Artist: Amy Macdonald / Better Joy

Venue: Portsmouth Guildhall

Town: Portsmouth

Date: 26.11.25

Better Joy

An early start didn't hamper Better Joy at The Portsmouth Guildhall as there was already a nearly full auditorium for the band. Better Joy have been gaining rapid progress with some inauspicious support slots and Festival appearances including a massive show with Bastille this year raising their profile. I say "their profile" though in reality the moniker of Better Joy applies to lead singer/songwriter Bria Keely though I use the collective term here as I believe the backing band have been pretty consistent so far.

Better Joy

Better Joy

The crowd are still settling in and as Better Joy reveal their current catalogue of pop/indie songs, there is a definite warming and appreciation of Keely's growing confidence. They perform numbers from their two consistently good EP's including the first numbers "Carnival" and "What a day" from the debut Heading Into Blue EP.

Better Joy

Better Joy

With a relatively short time as support artist Better Joy took their chance to impress on the bigger stage, the audience for Amy Macdonald was likely an ideal demographic for their music and by the end of final number "Dead Plants" they were fully in charge. I am sure with an album and more support slots to come it will be an upward curve all the way.

Amy Macdonald

One of Amy Macdonald's many talents is observing human behaviours and encapsulating simply and concisely into stories / songs. Take "Mr Rock 'n' Roll" as an example, the first verse alone paints pictures in your mind, a similar world to the mighty Ray Davies of The Kinks. Even when between song banter occurred you got a reflection of Macdonalds "canny" way of thinking, when she described how people reacted to music and how different characters decide when to stand or sit? This was regular as with a seated venue certain songs got people to their feet and others back down again.

Amy Macdonald

For myself I was contented with hearing "The Hudson" live for the first time, a song that has stayed with me from the first time I heard it. Again it is an image provoking song inspired by her Father's stories and though I am sure many of her fans will point to other songs, I think this captured the essence of her songwriting.

Amy Macdonald

Being Scottish, she mentioned the football and stories about the last World Cup that the National Team managed to qualify for, it gave us a glimpse of a grounded world she grew up in and which has flavoured her lyrics... so good luck to Scotland in the Cup!

Amy Macdonald

Better Joy - website

Amy Macdonald - website

Review and photographs by Dan Reddick for Return To Sound