BABY STRANGE + THE BIG DAY – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 10.11.21
It’s a Scottish invasion tonight at The Prince Albert, nestled just underneath Brighton Railway Station as we’ve two bands from north of the border.
Kicking off the night are The Big Day, born out of the ashes of Fabric Bear. They’re a four-piece hailing from Glasgow whose roots are Edinburgh and Ireland. Talking to the band, they’ve all ended up in Glasgow due to the thriving music scene, along with the sheer number of venues and shows. Very much like we have here in Brighton.
It’s the band’s fourth ever show, so I’m pretty surprised with how tight they are, and they’ve plenty of stage presence. The band comes across musically like a cross between 80s Bowie, especially the bass and Roxy Music. Visually there’s definitely an 80s cut to their outfits. It’s not typically my taste, but as they run through the set, their confidence rises, and so does my interest in them.
By the fourth number, a real rocking ‘All I Want’, with a huge chorus skilfully delivered by frontman Ryan Hunter and I’ve totally warmed to them. Looking around, I see they’ve won the assembled crowd over too. Highlights of the set are the aforementioned ‘All I Want’ and the smouldering ‘Fashion Statement’. The Big Day are definitely worth checking out when you get the chance, especially if you’ve a penchant for that 80s sound.
The Big Day are:
Ryan Hunter (lead vocals/guitar)
Rhauri Brannigan (guitar)
Leo Lyne (bass)
Matthew Graham (drums)
Find the tunes on Spotify.
There’s been a real buzz about this evening’s headliners Baby Strange and even more so since the release of their last EP ‘Land Of Nothing’. I was hoping to catch them as one of the headliners at this year’s ‘234 Fest’, which celebrated 10 years of the Green Door Store, but they had to pull out at the last minute. Now they’ve finally made the trip from Glasgow, and Brighton is one of the lucky cities on their tour schedule.
They open the set with the first track from ‘Land Of Nothing’, ‘More! More! More!’ They’re post-punk with a hard rock edge, and more than a nod goes out to Therapy? This may be down to the guitar sound and also being a three-piece powerhouse. Tonight for the live set, they are expanded to four, with Ryan Hunter of The Big Day taking up second guitar and keyboards, expanding their live sound even further.
It’s a cracker of an opener and paves the way for a blistering 11 song set. Highlights for me were ‘Want It / Need It’ and the catchy as f**k ‘I Want To Believe’. Still, they leave the best to last, hitting the audience with both barrels with an incredible run through of ‘Club Sabbath’, which comes on a lot heavier live than its recorded version. It’s undoubtedly the crowd favourite, too, as I hear everyone around me singing along. The set finishes on a real high with ‘Pleasure City’, a joyous sing-a-long anthem to close the night. The show just flew by way too quick, and I’m sure I was not the only one there that’d happily have heard them run through the whole set again.
Baby Strange are a force to be reckoned with and seriously need to be on your next playlist, and if you get the chance to catch them live, go for it, they won’t disappoint!
Visit Baby Strange’s ‘linktree’ HERE for further information.
www.musicglue.com/baby-strange
