While Notting Hill Carnival is all well and good, Brighton’s beginning to develop its own Bank Holiday tradition with Two Three Four Festival. The two-day event brings together an eclectic mix of local talent, out of town buzz bands as well as a few acts with well-established fan bases. It has everything you need right here if you want to spend your three-day weekend enjoying great music.

First up, Clever Thing channels some classic rock vibes with their snaked-hipped riffs. Although a spoke is thrown in the wheel when their guitarist heaves his guitar onto the venue floor where it completely shatters. He asks the crowd if there’s anyone’s willing to lend him theirs and unsurprisingly no one offers, assumably because they don’t want their own instrument to meet a similar fate.

Next, MarthaGunn bring together comfy folk harmonies and polished, pop-rock sheen to create their smooth and breezy sound that helps to cool down an already stiflingly hot Green Door Store.

It started as a mere inkling, a passing thought, but I’m quickly coming to the conclusion Porridge Radio might be one of – if not the best – band in Brighton. They’re defiantly DIY, not just in their sound but in spirit. Their joyous, naïve pop often feels unclassifiable without appearing to try too hard. Music that inherently knows feeling, triumphs over technical ability every time. One break between songs goes on a bit longer than usual because they have to, “learn the song on stage”. The guitarist and songwriter Dana carries the weight of the actual singing while the co-singer acts more as a visual focal point, bounding around the stage as if on a trampoline. DIY should always be principled and ethical. So instead of trying to peddle their Facebook or merchandise they encourage the crowd to donate towards a fund for free coaches to take activists to a protest.

You would be hard pressed to find a more entertaining or charming band than Dingus Khan. Dressed in all white, whether that is a dress or boiler suite. They incorporate everything from synchronised dancing to their frontman balancing his guitar on one hand for the benefit of the photographers. “I hope you got that,” he jokes afterwards. In the middle of one song he bursts through the fire exit doors, re-emerging at the back of the room with a burger bun in hand. With songs called things like ‘Knifey Spoony’, they stop themselves becoming an out’n’out comedy group with some strong song writing and a tight knit live band.

The music on show this weekend is nothing if not varied; it can sometimes make for some severe transitions. The ripping punk of Youth Man is even more jarring when sandwiched next to the fey indie rock of Get Inuit. Thrillingly abrasive hardcore punk with a song dedicated to Jeremy Corbyn, the trio probably make the biggest impression of the weekend, largely through sheer force of will.

Despite the best efforts of Johnny Foreigner, and an inordinate amount of sweat produced from their collective brows, it’s that lot Abattoir Blues who feel like the real headliners tonight. Packing out the room with their anthemic post-punk as bodies throw themselves around and pile onto one another.

Day two and Blush open with their dreamy, sepia-tinged sound, reminiscent of Mazzy Star. Despite the breadth of music on show over the weekend largely having nothing in common with one another, I’m starting to notice the day’s bookings have been roughly organised, ranging from more laid back sounds, slowly increasing in tempo and general intensity, slowly working up to the evening’s climax. Case in point, Cousin Kula deliver jazzy, soulful music that brings together a psychedelic guitar sound with a brass section and funky keys, and are ideal for their midday slot.

Somehow every time I see Gang play they just keep getting heavier. At their current rate of expansion, it won’t belong before they collapse under their own weight and density, forming a black hole that we’ll all be sucked into.

In glam rock mullet and attire, and backed by a projection that includes a spinning, pixelated chicken drumstick, Joey Fourr’s music is surprisingly accessible, bringing to mind the woozy, psychedelic pop of artists like Connan Mockasin.

With just her, her guitar and the occasional help from a drum machine, Hannah Lou Clarke fails to grab most of the crowd’s attention. The chatter from outside spilling into the venue during breaks between songs. But songs like ‘Kids in Heat’ keep those who are lucky to be in the room enraptured.

You have to give it to Brawlers for trying. Their over-earnest brand of pop-punk fails to ignite any spark in the room, even with their frontman’s increasingly determined attempts to engage the audience. At the end he instructs the room to split in two and then ask everyone to go make friends with someone on the over half. A handful of people half-heartedly obey, but you get the sense it’s just to alleviate the awkwardness.

 If there’s a particular sound that dominates this year’s festival it’s pop-punk, which make PUP the ideal headliners. Beginning with the furious one-two punch of ‘If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You Then I Will’ and ‘DVP’, the Canadian pop-punkers plough forward without so much as a chance for you to catch your breath. Their lyrics managing to be both heavy on the teen angst but deeply and self-deprecatingly funny: ”I never see my family or my friends anymore / And I write more apologies than metaphors”. PUP know that these emotions are much more bearable when being collectively unloaded in a communal environment. If PUP’s explosive melodies aren’t carried quietly enough by the band, the crowd more than pull their weight to help the bar room chanting of the choruses fill the room. Crowd surfing erupts and doesn’t stop until the band eventually leaves the stage. People leave dripping in their own and everyone else’s sweat. That was great fun, same time next year?
Louis Ormesher

See more photos here: http://www.brightonsfinest.com/html/index.php/Gallery/234-Festival-2016