Brighton and the surrounding area has been bedevilled by the lack of a successful music festival since Stanmer Park’s Essential Festival folded its wings back in the early 2000s. Beachdown, Meadowlands, Loop et al never made it far, and many others couldn't get past the planning stages, let alone the mountain of alcohol and caffeine-fueled 'let's-organise-a-festival' conversations in pubs and cafes. Expensive things these festivals; even the very best and most well-known have to keep an ultra tight rein on costs to balance the books. The mother of them all, Glastonbury, draws a relatively small profit each and every year, relying heavily on small wages and an army of volunteers to carry it through (although it still gives a sizeable donation to charitable causes), and refusing to pay top dollar to the headliners (hence why it took decades for The Rolling Stones – and other mega acts who still refuse to play – to get off their cloud and do something for a bit less, for charitable causes, the poor loves). But then again, Glastonbury is as guaranteed a sell-out as it’s possible to be.

So, how about Together The People? With the support of Concorde 2, BIMM and the local authorities, the people behind this event have tried to tick all the boxes in making this inner-city, non-camping festival a viable option for the years to come. Whether or not they are succeeding in that, only they know. But, from an artistic point of view, TTP was a qualified success. With local promoters One Inch Badge behind most of the programming, this year's event was a leap forward from the inaugural 2015 festival, a brave and adventurous line-up that tried to accommodate the family-friendly nature of the weekend.

Unfortunately for TTP, the weather played its part, to its detriment on the Saturday but Brian Wilson was performing Pet Sounds, and plenty of greatest hits. Come rain or shine, most were going to have to deal with the conditions for some of that.

For me the festival kicked-off as soon as I entered the gate to the sounds of Natty’s soulful and summery reggae rhythms, before heading over to the BIMM stage, host to two days of mostly excellent student action. It began with Mindofalion, the alt-indie three-piece who feature brothers Archie and Jack Brewis-Lawes, who have big melodies and intelligent lyricism wrapped up in their thoughtful song-craft. Loud and with epic pretensions, they blew the cobwebs out of much of the mid-afternoon crowd.

It’s not just music though at TTP. The Soapbox stage, in a giant tipi, was host to a mixed bag of comedy, spoken word acts, talks and music too, including the duo of storyteller Fleur Shorthouse and harpist Tracy Jane Sullivan, who improvised her way through a pair of dark fairy tales that had adults and children enchanted alike. The main stage also featured children's shows at the beginning of each day (Lazytown, Aliens Love Underpants) but you'll excuse me if I don't actually report on those!

Rather disappointingly, Gaz Coombes was without his band for his appearance on the main stage. The main plus being that he delved into his Supergrass back catalogue (which he is normally loathe to do when with said band), including renditions of 'Moving' (which he wrote in his flat in Brighton, back in the day) and the song that really kick started his pop stardom, a solo electric guitar outing for 'Caught By The Fuzz'. There were also songs from his two solo albums, including 'Seven Walls' from the excellent Mercury-nominated Matador album of last year; Coombes all in black, with sunglasses and hat, letting the emotions fly, the transformation from 'cheeky monkey' to articulate emotional adult long complete.

Hailing from the Isle of Man, BIMM band Penelope Isles is the music of siblings Jack and Lily Wolter, along with Becky Redford and Jack Sowton. Purveyors of some marvelous lo-fi melodic fuzz dream-pop (Lily had even penned an ode to Brian Wilson himself), Jack's falsetto and hunched over mic style was a feature in itself, before the band ended the set with a choreographed noise/feedback wall of sound.

Over on the main stage, the superlative neo-psychedelic, progressive future soul of Hiatus Kaiyote suffered from the first deluge of the day, many running for shelter. With just the more hardy brazening it out to hear this quite extraordinary band, who Prince had name-checked as one to watch before he died. In lead singer and guitarist Nai Palm, they have a frontwoman of immense talent, while the band's overwhelming positivity is a throwback to the days of Galliano, The Young Disciples, and more recent artists such as The Roots.

Back to the BIMM stage, and two more promising bands in the form of Fur and Egyptian Blue. Sadly, however, this was Fur’s last ever gig, a band who had made some great strides, but who openly admitted to internal band tensions. And so, they gave us what they will be leaving behind, a melodic, less abrasive version of Arctic Monkeys. Hopefully, there will be new creative avenues for the band. Meanwhile, the rather insouciant rock’n’roll acting Egyptian Blue are a psych-garage rock outfit, with a lead singer who likes to swirl around on stage. Their carefree approach mirrors the sometimes ramshackle nature of the lo-fi garage music, but which contains the seeds of something very good.

