One of the wildest concerts that the Brighton & Hove News covered just prior to the first lockdown came courtesy of Manningtree post punk 8-piece cult icons Dingus Khan who were putting on a raucous affair at The Hope & Ruin on Queens Road on 27th February 2020.
It was a busy night that night as also performing upstairs was Emily Capell, who no doubt would have been more than aware of the shenanigans going on downstairs. Our account of the Dingus Khan set reads as follows:
I had not witnessed any of tonight’s bands before, although I had been tipped off that headliners Dingus Khan were going to be a bit of a riot, especially as they had three drummers. I think the word ‘bit’ was a gross underestimation, as they whipped the rammed crowd up into one massive frenzy, the likes of which I haven’t witnessed before at this exact downstairs location. God knows what the Emily Capell punters were thinking upstairs? There was no way in the world that they would not be able to feel the vibrations through the floor and the mass jollity taking place beneath them.
Dingus Khan are listed as a sextet, but tonight there were no less that eight of them, all crammed into the little corner of the room, not that all of them stayed there for the full duration of the set! Their official lineup is listed as Mick Squalor, Josh Court, Tom Armstrong, Adam Toms, Gaz Burney and Ben Ward. Tonight they were joined by Krista Lynch on bass and Nick drums. I am told that there was also a Paul on drums as well and so I’m not sure who was missing, anyway there were eight of them performing tonight. Seven of which were clad in white boiler suits and the lead singer was wearing black.
They mainly hail from Manningtree near Colchester in Essex and some of the band are also in SuperGlu, whose lineup is Ben Brown (vocals/guitar), Alex Brown (lead guitar), Krista Lynch (bass) and Ben Ward (drums). They played The Hope & Ruin last October – read our review HERE.
This evening Dingus Khan performed ten tunes and are superbly summed up by one of their fans as “sounds like drunken pub karaoke shouted over a jam session from the cast of Stomp – if this is appealing to you, you probably don’t deserve ears.” They certainly have that loose collective vibe and offered up singalong (footie) chants that anyone could easily pick up on. This was the case right from the off with ‘My Number’ and continued right through their set. A typical example being for ‘Ambulance’, “phone, phone, phone me an ambulance” which was accompanied with a special dance, and more than a nod to The Fratellis ‘Chelsea Dagger’. This was only track three and already members of the audience were crowd surfing. They were seriously up for it and downstairs was buzzing.
‘Ambulance’ was followed by the four singers performing ‘’Hiahawayhay’ and it got even more lively! We were informed that it was band member Josh Court’s birthday and a large blue tarpaulin sheet was thrust into the crowd to wave above their heads. SuperGlu’s Krista (the only girl in amongst seven lads) was all for abandoning her bass and post and moshing with the crowd or standing at the back on a large box. This was a massively more lively performance from her than the one I had witnessed with SuperGlu only four months ago.
Dingus Khan previewed a new song ‘Hard Rain’ as their penultimate number and ended with ‘Made A List’ and at 10:48pm they were all done. No encore, just tons of contented and sweaty punters covered in beer and the like. If you are possibly feeling a bit down, then this band will most certainly inject some positive vibes.
Dingus Khan setlist:
‘My Number’, ‘Kid At My School’, ‘Ambulance’, ’Hiahawayhay’, ‘Bag For Life’, ‘Knifey/Spoony’, ‘Feeling Violent’, ‘My New Hat’, ‘Hard Rain’ and ‘Made A List’.
As you can see from above, track eight of ten was ‘My New Hat’ which has since been released as a single. It came out in April 2023 and can be heard HERE. Their older material can be located HERE.
Now is your chance to witness Dingus Khan do their thing, as today they have announced a select 6-date October tour titled ‘Flat Earth Is Real’. They kick things off in Norwich on Saturday 7th, before heading off a few days later to Reading on the 12th and London on 13th. Cambridge is their choice on 19th, and then they conclude their jaunt with visits to Southampton on 26th and here in Brighton on Friday 27th, when they will be rockin’ on up to the Green Door Store.
Tickets for this Brighton gig can be purchased HERE. Tickets for all Dingus Khan concerts can be purchased HERE.
More on Dingus Khan can be found HERE and HERE.
