I arrived at Sticky Mike's in time to catch the last two songs of local support Of Empires. It was the first time I'd caught the band live but it wasn't really much to go on, their spirited performance didn't seem to get much response from a small, pretty lacklustre audience and I started to wonder if The Sundowners would manage to lift this rainy Monday evening malaise. The next act on stage were She Drew The Gun, who surprised me as I was anticipating that the headliners would follow, but Sticky Mike's doesn't stick to The Haunt's tight curfew, everything finishes a bit later allowing  time for this plaintive electric guitar duo. They seemed to be friends of The Sundowners and have been accompanying them throughout the tour. Whilst their music was charming the vibe couldn't help but take things down a notch. They have some lovely tunes, the sort of thing I would gladly listen to at home but tonight, at this juncture, I could have done with something a bit more upbeat. I'll certainly be looking them up again though, as Louisa Roach is an excellent guitar player, with a great voice and her songs are really quite compelling.
 
Next up were The Sundowners, who gave us a few minutes to take in their stage set up while several guitars were tuned and microphone stands put into place. The stage was dressed with sunset coloured lights, the world's largest dream catcher, an impressive collection of vintage guitars and a board of effects pedals for every guitarist – even the bass player! The drums were set with a high stool and the tom's looked almost like they were almost falling away from the drummer. The drum kit and microphone stands were wrapped in dusty pink plastic roses, evoking their song Desert Rose.
 
They began the set with the first track from their newly released début album, 'Wild As The Season', which made even more sense as an intro track in the live environment, especially as drummer Jim Sharrock ploughed straight into the beat of the following song before the final chord had even finished ringing out. This was a trick he would use throughout the set to keep up the momentum, in fact there was barely a song in the gig that didn't begin with his pounding drums. I suspect his high drumming position was designed to give him more power. 'Back To You' sounded really great with Tim Cunningham's pumping bass and those heavy drums, live they really are an impressive rhythm section. The intro to 'If Wishes Were Horses' was further extended due to a microphone malfunction. Singer and main rhythm guitarist Niamh Rowe had to deal with, although this was the first of many little problems Niamh was dogged by throughout the show but it was actually pretty cool to hear that drum and bass groove prolonged.
 
Fiona Skelly and Niamh Rowe work together really well as dual front-women, whether they're both strumming away on twin black Rickenbacker guitars or Fiona is sashying about the stage waving her feathered hair-do and bashing a tambourine; their powerful dual voices are clearly the main selling point of the band. Having said that it was impossible not to notice Alfie Skelly tonight, he played an absolute blinder on lead guitar. He's one of those great guitarists who knows exactly when to fill the room with sound and when to hold back, he's a master at the tremolo arm and he owns a lovely looking Burns which is probably the best 12-string I've heard live, which really shone on 'Into The Light'.
 
The band are clearly pleased to be in our lovely town of Brighton, although Fiona makes us all giggle as she tells us how surprised she was to open her hotel room window this morning to see that the pier had burnt down – a sight we Brightonians are more than used to by know. The band are friendly and relaxed and exceptionally talented, the live show really delivers on the promise of the record. They've been together for a good four years and it shows in their professionalism, but they've still got that excitement and freshness about them. The Skelly's are the younger siblings of James and Ian form The Coral, so music is clearly in the blood of this clan but it's refreshing that they don't make a big deal out of this on their press releases. This is clearly a band that wants to and are more than capable of standing on their own two feet.
 
They introduce 'Hummingbird' as first song they ever played together and their first single, it's a great number and possibly my favourite on the album, but live it's the first time I feel like they haven't notched up the pressure. It floats by pleasantly enough but it's on songs like 'Soul Responder', which Niamh introduces as one of the band's favourites to play live, and 'Midnight', which the band close the set on, where the band really excel. They are able to breath more life into these songs than you find on the record and I'm already getting ahead of myself trying to imagine what their next record will sound like. Halfway through the show I glanced over my shoulder and saw that the crowd in the room had swollen to a decent number, more than my early doors arrival had led me to expect. The band come back for an encore and show us they've got great psyche credentials by covering The United States Of America's 'The Garden Of Earthly Delights', they really are “hot as mustard” as one audience member shouted out as the house lights came up. A fantastic Brighton début for this Wirral 5-piece, you guys are welcome back any time!
Adam Kidd