GENE POOL + PUSSYLIQUOR + SEAFOOD DIET – THE GREEN DOOR STORE, BRIGHTON 9.8.21
Those wonderful people down at the Green Door Store in Brighton kindly organised a free entry music concert for us lucky punters.
The venue is located beneath Brighton’s Main Railway Station. Their exact address being Unit 2, 3, & 4 Trafalgar Arches, Lower Goods Yard, Brighton Train Station, Brighton, BN1 4FQ. This venue is very handy for public transport as the trains, buses and taxis are only literally one minutes walk away! The Green Door Store is a fully accessible venue, because it is all located on street level, although the main concert area does have some uneven part cobbled style flooring, which is a throw back to its historic usage one surmises.
The owners of the establishment must have been really chuffed as tonight’s free entry concert was absolutely rammed full. I can’t recall having to queue so long for drinks at the bar before! And it’s a Monday night too!
On the bill this evening were artists who have interestingly contrasting styles, namely, Gene Pool, Pussyliquor and Seafood Diet.
The headline act, Gene Pool, certainly had managed to bring a majority of the brightly attired fans along this evening. With a name like Gene Pool, I’m sure you can grasp that this unit is blurring the lines of modern day genders. Thus, the mainly young twenty something fans were unique individuals! It didn’t matter who the hell you were, everyone was getting on just like a fab party. This atmosphere flowed from the dancefloor and onto the stage and then back again out to the audience. Tonight was a great night!
So let’s meet Gene Pool, who this evening consisted of:
Sarah (vocals/guitar) – she her / they them
Jack (vocals/guitar) – he him / they them
Louie (keys) – he him
Esme (drums) – she her
Dyl (bass) – they them
Tilda (vocals) she her
Grace (vocals) she her
There’s a definite buzz around Gene Pool and they have absorbed a wide variety of influences, but conjure up their very own unique blend of dark, cosmic, story-telling, sound-scaping and glamorously hard-hitting grooves from the outskirts of the known world.
Thus far they have unleashed two albums, ‘Space Inside’ (2020) and ‘Kill The TV’ (2018) – Check out their sound on Spotify and on Bandcamp.
Their nine track set tonight lasted 61 minutes, from 9:05pm to 10:06pm. It was a happy performance! The crowd were up for it, as they were thankfully for all three acts this evening.
Gene Pool are clearly moving forward as they unveiled two new numbers this evening, ‘These Days’ and ‘Fruit God’. Both are working titles by the way, so when they see the light of day, they might well be called something different. I would surmise that this was both the tunes first outings as this was their first gig back at it post covid lockdown. And on that note, Sarah Ryan informed the crowd that the Green Door Store was the venue for their very first concert, as well as being the last place they played before lockdown. No wonder they chose here to rebuild their musical assault again!
The longer the performance went on, the more I convinced myself that frontman (or front person if you prefer) Jack Pool, had the similar mannerisms and stance as Robbie Williams. He had the cheeky smile and the stage presence, although Robbie does not to my knowledge sport pony tails, wear a pink dress and tights. Jack also reminded me a little of the departed New Romantic peacock Steve Strange, who might well have had pony tails back in the day.
Sarah has a lovely stage presence and along with Jack were running the funky vibed show. New bassist, Dyl, was put to the test by Jack during the set and came through very nicely thank you. Esme’s drumming was the backbone of the whole set and she carried the band through their paces. Louie on keys and Melodica flexible tube mouth organ was stage left, our right, and was certainly having a ball and at one stage invited Tilda and Grace to join in on his keyboards, when they weren’t giving the cowbell a bashing. Louie stripped down to his trousers and was invited by the audience to go further! He did! Off came his……….shoes!
‘Television’ was a crowd favourite and a majority of the fans heartily joined in with a singalong. The pièce de résistance was the encore ‘Ultraviolet’, which left everybody walking away out into the night with the feel good factor. As I said earlier, there is a definite buzz about Gene Pool, and I would expect them to go further!
Gene Pool setlist:
‘New World’
‘Silver Suit’
‘These Days’ (Working Title)
‘Birthday Fingers’
‘Television’
‘Sugar’
‘What Have You Done’ (ending with ‘Sugar’ chorus)
‘Fruit God’ (Working Title)
(encore)
‘Ultraviolet’
Find out more about Gene Pool HERE.
The fabulous Pussyliquor quintet were the main support act this evening and are Brighton’s (and now London’s) answer to The Slits. Their personnel features Ari Black (vocals), Hannah Villanueva (guitar), Lucy Priddle (guitar), Tallulah Turner-Fray (bass) and Victoria Lewis Piper (drums) and they say that they produce “pure uncensored female rage” and are “putting the amp in tampon” and are “raising oestrogen levels wherever we go”. I couldn’t have put it any better myself.
The girls are no strangers to the Brighton & Hove News Music Team and have thoroughly entertained us on several occasions in the city and surrounding towns over the past few years. They are certainly one of the most exciting punk bands out there and their shows are a certainty one to get you pogoing! Listen to their ‘Lady W*nk’ HERE and find them on Spotify.
Tonight, Pussyliquor announced that they had played their first ever gig in the Green Door Store and that this evening was their first gig back after lockdown. The girls were certainly buzzing with the vibe from the packed audience and their energetic set was met with rapturous applause. I’m sure vocalist Ari was taken aback by the sheer amount of warmth emanating from the friendly punters. This will spur them on to rebook some more concerts in Brighton one hopes. I understand that a date in December is in the offing, but hopefully they will be cropping up in the city long before then.
It was a joyous performance by the quintet and of all the times I have witnessed them live, I reckon that this was the best audience feedback that they have had to date. Bassist Tallulah was right in front of me and her face had a beaming smile, during the whole set. I could see drummer Victoria as well and her face too was a picture of happiness. I looked to my right (stage left) and guitarist Hannah was exactly the same.
Indeed, this was a fantastic performance, although this evening my fave track of theirs ‘Get Out’ did not get an outing. Otherwise perfect!
Pussyliquor setlist:
‘Kitty Kitty’
‘Pretty Good For A Girl’
‘Apathy’
‘Pesticide’
‘My Body My Choice’
‘C.*.N.T’
(encore)
‘Lady W*nk’
Find out more on Pussyliquor HERE.
Opening act this evening was the intriguingly named Seafood Diet, which is the brainchild of Michael McKeown who writes, performs and produces his own music. His first concert under that moniker was in Brighton on 6th July 2019 at The Pipeline. Prior to that, he operated as Osaka Seafood.
Interestingly enough, he is one of the housemates with Sarah Ryan and some of the guys from Gene Pool. Thus Sarah and Jack from Gene Pool backed their mate up by making special guest slots during the final two songs of his short five tune set.
Seafood Diet offers up an experimental wall of sound which was fuelled by wonky dreams and electronic beats. Michael flitted between his guitar and Korg keyboard, whilst offloading downbeat Lou Reed style vocals. Sarah’s vocals reminded me of an obscure singer called Jerry Burns, who had a fab track out in 1992 called ‘Pale Red’.
Why not check out the 4 track Seafood Diet ‘Zima’ EP HERE and 6 track ‘See Food’ EP HERE.
Seafood Diet setlist:
‘No Harm In Harmony’
‘Steppe 1’
‘Peggy Oki’
‘Kiss Of Life’ (Sade cover feat Jack Pool and Sarah Ryan)
‘Parrots’ (feat Jack Pool and Sarah Ryan)
Find out more on Seafood Diet HERE.
