Absolutely mental night of punk in Brighton

Posted On 29 Jul 2019 at 1:23 am

Maid Of Ace live at The Prince Albert, Brighton 26.07.19 (pic Cris Watkins Photography/ PunkInFocus)

MAID OF ACE + ROTTEN FOXES + EBOLA-LA’S – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 26.07.19

Now let’s be totally honest here. Occasionally you have a selection of gigs lined up and some can create more of a buzz in you that others – right? Well then, this evening’s offering up at the wonderful Prince Albert in Brighton was just one of those concerts!

First of all, I was finally going to get to see the Elliott sisters quartet from Hastings known as Maid Of Ace perform live, having heard so much great feedback from the punk fraternity. Secondly I was going to get a second bite of the cherry at witnessing the mayhem from Brighton’s very own Rotten Foxes, and thirdly there was the mystery card of Ebola-la’s, who I knew nothing about.

We arrived in plenty of time as I knew the venue was going to be chokka and I certainly wasn’t going to miss out on a pint of ‘Burning Sky – Arise’, in order to set the tone. Drinks purchased and low and behold over the other side of the bar was Kirk Brandon – He of Theatre of Hate/Spear Of Destiny and The Pack. A pleasant discussion was had with him and I urged him to head on upstairs and check out the bands. He obliged.

Ebola-la’s live at The Prince Albert, Brighton 26.07.19 (pics Cris Watkins Photography/ PunkInFocus)

Yep, as I thought it was rather tight in here this evening. First up were the mystery card – Ebola-la’s. This trio are Brighton based, but our paths have not crossed before. I’m led to believe that initially the guys were formed a couple of years ago as just a power duo and now have morphed into an unusual blend of raw and surf punk with a reggae vibe infused with a country twang.

Their compositions flit in between the above style, with sometimes this happening mid-track within a tune. These lads were certainly ‘aving the banter’ with each other just like Peter & The Test Tube Babies do. They were messing about, but don’t misconstrue this, as they can play their instruments.

We were served tunes about British Rail, Tony Robinson and ‘Learning To Drive’ in amongst the eclectic set. They have been working on an album, which I thought they said was to be called ‘Emergency Fish’, but this is already long overdue, by all accounts. The crowd in the main enjoyed their set and they set the tone for the night.

Rotten Foxes live at The Prince Albert, Brighton 26.07.19 (pics Cris Watkins Photography/ PunkInFocus)

Next up were the energy crazed Rotten Foxes who are Rhys aka Rusty Nails (vocals), MacDaddy (guitar), Jimi Dymond (bass), Danny Camelot (drums). From the off, we learned that at midnight it was going to be Rusty’s 27th birthday. We were continually reminded throughout the set by Jimi who was sporting a mullet haircut with quality sideburns and moustache. I’m sure he knows what he’s doing as by all accounts outside of this world of testosterone energy filled punk, he’s a barber.

I strongly suspect that after this evening’s boisterous performance, the lads would be off somewhere to celebrate the aforementioned birthday. As per usual, I was parked at the front, but during this set I had to firmly place one eye on the band and the other on the borderline out of hand moshpit. It seemed fun, but just had a slight feeling of that it could start to get a bit edgy. In fact, Hugh (aka ‘Smelly’) sustained a cut above his eye, which might have been self-inflicted or not. In front of me there was a growing pile of smashed beer glasses with upwardly pointing shards, which might have caused a problem. At the very end of their set, I thankfully thrust out my arm into the chest of singer Rusty, just as he was about to step off the stage right onto the glass shards. Imagine celebrating your 27th birthday in A&E – seriously not fun. Maybe the terrific venue might consider the use of reusable plastic containers just like the nearby Green Door Store does? It might be an option worth considering, especially as it should save the Prince Albert money on drinking vessels.

Anyway, back to Brighton’s finest whirlwind death punk band, Rotten Foxes, who sadly will be calling it a day on 21st September, when they play their farewell gig at tonight’s venue. A mere 1331 days after their inception. Before then, there will be one more gig in Brighton and I’m sure that’s going to be a cosy affair! So my friends enjoy the chaos while it lasts.

Tonight the guys came a visiting into the crowd, with soon to be birthday boy Rusty being hoisted aloft during the set. At one stage a majority of the happy punters crouched down with the vocalist and then all went apesh** for the last few seconds of one of the hard fast tracks. It’s just like watching IDLES, who I had the pleasure of seeing at the exact same venue on 13th March 2017, having discovered the band on 23rd September the previous year.

I shall miss these guys as they certainly put on a fab performance. I hope we can talk them out of quitting!

Maid Of Ace live at The Prince Albert, Brighton 26.07.19 (pics Cris Watkins Photography/ PunkInFocus)

Well where do you go after a performance like that? Maid Of Ace have certainly got their work cut out. But fear not, as the band have been purveyors of adrenaline fuelled punk since 2005 and hence certainly know how to get their own moshpit going.

The band are actually all sisters – step forward …Alison Cara Elliott (lead vocals/guitar), Anna Coral Elliott (lead guitar/vocals), Amy Catherine Elliott (bass/vocals) and Abby Charlotte Elliott (drums) – note that they are all ‘made of ACE’. This month they have been on a ten date tour which will culminate in an eleventh date on 3rd August at the Rebellion punk festival in Blackpool. I’m sure they will more than hold their own at that, as the siblings are best known for their live energy performances, filled with raw sound and Straight-to-the-point Punk Rock.

Tonight we were thrown thirteen chunks of no nonsense 1-2-3-4 punk, nine of which appear on their current album ‘Maid In England’ (which dates from 2016) and occasionally these slightly border on metal at times because of the amount of power that they unleash in our faces. God these are good. Why oh why oh why haven’t I seen them before? My mates were right. All numbers are tightly packed offerings of raw seaside punk. Every tune was enjoyable, but if I had to choose a favourite then ‘Maid In England’ would be it.

Maid Of Ace certainly had a fab night as they posted this on social media:
“LAST NIGHT’S SWEATBOX!!🌡🌡🌡🌡 WOTTA NIGHT BRIGHTON! ✊❤ Big up Rotten Foxes (Happy hangover @rhys_toye) Ebola-la’s & All you Wild Animals at The Prince Albert !”

Tonight’s setlist reads:
‘Intro’
‘Stay Away’
‘Hollywood Rain’
‘Disaster Of Noise’
‘Boring’
‘Monster’
‘Greed’
‘Spittin’ Blood’
‘Minimum Wage’
‘Dirty Girl’
‘Fight’
‘Maid In England’
‘Bone Deth’