OH! GUNQUIT + YOUNG FRANCIS HI-FI + THE ATOM JACKS – AUDITORIUM 2, BRIGHTON CENTRE 20.2.22
As the 13th annual Brighton Tattoo Convention drew to a close inside the Brighton Centre, there was certainly no point in the numerous punters and tattoo artists leaving the venue and enduring the storm conditions outside, as the party was about to get in full swing in Auditorium 2, which is located on the first floor opposite the main arena.
The long running legendary Brighton club night, music promoters, event organisers and DJ’s ‘Stay Sick’ were throwing a party and everyone was invited along with the cost of entry with their Brighton Tattoo Convention ticket.
There had been entertainment on day two (Sunday) in Auditorium 2 from 11am onwards and the unique ‘Stay Sick’ party took over the controls from 8pm onwards. They had managed to secure the services of sassy female DJ Hélène de Joie to spin the tracks for the night. These would most certainly set the tone of the event. We were served all manner of gems including The Omens ‘Searching’, Dan Nix & The Teen Sounds ‘I Know’, The Cramps ‘Queen Of Pain’, and The Stooges ‘1969’, to namedrop just four of them!
In between the discs there was a trio of loud’n’live performances from Oh! Gunquit, Young Francis Hi Fi and The Atom Jacks. There was also going to be a performance from Wife Swap USA but sadly due to illness, they had to cancel at the eleventh hour, which is a great shame as they would have really enjoyed themselves this evening!
It was heart-warming to see all of the numerous circular tables occupied by a whole host of individuals from right across the gene pool spectrum, all gathered under one roof to have a great time! Talking of roof’s, the ceiling of Auditorium 2 is rather low indeed and as a result the volume of the instruments and records was most certainly at party level and everyone’s lug holes were in for an aural bashing.
Thankfully there was an additional ale bar within the auditorium this evening as part of the convention and thus it would have been extremely rude not to have taken advantage of their wares! Located near this was something akin to the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. It was in fact the guys from Lewes based psychedelic visual artists Innerstrings, who specialise in liquid and live feed projections as well as making music videos – Check out their ‘linktree’ HERE.
It was now time to duck and cover as first up on the live music front this evening were The Atom Jacks who graced the foot high stage from 8:15pm for a full 32 minutes with their infectious nuclear powered surf rock
Wow! They were loud and certainly ramping it up tonight. The band had placed several t-shirts draped over the front speakers and these lasted a mere few seconds in situ as the reverberation knocked them off.
The Atom Jacks music was accompanied by films, images and lighting from behind them, which came courtesy of the aforementioned Innnerstrings. This totally enhanced their performance and increased their overall vibe. They were certainly pulling in the crowds as many now were standing in addition to those seated at the tables. This was an early indication that the evening was going to be a great success.
The Atom Jacks are a strategic three-piece instrumental detachment that are now Brighton based having migrated 30 miles eastwards from Chichester. Their ranks bolster Jamie on guitar (he), Lyn on bass (she) and Sam on drums (he). With every concert performance, they are protected from all manner of nuclear fallout by wearing their hazmat jumpsuits with their surname badges listed on each (Hewitt, Hoare and Gasper). Their modus operandi is to work as a Civil Défense detachment who must spread information to the general public for their own safety and to educate folk as to what actions to take when under atomic threat. They achieve this through their music – Kaboom!
There are no vocals in any of their tunes, just 60’s style rumbly and twangy surf rock and then some. For their third number this evening, guitarist (and communicator) Jamie and bassist Lyn joined the crowd for a close encounter of the third kind.
The Atom Jacks were the perfect openers for such a night, although I reckon we could have easily absorbed a few more tracks. Quote of the night came from Jamie who after inquiring “So how was the tattoo convention?”, went on to inform all and sundry “We don’t have any tattoos between us as the inks are bad for ionisation” – Classic!
They concluded at 8:47pm. This is a unique band that if you can must be sampled live and direct. I therefore would suggest that it will be safe to vacate your bunkers for one night only and head on down to The Pipeline independent rock bar, located within the non-nuclear blast zone known as 6 Little East Street, on Friday 29th April 2022. Once there, from 8pm you will be able to witness The Atom Jacks as well as all the way from Paris, The Wave Chargers live for your safe delight. Purchase your tickets HERE.
The Atom Jacks are:
Jamie Hewitt – guitar
Lyn Gasper – bass
Sam Hoare – drums
The Atom Jacks setlist:
‘Detonation’
‘Enter The Forbidden Zone’
‘The Man From LOX’
‘Ich Bin Eine Berliner’
‘Kai Tak Konnection’
‘Fission Mission’
‘Mirage IV’
‘MK Ultra’
‘MiG Diplomacy’
‘Seb Tropicana Atom-Dance’
The Atom Jacks can be found on Bandcamp.
After a 24 minute of live music hiatus, which was adequately filled by spinning trash, garage, punk, rocknroll, surf, fuzz and psych vinyl discs courtesy of Hélène de Joie, it was time for Young Francis Hi Fi to rock the joint for 34 minutes (from 9:11pm to 9:45pm) with their rockin’ grass roots punk rock.
