It’s been two years since their last gig and Rick Witter is back with a new line up and a new energy. Support band, Gloss, are a fair warm up, sounding like second hand Catatonia for the most part. But the main event is what everyone is here to see.

Aldershot is not the cutting edge of the live circuit and accordingly it’s audience is made up mainly of curious locals and fans from nearby Reading and Guildford. The age range is huge, spanning young teenagers to balding men in leather jackets. However, once the hits start coming the front ten rows blend into each other in a reckless frenzy. Some bands have a problem with playing their older material but Shed 7 are justifiably proud of it, banging out tunes from all three previous albums along with a handful of new songs. So we get the shouty abandon of, “She Left Me On Friday”, the NWONW indie judder of, “Dolphin”, and the lighters in the air swoon of, “Chasing Rainbows”, with half the crowd singing along. Rick Witter may come across as a Tesco Value Ian Brown fronting everyone’s mates down the pub but it is this informality that makes Shed 7 so endearing. Between song conversation is casual and easy, Rick taking the mic to the audience occasionally and giving away a set of drum sticks when someone shouts for them. New single, “Cry For Help”, is an acoustic lead indie ballad with guts, although fears that they’ve got ‘mature’ are quickly quashed when the next new track sees them back in classic indie rock mode, huge shout along chorus and brief guitar solo included. Shed 7 are not going to change the world and they’re never going to be cool, but they’re always going to be there for the people who like words and guitars and “proper” songwriting. Namely everyone, go on, admit it, even you.