Review | The Courettes at The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea: 'The coolest couple in rock'

It was a great gig by a duo who were absolutely on fire.

A mere eight months later, with rave reviews for their live shows and their last album, Back To Mono, following them everywhere, they’re back.

And this time they’ve stepped up to the much bigger Wedgewood Rooms.

Portsmouth’s Paul Groovy and The Pop Art Experience open proceedings with their familiar Nuggets-indebted garage/psych. It’s the first time I’ve seen them with Tanya Durrant on bass, and she’s a welcome addition to the line-up.

They’re followed by The Witchdoktors whose rockabilly-spliced-punk does a good job of whipping up the crowd for the headliners.

Having previously experienced Martin (drums) and Flavia Couri (vocals and guitar) up-close in the intimate, sweaty environs of The Loft, how would they fare on the larger stage?

The answer is: very well indeed.

On Back To Mono the husband and wife team studiously recreated Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound.

Live, shorn of the studio tricks, the songs stand or fall on their own merits. Courtesy of Flavia’s delivery, these songs don’t just stand, they jump, high-kick, strut and leap around the stage, lodging themselves in your brain in the process.

Flavia makes full use of the bigger stage, and quickly has the audience in the palm of her hand.

From the off, Hoodoo Hop comes tearing out of the gate.

It’s the sound of ’60s girl-groups put through a garage-rock blender with a touch of that old black magic.

Martin doesn’t exactly take a back seat either, metaphorically or physically. His kit is right at the front of the stage, and he often engages with the crowd too – particularly when dedicating the spiky Trash Can Honey to a former label boss, or cajoling the audience into naming him as the world’s best drummer – with one Richard Starkey in second place, before they play the joyous R.I.N.G.O. – an ode to The Beatles’ rhythm-keeper.

Throughout, the chemistry between the two fizzes and their mutual admiration and adoration is plain to see.

Right now they are the coolest couple in rock, hands down.