Live Reviews – Page 25 – Brightonsfinest

A Certain Ratio – The Haunt, Brighton – 25th March 2018

Back in the late 70s, within the seismic-shifting environment of the Manchester music scene, there emerged a band as unique and futuristic as fellow Mancs Joy Division, and The Durutti Column, both of whom also ended up on Tony Wilson’s Factory Records label. A Certain Ratio were an avante-garde post-punk…

Fruity Water – The Black Dove, Brighton – 30th March 2018

You’ve got to hand it to Fruity Water. Not only have they released their album independently (through local micro-label Big Salad Records), but their Thirst Takes launch show carried the same DIY aesthetic. So much so, that while I was in the cosy confines of The Black Dove, nestled firmly…

Rae Morris – Concorde 2, Brighton – 25th March 2018

As fresh starts go, Someone Out There must be one of the most successful in recent years. Recorded during the heady early days of a new relationship, it is infectious in its joy and addictive in its pleasures. Largely ditching the piano-led ballads of her debut, Unguarded, it saw…

Jarvis Cocker – Patterns, Brighton – 26th March 2018

How fitting that, in Easter week, a charismatic and frequently full-bearded man of the – forgive me (Father!) – ‘Common People’ should rock-up in town, staging his own resurrection. Emerging from the appropriately tomblike depths of the cavernous basement at Patterns and proving that there is, indeed, life after big-band…

African Head Charge – Komedia, Brighton – 28th March 2018

It was a cold, wet night and not really the weather to get you into the African mood but, as I arrived at the Komedia, the warm-up DJ was spinning out some fine tunes. The venue quickly filled up with people and the intoxicating grooves got people dancing or swaying…

Scuffle – The Quadrant, Brighton – 23rd March 2018

How old I felt as I walked up the narrow stairs of The Quadrant pub, where I’m greeted by the pair collecting tickets on the door playing the game Buckaroo and the question, “What’s your favourite emoji?” Drawing a blank I stupidly reply “The poo”, and before I could rethink…

George FitzGerald – The Haunt, Brighton – 26th March 2018

Mondays are a strange day for gigs. People are still groggy from the weekend, as well as being tired from their first day back at work, which usually creates quite a subdued atmosphere in an audience. It is to George FitzGerald’s testament, then, that he got The Haunt crowd moving…

Sick Joy – Green Door Store, Brighton – 23rd March 2018

Following the release of their debut EP, Amateurs, Sick Joy are one local Brighton band who are continuously proving that they’re next in line to make it big. Securing themselves a sell out support slot earlier in the week with Feeder’s Brixton date, the boys are back with their…

Spinning Coin – Rialto Theatre, Brighton – 21st March 2018

Glasgow has a rich musical history, particularly within the indie-pop world where a series of seminal bands dominated the pages of the NME throughout the 80s and 90s. Spinning Coin are but the latest in that long line, though they are far more than a homage to their geographical…

Outlya – Green Door Store, Brighton – 22nd March 2018

Interestingly, the first time I saw Will Bloomfield’s previous band, Port Isla, was at the Green Door Store at The Great Escape in 2015. At the time they were nervous, mawkish and certainly lacking in confidence, both as a band and musically. Now, however, is a completely different story, as…