IT MAY have been their first headline gig in the city, but Portsmouth won’t be forgetting Dream Wife in a hurry.

The London-based trio rocked the region’s famous Wedgewood Rooms to a full house, bringing their unique indie-punk-rock style to the south coast.

Mixing heavy anthems like ‘F.U.U.’ with more mellowed ‘Love Without Reason’ made for a show that got revellers moshing about as well as embracing one-another.

The band visited the famous venue while touring their self-titled debut album, which has received near-faultless praise from critics since its release in January. It’s the second time band have played the south coast this year, having rocked Southampton’s Common People festival back in May.

Supported by Queen Zee – who join Dream Wife for their entire UK tour, and local band Hippeas, Portsmouth was treated to a night of hard-hitting basslines and heavy vocals.

Welcomed to the stage buy rapturous applause, the trio kicked off the sold-out show with lesser known – and by their standard, tamer – ‘Spend the Night’ and ‘Lolita’, before smashing out the heavy hits ‘Fire’ and ‘Taste’.

Needing to catch her breath, and allowing the crowd the same token, frontwoman Rakel Mjöll said: “We’ve had such a warm welcome, thank you Portsmouth. I can’t believe we’re playing the famous Wedgewood Rooms!”

The slower, but no less rocking, ‘Love Without Reason’ was then followed – as it does so perfectly on the album, by ‘Kids’, before the trio played the “song that means the most to us”: ‘Somebody’.

The fan-favourite looks to break down barriers with its message that people should be judged on who they are, not what they look like. “I am not my body, I am somebody” is the poignant line that sticks with you.

‘Act My Age’, ‘Right Now’, and the heavy hitting ‘F.U.U.’ – with an incredible extended intro from guitarist Alice Go, and bassist Bella Podpadec, closed the performance.

But the group came back for one last hurrah to play their fan-favourites ‘Hey Heartbreaker’ and ‘Let’s Make Out’.

A fitting way to end a fun, but emotionally-charged, gig.

The trio, which formed after meeting at an art school in Brighton, will now head to London for their final UK gig on Wednesday, before jetting off to Paris to kick-start the European leg of their tour.