CONGRATULATIONS +NOAH AND THE LONERS + WELLY + COWZ – TGE BEACH STAGE, BRIGHTON 10.5.23 /
FATBOY SLIM – DUKE OF YORK’S PICTUREHOUSE, BRIGHTON 10.5.23
Today in Brighton, The Great Escape New Music Festival finally got under way! Over the next three days and nights the City will be jam packed with a mammoth line-up of 500+ up-and-coming music artists from all over the world!
The emerging artists and hotly tipped talent can be caught performing half hour live music sets right across no less than 35+ walkable venues throughout Brighton & Hove, from Thursday 11th to Saturday 13th May. In addition to this there are many other Alternative, Associated and Unofficial events, some of which will feature a selection of those acts who are playing The Great Escape as well as many others that haven’t been selected this time around. There is also a music industry led Great Escape conference.
Once again, this year’s event has sold out its ticket allocation, such is the demand from people to discover new talent and the next big thing!
As a warm-up to the Festival itself, there were 10 music sets spread across two locations today, as an opening party event. A half dozen were at Jubilee Square and 4 others were on Brighton Beach. The Brighton & Hove News Music Team mainly opted to base ourselves on the beach this evening, and take in the delights of four local bands.
COWZ
TGE BEACH STAGE 7:00pm – 7:30pm
To get things “moo-ving” this evening were COWZ, who are a couple of energetic young singers (they/she) who were accompanied by Joshy on drums and drumpads, plus the backing track was also played for each song. They offered the eager punters bouncy tunes for modern times, inside the relatively packed specially erected tent on Brighton Beach to the east of the pier. The duo sang most of their set in unison, which was rather impressive. They told us that they like to gossip, so the “gossip” on them is that if you are a fan of Girli or Caity Baser, then COWZ are for you! Every tune was like a travelogue of their lives and their set was literally filled with earworms. They ended on a high as their final number was their best of the night. With a simple “OK bye” and they were off after just 25 minutes. It had been a fun filled bubble-gum pop set and we concluded that we very much would like to see them live again, which was an encouraging start for TGE23. You can catch COWZ performing live at The Brunswick in Hove on Thursday 25th May, when they support Bumb – Tickets HERE.
WELLY
TGE BEACH STAGE 8:00pm – 8:30pm
Next up, it was the turn of WELLY, who this evening were a PE kitted quintet consisting of Welly (himself), along with Hannah, Matt, Jacob and Joe. They stand in a line with no drummer, but do have drumpads and a triggered mechanism on the floor as well as a couple of guitars, a bass, a Korg, cowbells, and tambourine. Welly being the vocalist with the others on backing vocals when required. They entered rather lively to the tune of Madness ‘Our House’, and stated that they had made their way here from just a couple of streets away and also noted how full the venue had become. Mr Welly’s interaction with the crowd is (as always) razor sharp and on the ball and there were many laughs during their funky 1980’s Factory Records style setlist. The best holiday destinations were asked by Welly and incorporated into the lyrics of one of their songs. They played their composition about shopping (PE kits no doubt) and ended with ‘Me And Your Mates’. Welly are the best band in the whole of the UK that appear on stage in PE gear! Welly Loyalty Cards were dished out after their performance, as a way of getting people to check them out on one of their handful of performances over the next few days.
NOAH AND THE LONERS
TGE BEACH STAGE 9:00pm – 9:30pm
Brighton based Noah And The Loners comprise Noah Lonergan on vocals and guitar, Amber Welsh on bass, Joseph Boyle on guitar, and Noah Riley (how many Noah’s can one band have?!) on drums. They are all aged around 18, and are students at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music (BIMM). Their music is fast, loud and punky, and their lyrics are furious. Indeed, what band couldn’t be furious in times like these? During the first song, ‘Crash Landing’, drummer Noah breaks a stick. That’s how physically committed this band are. ‘Just Kids’ is dedicated to anyone under the age of 25. “I don’t think there are many of you here” says vocalist Noah, correctly! Most of their songs relate to the more burning issues of these times. ‘You Make Me (Fall Apart)’ is about coercive relationships, whilst ‘Real Boys’ is about toxic masculinity and vocalist Noah’s experiences as a trans man. In terms of lyrical themes, their playing and performance, Noah And The Loners display a degree of maturity way beyond their years. To say that I was impressed doesn’t go anywhere near doing tonight’s performance justice.
CONGRATULATIONS
TGE BEACH STAGE 10:00pm – 10:30pm
Closing the night are Brighton band ‘congratulations’ (note lowercase ‘c’), who had literally hotfooted it from their gig at The Sidewinder at 7:30pm as part of The Alternative Escape. They are four friends who found each other at the right time and started making music they liked. Boasting an impressive array of different influences, unashamedly intertwined into their songs. Think girl/boy centred vocals and eccentric fuzzed guitars lying on a bed of break beats and thunderous bass. They are fiercely DIY, and craft their songs with all four members meticulously involved in every aspect of the recording, production, and artwork. Their attire (as always) is coloured coded, tonight being green, blue, red and yellow, and the band delivered a blisteringly loud and frenetic performance that saw many rocking out in the crowd. After this performance, they are set to play a trio of others, the Caravanserai at 2pm tomorrow (Thursday), the Bella Union showcase event on Saturday on the Beach Stage at 6:30pm and finally two hours after that at the North Laine Brewhouse (at 8:30pm).
FATBOY SLIM
DUKE OF YORK’S PICTUREHOUSE 7:00pm – 9:15pm
Also happening this evening as an associated event was an exclusive private screening of Fatboy Slim’s ‘Right Here, Right Now’ at the Duke of York’s Picturehouse on Preston Road, Brighton, which commenced screening from 7pm, followed by a question and answer session from 8.30pm to 9.15pm hosted by Mixmag’s Ralph Moore with Fatboy Slim and the film’s director, Jak Hutchcraft. ‘Right Here, Right Now’ is the feature length documentary about his notorious July 2002 event on Brighton Beach described as the “biggest outdoor party the UK has ever seen”. ‘Right Here, Right Now’ takes the audience back to 2002 and an extraordinary moment in time, when social and cultural history reached a crossroads at The Big Beach Boutique II. It was great to be able to get up close and personal with this local (Hove based) superstar DJ and hear what he had to say. Suffice to say, I left the iconic picturehouse with a big smile on my face, as well as laden with a copy of the CD/DVD ‘Right Here, Right Now’.
Roll on tomorrow………………..