Over on the Concorde 2 stage, the much feted Fickle Friends wear their influences on their sleeves, part of yet another 80s revival that currently has the mis-named The 1975 at the top of the tree. Upbeat, to the point of irritating, their stone-washed denim, baseball cap and preppie cardigan look, combined with strong pop hooks and boundless energy, could however see them become a mainstream success before too long.

The rain continued to affect the outdoor main stage, despite the best efforts of the steaming soul and r’n’b grooves of Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats who, in the space of just a couple of years, have been brewing up a veritable storm, thanks in large part to the big voice of Rateliff and his dancing moves. Despite the retro sounds emanating from this big band, somehow they’ve put a new spin on it all, thanks to more than a handful of great original tunes. Rateliff is enjoying himself, and can’t apologise enough for having to curtail the short set as there are super strict curfews in place for this highly residential area; and the fact that Brian Wilson and his 12-piece band need to get ready for the most anticipated performance of the weekend, and perhaps the last time the legendary Beach Boy will appear on a Brighton stage.

There had been mixed reports about Wilson’s vocal ability/stage presence but these were largely dispelled as Wilson, Al Jardine et al romped through a greatest hits segment, including ‘California Girls’, ‘I Get Around’ and ‘Little Deuce Coupe’, before briefly dipping their toes in the less creative waters of the 70s with ‘California Saga’ and ‘Sail On, Sailor’, the only time the band really cut loose on this soulful rocker, that also prominently featured former Beach Boy Blondie Chaplin on vocals and guitar, as he did on 'Wild Honey'.

But it’s Pet Sounds many in the audience have been waiting for, with the promise of the album being played in its entirety, and in the order of the original vinyl release. Could they do it justice? For the most part, yes. What was nigh on impossible to play live on stage at the time of its release, with this large ensemble and plenty of great vocalists on stage, it’s now doable. They easily cut the mustard, particularly on the more melancholic numbers such as ‘You Still Believe In Me’, ‘Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)’, ‘That’s Not Me’ and ‘I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times’. The instrumentation and vocal harmonies are spot on, although Brian’s vocals are audibly shaky. He does his best on ‘God Only Knows’ and sings parts on other songs, but the angelic/falsetto side of his voice is gone, allowing Al Jardine (whose birthday it is this very night) to take lead duties on a number of songs, his voice still very much intact.

With Pet Sounds done and dusted (it’s barely 36 minutes long), the set is finished with more golden oldies including ‘Good Vibrations’, ‘Help Me Rhonda’, ‘Surfin’ U.S.A.’ and ‘Fun! Fun! Fun!’. By this time, even the most hardened festival goers are getting on down.

Day two will see more settled weather and again a consistently strong line-up on the main stage, beginning with the cultish M Ward, an American folk and blues analog junkie, who is now signed to the Brighton-based Bella Union label. His retro bohemian vibe complements the vaguely slapdash musicality, helped by some comic asides. It’s a shame only a few made it to the stage to see this character, who finishes the set with a cover of John Fahey’s ‘Desperate Man Blues’.

Over at the busy Concorde 2 tent, the hotly tipped Seratones are an honest-to-goodness soul-blues-rock band, led by AJ Haynes. They’ve got some of the retro vibes of Alabama Shakes and The Black Keys, but theirs is a more basic take on turn-of-the-70s rock (the bass player has a homage to Lemmy on the back of his four-string). Similarly, Mali’s Songhoy Blues have a lot of rock in their musical backbone but overlaid by never-ending expressive African guitar licks and spellbinding grooves. Helped along by the wild moves and facial expressions of their frontman, the band’s African blues/desert rock is transcending and was the perfect late afternoon festival fare, come rain or shine (or in this case, just uniform grey sky).

Next up, we’ve got Peter Hook, the clown prince of post-punk; a man with an unfeasibly long bass guitar neck, and a pose that falls the right side of comic. But, man, does he and his band (The Light) cook up the goods; a run through some of Joy Division’s and New Order’s finest moments; 'She’s Lost Control', 'Shadowplay', 'Transmission', 'The Perfect Kiss', 'Blue Monday', 'Temptation', 'Ceremony', 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' et al, delivered faithfully, with Hook and also his bass-bedecked son adding depth to the sound. For me, who had never seen Joy Division, it was a joy to hear these classics played out, by original member Hook and band, a head nodding pleasure replicated by hundreds of others.

Local poet-musician-activist Chris T-T was a highlight of the Soapbox Stage on the Sunday, singing songs about beached dolphins, and reading poems about guerilla gardening and liberal politics, meanwhile another fine BIMM band, Rocking Horse Club, had the nerve to cover Abba’s 'Does Your Mother Know', souping it up in punk-rock style, and holding up very well as an original band in their own right. Grunge lies at their beating heart, and there's a welcome dose of humour throughout, allied to a pop sensibility, with the band bouncing around, looking like they are having a ball.

