By Richard Derbyshire

THEY are used to playing to hundreds of fans in the north, but here was rising stars Oddity Road’s first headline gig in the south.

Flanked by giant O and R letters on stage, the lively teenagers brought their upbeat set of catchy indie tunes to The Joiners, clearly buzzing with the excitement of being on tour again and playing another iconic music venue for the first time.

Electrifying songs like Don’t Hold Me Down and Same as It Ever Was had the small, but keen crowd bouncing and showed why this band is now grabbing attention beyond their home strongholds of Hope Valley and Sheffield.

In the run up to this date, their latest single All Again, a smashing tune about spending endless summer days with your mates and then longing to do it all again, was championed by Huw Stephens on Radio One and by Gordon Smart and John Kennedy on Radio X.

Other songs like Forever Away are so recent that frontman Jack Heath, lead guitarist Dan Brennan, bassist Joel Gilbourne and drummer Ethan Lambert say they are still fine-tuning them while on this tour.

Jack also revealed that another number called 1,000 miles was only performed live for the first time last week and that the band had been working on it with producer Gavin Monaghan just before their trip to The Joiners.

Earlier, Southampton’s Sunstreets opened with a sublime set that included a new song called Northern Lights, before main support The Edit, one of this year’s Common People main stage stars, played their current single Olympian and their first release I am King.

This early incursion to Southampton suggests that Oddity Road, like their touring pals The Sherlocks who debuted at The Joiners in March 2015, are grafters who will play live wherever and whenever they can to build a fan base.

Next month they headline the 900 capacity Leadmill in Sheffield. It won’t be long before they are packing out venues down here too.

Oddity Road’s latest single All Again is out now on iTunes and Spotify. Remaining autumn tour dates are Bodega, Nottingham (September 28), Arts Club, Liverpool (October 5), Neighbourhood Festival Manchester (6 October), The Leadmill, Sheffield (October 13), Underground, Plymouth (October 19), Phoenix, Exeter (October 20), The Chapel, Leeds (November 10), Ku Bar, Stockton (November 23).

*Oddity Road set list from The Joiners, Southampton: Same As It Ever Was, You, Bad Idea, 1,000 miles, Forever Away, Too Late, Now, Handshake, Don’t Hold Me Down, All Again