Everyone Says Hi at The Railway

It was a bucket list night last night seeing Everyone Says Hi at The Railway Inn in Winchester. If you’re not aware of the band it’s the brainchild of ex-Kaiser Chiefs founding member Nick Hodgson who was also the key writer of well known and Kaiser Chiefs defining hits including “Ruby”, “I Predict a Riot” and “Everyday I Love You Less And Less”.

On the 4 of December 2012 he departed the band and ventured into solo studio work, writing for artists such as Dua Lipa and working with an enviable list of artists along the way, culminating in ‘Everyone Says Hi’ which was announced in the NME in April 2024. They went on to release their debut self-titled album on the 31st of January 2025 which was pretty much when I became aware of them.

The band is known as a bit of a supergroup, it includes members Pete Denton from The Kooks, Ben Gordon from The Dead 60s, Glenn Moule from the Howling Bells and Tom Dawson and the quality shows. The band name comes from the David Bowie song of the same name ‘Everyone Says Hi’ which is just kind of cool in itself.

They have played the South before but for one reason or another I missed them but they were never off the playlists in the car and the vinyl which I bought direct from them is a regular play.

is it Kaiser Chiefs-esque, no, it has its own sound which to confuse the narrative is laid back relaxed in songs like ‘Lucky Stars’ to emotive and thought provoking with ‘On the Same Side’ to upbeat and poppy with ‘Communication’, ‘Somebody Somewhere’ or ‘Only One’. It’s just a great sound, there’s a lot packed into the album and you’ll certainly find the right song for any given day.

To quote Nick Hodgson the NME article from April 2024 “I write a lot of songs all the time and I’m always using the same sort of chords, the basic chords that you read in the basic chord books. I just thought, ‘I’m gonna do something different’. I figured I’d just play shapes I’d never played before, four of them in a row. I liked the way they sounded, but I don’t even know what any of them are called. They’re just strange shapes. I’ve asked people and there’s still one that nobody knows what it is. So I had these chords and I just started singing and gradually the ideas came out.” (NME, 2024)

Back to the night in review. The Railway is not a big venue but that’s its charm, a proper grassroots venue. It was a sold out night as expected and the room got warm quickly. The support on the night was from Corellian, an indie four piece from Salisbury who I have seen before and a great choice as an opener. Heavier than the main act but warmed up the crowd with some great tracks and even an impromptu stand up (he would disagree) routine from the bass player when a Fender Jaguar just gave up mid set. A tight band, great musicians and great vocals, one to see if you get the chance. Take a look at our Tik Tok for clips (and give us a like, if you like).

Everyone Says Hi took to the stage at nine o’clock to a great applause and got straight into it with a little banter. The quality of the vocals and the musicianship was almost record like in a good way, they worked their way through a thirteen song setlist, I’ll say what seem effortless although I’m sure not for them, or maybe it was? It was just a great gig start to finish which is exactly what I’d hoped for finally seeing them. The quality of the songwriting and the quality of the band was as clear as day.

Just to add I say almost record like, they did mix it up a bit at times which was great to watch. I sound a bit fan-boy in this review but it’s fair to say I am. Since coming across this band I’ve been a fan and as mentioned a regular listener and the night, well I cannot fault it.

And Nick, if you read this, whatever those chords are and I will be trying them if I can find them they work. And dare I add there are bands that inspire me to write and after listening to this album a song or two dropped out the sky for me as well so thank you.