Think a concoction of the early Sex Pistols demos, the Ramones, The Stooges and the New York Dolls and you’ll get where this quartet are coming from.
Thankfully the crowd size is still the same as with The Atom Jacks and the ‘Stay Sick’ party is in full swing.
Young Francis Hi Fi are certainly going down rather well with the eager punters and to be honest they have come a long way since the Brighton & Hove News Music Team first witnessed them. But I guess that’s to be expected when 50% of your lineup is also in the excellent Top Left Club.
Tonight, the Young Francis Hi Fi fourteen tune set was consistently good and they certainly reaped their rewards after each track courtesy of the crowd’s enthusiastic clapping and whoops.
These guys have now become a force to be reckoned with on the local scene with licks a plenty accompanied by the customary frontman poses. I’m sure they are rather proud of tonight’s work.
Sadly, they vacated the stage at 9:45pm and dare I suggest this, but this could quite possibly be their most accomplished performance to date.
Young Francis Hi Fi are:
Young Francis – guitar/vocals
Jimi Dymond – guitar/backing vocals
Bobby Herz fka Mac Daddy – bass
Danny Joe Handsome – drums
Young Francis Hi Fi setlist:
‘Julia’
‘Gimme A Kiss’
‘Jealous’
‘I Want You To Know’
‘Don’t Break My Heart’
‘Jenny Jenny’
‘Braindead’
‘Bad Attitude’
‘Do You Like Good Music?’
‘Dance If You Wanna’
‘I Wanna Hold You Tight (Tonite)’
‘Short Hair Girl’
‘Girls Like You’
‘101’
Young Francis Hi Fi can be found on Bandcamp.
DJ Hélène de Joie was on the case again for 21 minutes from 9:45pm to 10:06pm, ensuring that the tattooed faithful remained inside Auditorium 2 and that they were adequately primed for the ‘Stay Sick’ party headline act Oh! Gunquit.
Prior to the Oh! Gunquit set, the band carefully rested a copy of each of their vinyl releases against the front speakers for everyone to see and hopefully purchase. I immediately wondered whether the records would be able to sustain the constant vibrations throughout their swinging set? I hate to see vinyl damaged in any way and this trio of discs were likely to be in real trouble.
This surprisingly was my first encounter with the band, however I did witness a performance by band members Tina and Simon in their guise of Lancy & Nee back in October last year. This was a new project from the duo – in fact it was only their second ever gig – and they were offering up a resurrection and celebration of the ethereal delights of Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood – Read the review of that night HERE.
Back to tonight and vocalist Tina and Simon looked rather different due to them wearing wigs last time around. Tina hails from Colorado and certainly has the American edge to entertainment. I’m certain that all of the crowd were transfixed by her antics this evening. She sure does have that animal magnetism, which harks me back to my late teens and the arrival of Debbie Harry.
Very early on in their set, Tina came into the crowd and got up on the table next to me and waved her posterior in my direction. Sadly I was making notes about their performance on my mobile phone and I missed it… Doh!
Tina’s vocal delivery was decent and like my last encounter, she had her trumpet with her. Part way through the set her Suzi Quatro style black top was opened to reveal a colourful bra. There were many forays into the crowd whilst the boys played to their heart’s content.
The Oh! Gunquit bassist certainly had the look of Lionel from The Limiñanas going down. The lineup was completed by Simon on guitar and backing vocals, a guy on saxophone and a chap on the drums.
This quintet certainly rock with an underground 60s vibe going down. It’s foot stomping sounds all the way. They describe themselves as “A World of Intrigue and Adventure – Relentless Exotic Rockets” and who am I to disagree with this. Their 59 minute performance, which concluded at 11:05pm, was absolutely littered with bum wiggling tunes. They are an entertaining act with a feel good factor and Tina certainly kicked serious booty, especially when standing on a chair whilst playing her cornet and hula hooping at the same time.
The many punters that were still present had certainly found a fab way to let the ink dry on their tattoos before venturing out into stormy Brighton.
The Innnerstrings graphics have most certainly enhanced all three bands performances this evening and it was oh so right for this ‘Stay Sick’ party.
Oh! Gunquit are:
Tina Swasey – vocals/trumpet
Simon Wild – guitar/vocals
Ergun Armed – drums
Ignacio Heres – bass
Luciano Oltramari – saxophone
Oh! Gunquit setlist:
‘Last Day On Earth’
‘Attack Of Killer Cranes’
‘Fireballs’
‘Head Bites Tail’
‘Never Sorry’
‘Get Wound Up’
‘Whiplash’
‘Dance Like F*ck’
‘Suzy Don’t Stop’
‘Toxic Witch’
‘The Spank!’
‘Nomads Of The Lost’
‘So Long Sucker’
‘Crossfire’
‘Hunch’
‘Whack It’
‘Voodoo Meatshake’
Oh! Gunquit can be found on Bandcamp.