I only caught part of Stevie Parker’s set, a Bristol-based artist I had never heard of. From what I did hear, it’s obvious she’s got a great voice, capable of operating within a wide range and allied to modern electronic euphoria; lush chords, big drama and quiet moments of tender ambience. One to watch. Later on the same stage, Phoria continue to make inroads, their sound now largely shaped by keys and electronic drums, the music ebbing and flowing, from small pond droplets to a tidal wave of wall of sound proportions. They’ve been around a few years now, but their songs continue to mature, their lighting show is atmospheric and their time may yet come.

Back to the main stage and with the day giving way to night, the time was, in theory, right for The Horrors. Long gone are their garage-punk days; it’s now all mid-tempo, synth-driven impressionistic dark-pop with a strong hint of The Cure and Psychedelic Furs therein. The band ignored their first album, instead digging through the three subsequent ones for tonight’s set, including 'Sea Within A Sea', 'Endless Blue' and 'Still Life'. Faris Badwan still looks like an extra from an Andy Warhol shoot, and indeed is possibly wearing the same tight black jeans he always has, along with a massively ripped sweater-top circa 1982. Perhaps, though, they were just a tad too moody to fully engage this generally older, up-for-it crowd.

Sunday's headliners are Suede, a band who I last encountered when they were first breaking through back in the early 90s. They, and in particular lead singer Brett Anderson, have been through the mill a few times since then, but he's still got that, dare I say it, old-fashioned star quality that brought him and his band mass attention by the mid-90s. Still slim, and impossibly long-legged, Anderson gave it his all, jumping around the stage like a teenager, getting on his knees, twirling his mic around, jumping into the photographer’s pit, intermittently shouting at the audience and imploring them to give it back to him. He even ventured into the crowd on one occasion, as he rolled back the years, obviously enjoying the limelight. Pretty much a greatest hits set – including the likes of 'Animal Nitrate', 'The Drowners', 'She's In Fashion', 'So Young', 'Metal Mickey' and 'Beautiful Ones' – there were also moments of heightened emotion on ‘He's Dead’, and ‘The Next Life', dedicated to his mother. Yes, Anderson veers towards the over-wrought on occasion, but as he honestly puts it, anyone can sing-shout if you have the confidence. Which he continues to have in spades.

A great end to an excellent weekend of music, it appears that TTP have also ironed out many of the others issues that affected last year's event; namely sound bleed, providing a bigger space to roam and relax in, as well as more things for kids and children to do, even if that only involved running around in a safe environment. The food and drink outlets were also good, as were the facilities in general. Let's hope TTP comes back for more next year.
Jeff Hemmings

It was my first time at Together The People this year, Brighton's latest attempt to establish a genuine rock and pop music festival close to the heart of the city. Any of the giants of the UK Summer Festival season that you've heard of, be it Glastonbury, Reading/Leeds or T in the Park, have taken years and years of hard work to establish themselves. There's something really exciting about catching a festival in its infancy, going through trial and error to find that perfect balance between attracting an audience with your killer line-up and working out how to deliver that within the limitations of the site, particularly with a central location like this and the tolerance of the local residents. Overall I'd say that, despite a few issues, Together The People 2 was a triumph, with good reason to be optimistic about the future and a potential third outing.

The crowning achievement this year had to be the head-liners. Both Brian Wilson, with his phenomenal band and the gravitas of performing one of rocks most revered records on its 50th anniversary, and the revitalised, reformed Britpop giants Suede, ended the evenings in style. I've had Pet Sounds echoing around my head all week since the show and, although I was never the biggest Suede fan first time round it was impossible not to be impressed by Brett Anderson's stage craft. The man was leaping around the stage with the energy of a man half his age, chucking out the hits and obscure tracks from their esoteric new album with equal aplomb, and charmed the pants of the front row while he was at it, swinging his microphone like Roger Daltry as he went. Seriously, I want the number of this guy's personal trainer!

