BEACH RIOT + BELMONDO – BRIGHTON ELECTRIC STUDIOS, BRIGHTON 24.2.23
Brighton favourites Beach Riot launched their new single ‘Tramlines’ at Brighton Electric Studios on Friday evening. An appropriate venue given the song’s title and the venue was part of the Lewes Road bus depot.
Beach Riot began in 2017 when Argentinian guitarist and singer Cami Menditeguy met Rory O’Connor in London following Rory’s Facebook message to form a band. Rory and Cami moved to Brighton and joined up with drummer Johnny Ross and bass player Jim Faulkner to form Beach Riot.
Beach Riot were one of the last bands I saw before lockdown at The Komedia on tour with Gaffa Tape Sandy. There have been a few changes in the band since then, with bass player Jim amicably leaving the band. The remaining members are now a three-piece band with Rory swapping guitar for bass. They were joined for Friday’s live show by Ren as a guest guitarist.
What thankfully hasn’t changed is Beach Riot’s energy, enthusiasm and “sexy fuzz pop” sound. There was a genuine excitement and expectation in the mainly young crowd at Brighton Electric Studio. The crowd played their part in making it a memorable performance. More on that later.
There’s no slow build up to the Beach Riot set. It was straight in at top speed with ‘Medicate For Success’ and ‘Blush’ from their album ‘Sub Atomic Party Cool’ .
Rory and Cami are the focal point of the band. Maybe because Rory is now on bass, it seemed that Cami has taken more of a lead role. She was front and centre of the stage, rather than standing to the side. She also took lead vocals on several tracks, such as ‘Wraith’. This subtle change, not only showcased Cami’s contribution, but added an extra dimension and variety to Beach Riot’s sound.
At about the middle of their set, Beach Riot introduced their new single ‘Tramlines’. Released on 8th February 2023 via Alcopop! Records, it’s the first new material following the release of their debut album ‘Sub Atomic Party Cool’ in 2021. The band say: “The song is about escaping from a place of worry with someone you hold dear, with the feeling that you’re lucky to have each other, but it also brings the thought of knowing that there are other people out there that might never have that—especially those close to you.”
While keeping their fuzz-soaked pop sound, ‘Tramlines’ included intense riffs and guitar harmonies, with dream-pop sounds. Jonny’s hi-hat cymbal was noticeable on this song. It had a slightly mellower feel to many other songs in Beach Riot’s set.
As well as the band on stage, the crowd at Beach Riot’s gig deserve a mention with a very lively mosh pit, headbanging and a fairly successful attempts at crowd surfing. The band and crowd seemed to feed off each other’s energy.
‘She’s A Hurricane’, always a live favourite and debut single, was the penultimate song of the evening. An unrelenting fast paced track written to be played live and loud. Beach Riot closed a very impressive set with ‘Stuck Inside’. Starting with the hi-hat, there were great shared vocals between Rory and Cami on that song. These two contrasting songs demonstrated both the band’s brilliant trademark loud fuzzy guitar sound and also there’s more to Beach Riot’s sound. A fitting finale to a great performance.
Due to lockdown, Beach Riot were denied the opportunity to tour and promote their debut album ‘Sub Atomic Party Cool’. It was great to hear tracks from the album as well as the new single live. A view shared by the whole crowd given their reaction throughout and at the end of Beach Riot’s performance. Beach Riot will be announcing further live dates for 2023, probably around the autumn.
Beach Riot:
Rory O’Connor – vocals and bass
Cami Menditeguy – vocals and guitar
Jonny Ross – drums
Ren – guest guitarist
Beach Riot setlist:
‘Medicate For Success’ (from 2021 ‘Sub Atomic Party Cool’ album)
‘Blush’ (from 2021 ‘Sub Atomic Party Cool’ album)
‘Tune In, Drop Out’ (a 2020 single release)
‘Wraith’ (from 2021 ‘Sub Atomic Party Cool’ album)
‘Soporific’ (unreleased)
‘Robot’ (a 2019 single release)
‘Tramlines’ (a 2023 single release)
‘Tell Me I’m Wrong’ (unreleased)
‘Modern Dinosaur’ (from 2021 ‘Sub Atomic Party Cool’ album)
‘Wrong Impression’ (from 2021 ‘Sub Atomic Party Cool’ album)
‘She’s A Hurricane’ (from 2021 ‘Sub Atomic Party Cool’ album)
‘Stuck Inside’ (from the 2019 self-released single)
www.instagram.com/wearebeachriot
The evening’s entertainment was kicked off by support band Belmondo, a four-piece grunge rock band. The band’s members, singer and bassist Carmen, guitarists Kelan and Laurent and drummer Jules, met at university studying for a music degree. Their vicious, unapologetic sound is influenced by the likes of Kasabian, Queens of the Stone Age, Killing Joke and Nine Inch Nails.
Fronting the grungy rock guitar sounds, Carmen gave a very good performance as lead singer. As well as more conventional rock vocals, she also included banshee-like screaming to good effect.
Guitarist Kelan took over lead vocal duties on the fourth set of Belmondo’s set ‘RTD’. During this song, he wandered into the audience and the emerging mosh pit to perform. Not to be out done, Laurent joined Kelan performing in front of, rather than on, the stage for their next song ‘Pachyderm’. Carmen announced that this was to be their next single.
Several of the songs were started with Jules’s heavy drum intro. He did a very good job setting the pace of individual songs and throughout the set.
As well as the post-punk rock bands, Belmondo also have dance music influences from Techno DJs in their sound. This was noticeable in some tracks later in their set. Not that the volume or attack diminished.
It was a very impressive set from Belmondo to start Beach Riot’s single release event, full of energy, fast loud guitars and drums.
Belmondo are playing the Green Door Store on 22nd April supporting Polite Bureaux – Tickets available HERE.
Belmondo:
Carmen – vocals and bass
Jules – drums
Kelan – vocals and guitar
Laurent – guitar
Belmondo setlist:
‘Getting Closer’
‘Dancing’
‘Moses’
‘RTD’ (a 2022 single release)
‘Pachyderm’
‘Bethlehem’
‘The Gods They Know’ (a 2022 single release)
