.

Those familiar disco claps echoed around the room before a monstrous blues riff took control, immediately acting as a call to arms. Pits opened up and the boundary between band and crowd was seemingly non existent.

The pounding bassline continued to build throughout the track, and the crowd chanted louder and louder, drowning out Macca at times. The strobe lighting is blinding at this point, and The Clause serve a masterclass in tension and release, building towards one final erupting chorus.

I’ve been fortunate enough to see The Clause along their journey these past 4 years, and they always deliver live. They’re now playing rooms twice the size of ones I’ve seen them play, and selling them out.

The Victim of a Casual Thing tour has really pulled their live shows into the next level. Not only do the new songs feel at home in the setlist, but the overall lighting and backdrops have taken a big step up.

At the heart of this band is four friends from Birmingham who enjoy making music and playing to their fanbase. They draw upon real life experience and they have an effortless charisma that comes with their live shows. If you haven’t bought into The Clause, now is the time to do it.

Review by Brad Halcrow

Photography of The Clause by Gary Walker (@thisisgary.photography) – taken at The Waterfront Norwich