I would say though, that in the triumph of these head-liners lies the kernel of the festivals main failing, in my eyes. Both Wilson and Suede are, by very definition, veteran acts, celebrating albums on their 50th (Pet Sounds) and 20th (Dog Man Star) anniversaries. This lean towards the past was reflected in the make-up of the audience, as a man in my mid 30's I felt like the festival bill was mostly aimed at my age group and upwards. Youth was by no means under-represented, I spent a lot of time in the BIMM tent and was very impressed by a number of up-and-coming acts particularly Wild Front, The Island Club, Penelope Isles and Mindofalion. There were also a number of somewhat more established local acts in the Concorde tent – Phoria (although their downbeat electro is not to my taste) and Fickle Friends (a growing, guilty pop pleasure for me) but the festival did seem to lack the middle ground between long-established giants and promising neophytes. They needed the sort of breaking young acts on the up-and-up who would be able to draw in the late teen and early 20s crowd that you'd really expect to see out in force at an event like this.

While this is certainly a criticism of the programming I should clarify that I was overwhelmingly impressed by the acts I saw at the festival. Hot-footing it round the site taking photographs I managed to take in a few songs from almost every band on the bill. While it would have been nice to see a busier, younger site, in just the same way it would have been great to spend the weekend drenched by sun rather than the showers that had their worst impact on sets by Nathaniel Rateliff and Hiatus Kaiyote, the memories I will take away from Together The People will all be of positive, unforgettable moments.

Natty's chilled out reggae was a nice easy start to the first day, although having seen Toots and the Maytals the night before I couldn't help but find it a little too serious. I was disappointed to see there was no band set up to back Gaz Coombes, but when it came down to the show he turned in a perfect performance, proving himself to be an excellent troubadour with a genuine love for Brighton itself, the set was punctuated by fond reminisces. Turin Brakes have somehow managed to remain squarely on the edge of my radar after a brief period of pricking up my ears at the end of the 90s, but they delivered a solid, pleasantly harmonious set.

I'm lucky enough to have seen the Brian Wilson experience twice this year and I'm now starting to find myself a little obsessed by Pet Sounds – what a record! Brian clearly doesn't have the voice he used to, but he was never the lead singer of The Beach Boys, and had even retired from the live band in preference to working up the material in the studio when that album was made. The skill here is in the arrangement for stage, all the bells and whistles are there and Wilson works with everyone's strengths. It's a real joy to hear Brian sharing vocal duties with Al Jardine's son Matt, the younger man's falsetto finishing Wilson's musical sentences and you can't argue with the sounds that gang of old pros produce… there are a lot of fade outs on the Pet Sounds album, but when you let these old boys loose on the live stage you get to hear how the songs should have ended and it's glorious!

The second day started with M. Ward for me, who is one of those acts I keep hearing about and meaning to check out – I'm a big fan of the alternative Americana scene that he's a well respected component of. His recent move to FatCat might mean we get to see more of him, but he certainly impressed me with this first visit to Brighton. The guys got a great character voice, some clever tunes and plays a mean guitar, exploring the fret-board skilfully and nearly chaotically.

Seratones were a bit of a revelation, I'd never come across these guys before but from the point I stumbled into the Concorde tent, following their soulful rock tones across the field, I could not take my eyes off front-woman AJ Haynes.

Songhoy Blues were also on top form, singer Aliou Toure dances so wildly and excitedly it's hard to imagine that these guys have come out of the turmoil of Mali, which is currently on the edge of Civil War. Their music is so intoxicating, focussed by Aliou's joyful performance, it feels like he's drawing the sun down from behind the clouds and, for a precious moment it almost escapes, peeking through a thin veil of grey.

The Horrors seemed a little out of place, not quite gelling with the festival's up-for-it genre-hopping crowd. I stuck with them in spite of this and, as the sun got lower in the sky, Faris seemed to emerge from his shell. By the end of the show they'd won me over. I kept thinking how oddly hook-less their music is, and, as a bit of a pop fiend it's strange for me to fall for music that's more about sheen and vibe than ear-worm melodies. Little by little they drew me into their world, hypnotised by the crystal clear synths and insistent, repetitive rhythm section.

Then, as I've said before, Suede put in a surprisingly bold and adventurous performance. It wasn't just that Brett was pulling out all the stops (and shapes), dragging the crowd into a sing-a-long frenzy. They didn't take the easy route there –playing plenty of down-beat numbers alongside the old hits. A near a capella rendition of 'I Can't Give Her What She Wants' from Night Thoughts was intense, to say the least, but Brett skilfully brushed off any suggestion of pretension with a quip about us all remembering the song, “hitting number one in the singles chart”. The unexpected encore of album tracks 'Picnic By The Motorway' and 'New Generation' showed the band are equally at home pleasing the devotees as they are charming the festival crowd with familiar hits.

I really hope Together The People makes it to that third year, and will certainly be there if they do. The festival got more right than it got wrong and, as a city that's growing ever prouder of it's strong music scene, Brighton should be the right place for an event like this to really work. At the end of the day I got to see Brian Wilson and his amazing band playing his only UK show on the 50^th Anniversary tour of Pet Sounds in a park down the road from my house. That's one to tell the grand-kids for sure!

