Recently, the dirty deeds of squillionaires running their private space tourism businesses, and the world laughing at Katy Perry after her space flight, have gone to show that the appeal of a dance party beyond the realms of our own planet has fallen out of fashion. Psychedelic, electronic space rockers Henge (from the faraway planet Manchester) have finally landed in Portsmouth to end their UK tour, and revive humanity’s interplanetary wanderlust.
It is quite a bold and unusual statement for a band to coin a new genre, especially one with a name so self-deprecating as “Cosmic Dross”. However, bold and unusual is exactly what Henge are going for. Expect no less of a band whose lead singer has a plasma globe built into his hat.
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Henge performing at The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea
It’s not as though anybody here should be surprised by what is to come. Our “pre-flight entertainment” (well, the support act) is Paddy Steer, who is sat behind his drum kit and surrounded by homemade synthesisers (one of which he calls his “sausage tower”) in an glowing alien costume, seemingly made from Christmas worm lights and a pop-up tent from Early Learning Centre. It is a peculiar medley that sounds somewhat reminiscent of a futuristic factory montage from an old Warner Bros. cartoon, but that doesn’t make it any less an impressive multi-tasking feat. He repeatedly twiddles the knobs around him at a moment’s notice, whenever he has a hand spare from playing a beat.
He assures the audience that everything around him is functional when he gives a short tour of his set-up, and answers a question he assumes is on many people’s minds – “I’m not on drugs – honest”.
Henge @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea
The shambles of wires, switches and gaffer tape doesn’t make this spaceship’s cockpit look especially safe, but according to a voice-over we are ready for lift-off. “Welcome to the Wedgewood Rooms Spaceport in Portsmouth… We would like to thank you for taking part in this space mission with Henge, who wish you a safe and pleasant journey”. There is a building countdown, and opening jam Ascension begins.
Earlier this year, Henge released their fourth album Journey to Voltus B, a concept record about that trip. Although the album’s plot gives the listener the choice between a good or a bad ending (the latter being the bleak, total annihilation of a planet), the show’s narrative is far more optimistic. Tonight, everybody is travelling to Voltus B, only to come home. Frontman Matthew Whitaker (or “Zpor”) talks us through the journey step-by-step, song-by-song. He lectures the audience about planetary alignment and gravity-assisted spacecraft trajectory (“I like to get a bit of extra thrust, if you know what I mean!”) before Slingshot, and gives any androids in the audience a trigger warning before the squeaky and chirpy Self Repair Protocol.
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Henge performing at The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea
Despite the songs being about such weird and wonderful subjects, it is next to impossible to understand what he is saying a lot of the time, as his voice is fed through ‘Mr. Roboto’-style filters. There is something peculiar about seeing his wide-eyed, over-enthusiastic gesticulating while he sings, as his vocals are pulverised to nonsense. It is almost a shame. How many songs besides Tardigrades (a fast-paced, upbeat ode to how the titular microscopic “wiggly-waggly” creatures are such great dancers) use words like “cryptobiosis” or “telescopic”? Or “tardigrades”, for that matter?
Henge @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea
The show is safe and playful enough for anyone old enough not to be freaked out by the band members’ masks, though the surreality of the performance definitely tempts the crowd to shout along with the banter. When the audience (including some children in the front row) are asked whether anyone present is a non-human specimen, everyone is offered a pass to be as weird as possible. The only moment that the crowd gets physically animated is a rush forward to get water poured over their heads by Zpor during In Praise of Water. It’s a peculiar act of extra-terrestrial baptism.
Henge @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea
All joking aside about the novelty of their schtick, one should not underestimate how skilled the band are as musicians, with a special nod required to the rhythm section for drill-like drums during Mushroom One, and an entanglement of time signatures during Ra.
There are a few moments that sound like a thousand malfunctioning arcade machines, but besides this, the show is a chilled-out and cheerful voyage. When it’s finally time to return home to our humble Pale Blue Dot, Henge prove that they have come in peace with closer Demilitarise. To drill the message home, keyboardist Grok waves placards with the minimal, repetitive lyrics of anti-war protest. Henge say we need to take care of our planet, and we are doing such a poor job of that our shortcomings can be seen from across the cosmos. Oops.
After ninety-minutes, it’s time to depart, but Henge promise that they will return. Safe travels.
Live review of Henge at The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea on 3rd May 2025 by Nick Pollard. Photography by Musical Pictures.
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