15 Years Of Fortuna POP!

15 Years Of Fortuna POP! 15 Years Of Fortuna POP! MP3s or CDs 15 Years Of Fortuna POP! on Spotify

If one thing's been consistent this week, it's Gary Olsen. We, and Fortuna Pop!, have got our money's worth out of him, as he and his trumpet cropped up during at least four sets over the course of the three nights. His own, with his band The Ladybug Transistor, plays to the biggest opening crowd of the week. They're the same age as Fortuna Pop! and recently released their seventh album, Clutching Stems. A laid back wave of lush pop music, tracks including Fallen and Falling and Oh Cristina, go down a treat, with Olsen proving he's not just a bit-part. They possibly commit career suicide by choosing to close their set by dragging a very reluctant label boss Sean Price on stage, making him sing a song by his long-forgotten band The Cut Outs.

Tender Trap step up the tempo a notch. Led by ex-Talulah Gosh and Heavenly's Amelia Fletcher. The band is now home to Emily Bennett, of Betty and The Werewolves, who replaced Allo Darlin's Elizabeth Morris on guitar and backing vocals. '60s girl group harmonies and cuts of classic twee-pop showcase two very different sides to Tender Trap; the likes of Do You Want A Boyfriend, with its post-riot grrrl yelps and lyrics, somehow sits comfortably alongside the more downbeat, thoughtful new song Kings Cross Station.

The insatiably likeable Darren Hayman, best known for fronting Hefner but now a remarkable six albums into a solo career, isn't tonight's headliner but he certainly feels like it. Playing to a now packed-out Scala, he's at perfect ease as he jokes and chats to the audience; these are, after all, his people. Bill Botting of Allo Darlin' joins The Secondary Modern tonight for a set of solo Hayman indie-folk classics.

With just one album and a couple of EPs under their belt, headlining a celebration of a record label they hold so dear - above bands they idolise - must be a humbling experience for relative newcomers Allo Darlin'. But if they're nervous it doesn't show. Taking to the stage after a montage of video clips from bands and friends, wishing Sean and Fortuna Pop! a happy birthday, singer Elizabeth Morris gets teary as she adds her thanks. She plays a packed set which includes the hyper-pop of Silver Dollars and Kiss Your Lips, the gorgeous, tear jerking Let's Go Swimming, po-go-inducing My Heart Is A Drummer, and the brilliant Dreaming, with who else but Gary Olsen performing Monster Bobby's baritone share of the duet. Their ode to Mr Hayman, Darren, which was released over the summer, is one of a handful of new songs, which suggest the follow-up to their self titled debut, rumoured to be called Europe, is going to be even better.

And so Fortuna Pop!'s residency draws to a close; three nights and 12 bands who prove that, in a world of big-business and iTunes, there's still a market for wonky, DIY bands who release on vinyl and hand sketch their t-shirt designs. And as everyone files out, clutching their Fortuna Pop! tote bags, the world feels a better place for it.