NORTH East indie rockers Lisbon played their first show in Southampton as part of their biggest nationwide tour so far.

The unsigned four piece from Whitley Bay are riding high in a week that saw their latest single Vice premiered on Radio One by Huw Stephens.

“The tour’s going really well; it’s been very busy and even better than we expected” said lead-singer Matty Vardy, who is joined by drummer Alex Wright, lead guitarist Joe Atkinson and bassist Gaz Turkington.

“It’s a lot of fun and we’ve already been hitting it hard!” laughed Gaz.

“Alex and I are still going strong, but the other two are starting to flag a bit!” he joked.

In fact Matty was in danger of losing his voice before the Joiners show, but overcame it to front up a tremendous set that saw the band’s fantastic singles I Don’t Know, Native and Rio get everyone dancing.

Writing their latest single Vice has been a whole band effort.

“Alex and Gaz wrote the base riff and beats, I wrote about 20 guitar parts within half an hour and Matty wrote the vocals and chorus almost instantly” explained Joe.

“All our favourite songs have been written quickly” added Gaz, “it’s always a good sign.”

The group are all big Newcastle fans and Gaz is a dedicated season ticket holder. They jokingly lamented striker Shane Long’s late equaliser for The Saints at St James Park this season.

After this latest tour Lisbon have more exciting plans for 2016 including a promise of new tunes and festival appearances.

“We’d love to play Isle of Wight” said Matty. “Illness forced us to pull out last time, but we know it a great one, so we’ve our fingers crossed.”

“We’re also hoping to get some more support slots as well; we loved touring with our good friends Little Comets last time” added Alex.

This was a terrific show by a great live band. The band’s last EP was called Life is Good - it’s certainly looking that way for these lads.

Lisbon’s latest single Vice is on the BBC Introducing national playlist and is available for pre-order now on ITunes. They continue to tour across the country, finishing in Newcastle on February 13. For more check out wearelisbon.com.