Adam Kidd

Matthew Logan Vasquez is an act I have been longing to see for ages. The Delta Spirit frontman was originally on the 2016 Great Escape Festival line-up but was taken off weeks before the event, but thankfully One Inch Badge secured his performance at TTP and it was definitely worth the wait. On stage with only his powerful vocals, supreme guitar playing and a harmonica around his neck, Matthew gave a riveting half hour set of incandescent storytelling that had the crowd hanging on his every word.

Since releasing their debut album Comfortably Sell on their own Wavey Head imprint, Penelope Isles have quickly become one of Brighton’s most admired emerging acts. Their striking set, which featured an ill lead singer Lily, produced everything you would have expected – long wistful jams and superb mesmerising melodies. One of the best things about Penelope Isles set was that they play to themselves, almost forgetting the crowd, allowing the band to get totally lost in their sound which in turn brings out the best in each musician. The band also showcased a new tack which is certainly one to keep an ear out for.

Hiatus Kaiyote, performing their last ever show from their near two-year tour, were one of the stand out acts on the festival line up from the very beginning. Their jazzy neo-soul sound is some of the best modern music you can hear, and can be thanked for having a hand in revolutionising a modern generation of aspiring musicians by inspiring new musical subcultures around the world. It had been threatening to do so throughout the day, but the heavens eventually opened a few songs into their set, sending a flood of people to find shelter away from the Main Stage. However, this didn’t dampen everyone’s spirt as it only made the remaining passionate punters dance more to the jaw-dropping funk laden grooves that the four piece emit.

Fifteen minutes before Turin Brakes set, fans crowded the Concorde 2 tent to make sure they had a spot for when the distinguished four-piece took to the stage. Having sold over 1 million records worldwide, this was a rare intimate chance to see the band up-close and people didn’t want to miss out. Hoards of the audience swarmed the outside of tent to make sure they could get a glimpse of the brilliant sound coming out from one of the UK’s most established bands.

Day two saw Brighton indie rockers Beachtape commanding the BIMM stage. The band have been receiving a lot of attention this past year for their debut AA-side single release, ‘Skipping Sleep’ / ‘Again’, both tracks typifying an ever prominent Brighton sound. Head banging to the loose, fuzzy, Weezer-esque rhythms full of personal frustration would have ensued if it wasn’t for the early stage time and the lack of alcohol in the system – I suggest seeing them play for yourself in a dark dingy venue to get the full experience as they are without-a-doubt ones to watch.

Seratones are a band I knew relatively little about but had been told that they were an absolute ‘must see’, my fellow music lover was not wrong as Seratones were one of my most enjoyable surprises from the festival. Led by charismatic vocalist-guitarist A.J. Haynes, the band did all they could to get the crowd moving. If their sweet sound of Louisiana Rock ‘n’ Roll wasn’t enough, A.J. jumped off the stage to get up close and personal with the crowd, capping off a fantastic late afternoon set. Jubilation was very apparent on everyone’s faces as they left the Concorde 2 tent.

Another Brighton act to break out into the forefront of our music scene is MarthaGunn. The hotly tipped band dominated the Concorde 2 stage showcasing that they are indeed a musical force to be reckoned with. Signed to Blood Red Shoes’ Jazz Life Records, the local act performed  their catalogue of quality tracks they are still hiding from the public eye. Along with ‘Heaven’ which has long been a favourite of Brightonsfinest, the quintet played their recently released AA-singles ‘Honey, Let Me Know’ / ‘Heaven’ topping off a strong and well-polished set.

The Island Club took over the BIMM stage in typically fine fashion, delivering extremely catchy Indie anthems that ring around your head for days. Their skill for finding the perfect pop melody is bar none, and the way they infuse their songs with psychedelic, funk and disco-vibes is impressive to say the least. It had been a while since I had seen the five-piece live and they have unquestionably got even better.

I spent the end of the festival away from the main stage, opting to see the intriguing Wild Front headline the BIMM stage. Wading through Alternative Indie, 80s Pop-Rock and everything in-between, the Brighton band have a no holds barred approach when it comes to their songwriting which keeps their set fresh and mightily impressive. The diverse experimentalism in their music makes them incredibly unique and completely distinctive, retaining their own coherent characteristics within their sound. Having only been a band for little over a year, Wild Front are ones to keep an eye on for the future.

Iain Lauder

Website: togetherthepeople.co.uk

See more photos in our gallery here: http://www.brightonsfinest.com/html/index.php/Gallery/together-the-people-festival-2016