There’s a strange atmosphere amongst the crowd tonight. At Brighton’s Komedia six handpicked Brighton acts are performing for a chance to appear on the bill at Primo Maggio Festival in Rome. Throughout the night the bands are a vast mix. There’s a blues-rock band on, a ska act and a shoegaze influenced pop act. Everyone’s here to support their favourite band whilst they’re being streamed live in Italy. The aim is to blow away the crowd both here and abroad and gather enough audience votes to appear on the bill. There’s six bands set to appear tonight each playing their best 25 minute set.

Kicking the night off are Blueberry Hill. They play straight up blues-rock, it’s gritty and passionate and whilst the band appear shy, they certainly deliver some raw songs. Tearing into guitar solos, the band prove that they know their chops and it’s working. The audience get more and more worked up, letting go of their inhibitions and edging closer to the front. Kudos has to go to bass player Henry Brown, keeping rhythm perfectly and delivering some great basslines. The band all play excellently but their loose guitar solos wouldn’t hold together without the glue provided by Henry who’s running up and down the fretboard without missing a note.

There’s a very brief window between acts and the schedule is full and tight. Whilst the previous band nip out for rollies and to get a few celebratory pints in, the next band ISLA set up. Their rig is ambitious, huge pedalboards come out along with synths and drum pads. It’s certainly a change of tone. With a modest “hello” the band start things off with their first song. They create a huge sound, a glossy wall of guitars come on filling the room brought together by a tight grooving bass and biting drums. The band, who have been around for some time, clearly put a lot of work into getting their sound exactly as they want. Every pedal and every note is played with intent. There are no unnecessary sounds that don’t serve the songs. The set is short, very effective and raises the bar. Their final song builds until frontman Matt Kos throws down his guitar and creates a wall of echoing feedback, taking a moment to revel in the triumph before saying their goodbyes to the crowd and camera. Clearly a very ambitious and driven band, I speak briefly with their drummer James Southard to congratulate them on their set. He tells me that they’re about to take a small break to work on the music and refine their sound more. For a young band this work ethic serves them very well as they clearly have bags of potential.

After this, Brother set up. A band who wear their influences on their sleeve, it’s obvious where they want to take their career. With a sound that’s built for arenas they start things off quite mellow, progressing to bigger and better things. Frontman Owen Beesley gets behind the piano for the third song and they really come together. Running a laptop in the background enables them to pull off some amazing effects creating huge choruses. It’s like the sound of ‘Hey Jude’ in a very small room. It’s brilliant, clever and the band are very charming and modest. They end with a dance-influenced number which gets the crowd going. There’s giggles on stage as they clearly know how together they sound. With one final huge chorus, they say their goodbyes to a huge applause.

Dakka Skanks are on next and a huge contrast to the previous acts. The ska outfit emerge clad in all the gear: waistcoats, suspenders and indoor sunglasses. The band rip through their set and are loving the spotlight. They’re all dancing on stage and enjoying every moment of it, knowing all the moves and nailing the sound of The Specials and The Selecter. It’s vocalist Clara Byrne that really shines, her voice is anarchic, sounding like Poly Styrene and bringing the band together with a fierce energy. They can’t resist a moment to take advantage of being filmed on stage, declaring their last song “a f*ck you to the Tory government” which is followed by a cheer from the Brighton crowd.

The night takes a breather from the madness when Frankie Furlow come onstage. After seeing them a few times before, I was intrigued to see how they had developed. The pop outfit play soulful-pop songs that border on the melancholic. However, they open with a dance-tinged number, getting their audience in a frenzy and there’s a huge crowd up front. No strangers to the stage, they know how to work a crowd and have their sights on the festival slot up for grabs, frequently addressing the audience watching the live stream. Saving their best for last, they blast out their final track with a huge Coldplay-esque chorus and a singalong from their fans before they leave the stage.

Final act of the night Just Like Fruit come on to an excited crowd. The party kicks in and the audience is looser, drunker and dancing the whole way through the set. The perfect band to end the evening on a high, their tight, funk filled set really gives the crowd what they’ve been wanting. Their frontman has all the moves and charisma, bringing an energy to the room. They come across as a very loose band, well-rehearsed clearly but playing fluidly and tightly on stage while coming across as free and casual, making them a band to keep your eye on.

All the bands tonight have showed their potential and have really highlighted Brighton as a hub of great young bands. For me, it’s ISLA that really steal the show. They’re enigmatic, instantly likeable and have great songs to back it up. I’m sure all of these bands will make a name for themselves over time and I’m eagerly waiting to see if any of these Brighton hopefuls manage to secure the festival slot.
Chris Middleton