DEEP TAN + DEADLETTER + PRIESTGATE – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 3.2.22
Independent Venues Week was created in 2013 and the first event took place in 2014 and their aim is to celebrate the spirit of independent music venues. More than ever our local independent music venues need our patronage in order to stay alive and as a result of this years #IVW22 the Brighton & Hove News Music Team have found ourselves attending one of their events at The Green Door Store in Brighton.
On the bill this evening are a trio of new up-and-coming acts who are currently touring the UK and are operating a rotating headliners policy. Thus the order of the acts taking to the stage changes on a night to night basis. Thus all three bands are considered as warranting equal billing. The Brighton concert, which is being put on by local concert promoters JOY. was hosting the chosen bands from 7:30pm to 10:30pm. Those bands are deep tan, DEADLETTER and Priestgate.
We have been fortunate to have previously reviewed all three acts at the back end of last year and so we had a very good idea of what to expect. This evening we were out for a second look in order to assess how much further (if any) they have moved on their upward trajectories.
First up this evening it was the turn of Priestgate who were coming at us from Driffield, East Yorkshire. Their personnel consists of Rob Schofield (vocals), Bridie Stagg (drums), Connor Bingham (guitar), Isaac Ellis (guitar), and Kai Overton (bass). We had previously encountered them at The Hope & Ruin on 9th October last year. After this current tour the band will again be heading out as support to Walt Disco, but sadly there is no Brighton date. Priestgate have a new 4 track EP coming out on 25th March titled ‘Eyes Closed For The Winter’ (Order it HERE) and they play all four tunes this evening for us. I would suggest that they are a perfect choice act to appear at this year’s Great Escape new music festival. I hope the festival’s talent spotters are listening!
This evening, the vibrant quintet performed nine tunes for us in a set that lasted a mere 29 minutes (from 8:04pm to 8:33pm), but it was 29 minutes that I for one could relive over and over again! This lot are certainly single-handedly putting Driffield on the map.
To the back of the compact stage was located the Gretsch drumset which remained in situ all evening, with each of the bands just bringing along their own cymbals. Priestgate’s tools for the job were a Fender Duo sonic guitar on our left stage, a Fender Mustang guitar, a Rickenbacker bass, and with the drums was a Roland box.
Clearly the most important thing about this band is that they are from Driffield. Right guys can I quit now? That’s three Driffield plugs. Oh there’s another one, so make that four now!
The band dazzled us with their wall of noise on opener ‘Memory Loser’, and ‘By The Door’ swiftly followed, whereby enigmatic frontman Rob Schofield tugged away at his white vest which gave up the ghost and thus a modern Iggy Pop was born. ‘Eyes Closed For The Winter’ a slower number (to begin with) was up next and Rob’s vocal delivery sat somewhere between Brett Anderson from Suede and Jarvis Cocker from Pulp and he was as hypnotic as his famed music counter-parts. Rob feels every single note through every vein in his body, whilst his chums ably support him. It’s here that the microphone stand temporarily became a cropper due to excessive enthusiasm.
Song four of their set was ‘France’. This has a really decent guitar riff accompanied with perfect drumming. Next it was time for ‘Bedtime Story’, which has a terrific 90s indie background riff. ‘Lay By’ is a corker! It builds and builds and builds and builds and builds….and is epic. ‘Credits’ was next and that calls Kai’s bass into action very nicely thank you!
Their penultimate number was ‘Lucifer’, which is yet another guitar and drums monster. Prior to their departure they left us with ‘Summ(air)’ which is their anthem! It is beyond me why this track hasn’t hit the No.1 slot in the singles chart! I thought I noted a nod or two to the 1986 Furniture tune ‘Brilliant Mind’ in there somewhere as well. It’s a spine tingling monster!
At 8:33pm I thought to myself that this lot is certainly going to take some beating! They are a band that I must see live again before they make it big!
Priestgate are:
Kai Overton – bass
Isaac Ellis – rhythm guitar
Connor Bingham – lead guitar
Rob Schofield – vox
Bridie Stagg – drums
Priestgate setlist:
‘Memory Loser’
‘By The Door’
‘Eyes Closed For The Winter’
‘France’
‘Bedtime Story’
‘Lay By’
‘Credits’
‘Lucifer’
‘Summ(air)’
Check out Priestgate’s Bandcamp page HERE and find out more about the band by visiting their ‘linktree’ HERE.
Sandwiched in the middle this evening are the DEADLETTER sextet, who we last encountered live in Brighton last November at The Folklore Rooms as part of the ‘Mutations Festival’. They too hail from Yorkshire, but have migrated down to south London. Their debut single release was titled ‘Good Old Days’ and came out in 2020. They uploaded two singles last year, ‘Fall Of The Big Screen’ in January and the anthemic ‘Fit For Work’ in July, which received both regional BBC and 6Music play from Steve Lamacq and Tom Robinson. The track was also made Huw Stephens’ “Tip of the Week” on BBC Radio 1, and a live session of the track was also played on his Introducing show on Radio 1.
Tonight they were to perform more tunes than the other two artists, eleven in total, over a set which spanned 44 minutes from 9:04pm to 9:48pm. The instrumentation utilised this evening included an unusual vibraslap, which is a percussion instrument consisting of a piece of stiff wire connecting a wooden ball to a hollow box of wood with metal “teeth” inside. This was being used by saxophonist/backing vocalist Poppy Richler, who also had a go on the cowbell and shakers.
The Gretsch drumset was called into action again and seated behind it this time was Alfie Husband. George Ullyott was in charge of the Fender bass and vocals, whilst Will King, a giant of a man, was on guitar and I think the sixth member was called James and he too was on guitar. Frontman Zac Lawrence was as always on vocals duty as well as tambourine. He has a strong and mesmeric presence. In terms of his artily wasted look, he’d fit right in with Fat White Family, but he’s agitated and very animated. He stamps his feet, whips the microphone lead, screams, stares manically, and makes worrying forays into the audience during tonight’s set. .
They open their set with a quirky little number titled ‘Hero’, which is followed by ‘Pop Culture Connoisseur’ (the new single) which is a rather funky indie number. ‘Line The Cows’ benefited from some foot pedal action and thus they were the new Gang of Four and this became the best tune thus far. ‘Fall Of The Big Screen’ was upon us with its Fender and drum led beat and before we knew it we were experiencing ‘Monday Night Terrors’ which started sedately and then morphed into a danceable UK Decay or Killing Joke style ditty and back again.
‘Degenerate Anaminate’ was in the same mould as A Certain Ratio’s ‘Shack Up’. ‘Weights’ had some jerky Fender action and again reminded me of Gang Of Four. The punters danced and the vocals were thrown out at us with vigour. I liked the sax break and then we segued into ‘Madge’s Declaration’.
‘Binge’ was a new one and hopefully a good indicator of future output as it was a set highlight. The catchy and repetitive ‘Fit For Work’ with its rumbling bass led sound certainly got the audience dancing. They concluded with ‘Zeitgeist’ which has a vocal delivery stating “there’s something in the air” in a Half Man Half Biscuit meets Mark E Smith vocal delivery. Zac energetically took his message to the crowd, in a close up and personal kind of way.
DEADLETTER are:
Zac Lawrence – vocals
Will King – guitar
Poppy Richler – sax/cowbell/vibraslap
George Ullyott – bass
Alfie Husband – drums
James – guitar
DEADLETTER setlist:
‘Hero’
‘Pop Culture Connoisseur’
‘Line The Cows’
‘Fall Of The Big Screen’
‘Monday Night Terrors’
‘Degenerate Anaminate’
‘Weights’
‘Madge’s Declaration’
‘Binge’
‘Fit For Work’
‘Zeitgeist’
Check them out on Bandcamp.
Completing the trio of acts on offer this evening are Hackney-based post-punk trio
deep tan who are Wafah (vocals/guitar), Celeste (bass) and Lucy (drums). We last encountered them live on the band’s first ever appearance in Brighton, which was on 7.11.21 at The Prince Albert as part of the ‘Mutations Festival’.
This evening they grace the stage at 10:14pm and perform eight compositions which lasted a mere 25 minutes. This was the shortest set of the night.
They open with ‘Constant Inconsistencies’ which like a majority of their material has a quirky beat. Tonight I have taken up residency right at the front and I am once again intrigued by Wafah’s small custom made guitar which was made to the French singer’s own specifications, thus it creates a high pitch sound delivery all through their all too brief set. It’s unique petite like it’s owner!
Next up is the first of a trio of tunes that can be found on their 4 track limited edition ‘Creeping Speedwells’ 12” red vinyl EP (purchase it HERE) that being ‘Deepfake’ which is sung in French and English and has an Arabic vibe to it. Newbie ‘Gender Expansion Pack’ is up next and that’s followed by the brief and quirky ‘Camelot’, which is the second of the ‘Creeping Speedwells’ EP tracks on offer tonight.
Their unusually titled new single ‘Beginners’ Krav Maga’ was released last month and this gets an airing next and Wafah offers us her most melodic vocals to date. ‘Do You Ever Ascend?’ follows and completes the trio of songs from the ‘Creeping Speedwells’ EP. This tune alters pace a number of times from fast to slow, with the punters bobbing along accordingly.
Throughout their entire set, bassist Celeste maintains a 1000 yard stare, whilst drummer Lucy shyly smiles and gets on with the job. Their penultimate number was another unusually titled song, that being ‘Tamu’s Yiffing Refuge’ which was dropped on 14th January as a 7” single release via Speedy Wunderground (order it HERE).
They end with ‘Oyster Pink’ which features a rumbly bass sound, solid drums and a haunting guitar and was quite possibly their best number. Thus their quirky post punk North African retro vibe set concluded at 10:39pm and there’s an underlying Slits and Kleenex vibe going down with this lot and I’m sure that if he would still be with us that the legendary John Peel would have liked them.
deep tan are:
Wafah – vocals/guitar
Celeste – bass
Lucy – drums
deep tan setlist:
‘Constant Inconsistencies’
‘Deepfake’
‘Gender Expansion Pack’
‘Camelot’
‘Beginners’ Krav Maga’
‘Do You Ever Ascend?’
‘Tamu’s Yiffing Refuge’
‘Oyster Pink’
Check out their work on Bandcamp and check out the deep tan ‘linktree’ HERE.
