Nothing ‘Deadweight’ about Seadog’s new single launch show at The Rossi Bar

Seadog at The Rossi Bar, Brighton 22.8.23 (pic Peter Greenfield)

SEADOG + FACES ON LEAVES + GREENNESS – THE ROSSI BAR, BRIGHTON 22.8.23

Seadog
Brighton’s Seadog promoted the release of their ‘Deadweights’ single with a launch show at The Rossi Bar in Queen’s Road, Brighton (in association with promoters Melting Vinyl) on Tuesday. Released on Austerity Records, ‘Deadweights’ is taken from their forthcoming album ‘Internal Noise’ and there was a limited edition clear 7″ lathe cut vinyl available exclusively at this show!

Seadog are Mark Benton on guitar and Tom Chadd on keyboards. They were joined for the live show by a bassist, Martin, and drummer, Sam (who was introduced as “Mr Sam”). Being a four-piece band meant it was a very crowded stage in the basement of The Rossi Bar. There was a decent sized crowd in to see the band too.

Seadog started their set with ‘Old Joe’ which had a catchy tune and a dreamy Americana feel, followed by ‘Foolhardy’. Then came the new single ‘Deadweights’ being promoted that evening. Tom teased “It may be on our new album”. The song had a very good ethereal dream pop sound with great keyboards. It had a good upbeat sound for a song called ‘Deadweights’. It certainly went down well with the audience judging by the large cheer it got.

The pace slowed for ‘How We Lost Our Minds’ which is a ballad. This started as a solo with Mark on vocals with just his guitar as accompaniment with the rest of the band joining mid-song. We were treated to a new song, ‘At War’, which was about social media. This was a quicker tempo and one of my highlights of the set. Mark commented that it was “strange playing a small venue where I can see everyone’s faces”. The small venue of The Rossi Bar helped add to the friendly party atmosphere of the launch event. The evening had something of a family and friends feel about it.

The band dedicated the first single from their forthcoming album ‘Internal Noise’, ‘Tidal Wave’ to the team at their record label Austerity. This had a very good instrumental break, which showcased the harmony between Mark’s guitar and Tom’s keyboard and gadgets (as Mark referred to them in his band introductions). This was a key feature throughout the performance. Explaining “If we’ve time we’ll go straight on with the final song rather than an encore”, Seadog closed with ‘Subside’ from the 2015 ‘Transmitter’ EP. This was the loudest song of their set and the evening, but not out of place and a good choice to end a good evening’s entertainment.

Seadog:
Mark Benton – vocals and guitar
Tom Chadd – keyboards
Martin – bass and backing vocals
Sam – drums

Seadog setlist:
‘Old Joe’
‘Foolhardy’
‘Deadweights’
’Tied To A Mast’
‘How We Lost Our Minds’
‘At War’
‘Here Nor There’
‘Tidal Wave’
‘Subside’

seadogmusic.com
linktr.ee/seadogmusic

Greenness

Opening the evening’s entertainment was Greenness, the musical project of French singer-songwriter Cess Frangi and English producer and composer Graham Pratt. Vocalist Cess explained that Greenness sometimes performs as a full band, but for Tuesday at The Rossi Bar, they were a duo with Cess on vocals and Graham on guitar. She also announced that their set was to be all unreleased songs, as they were trying out new material.

Greenness opened with ‘Meet Me Where The Grass Grows High’ and then ‘The Apple’, the latter about forbidden fruits. Both songs had a folk sound. From the very start Cess’s exquisite, yet powerful voice was something special.

For the next song, ‘Psychopomps’, Graham swapped his acoustic guitar for an electric one, as Cess explained it was “more of a rock song”. Not the heavy rock music championed by the likes of Tommy Vance. It was a good contrast to the first two songs. If you’re wondering, it was explained that Psychopomps are mythical creatures, who escort newly deceased souls to the afterlife. As Cess joked “Not a great job”. ‘Telephone’ was a bilingual song with Cess singing part of it in French. It was a sad song about a woman alone in a bar looking at phone for a message that never comes. There was nothing sad about Greenness’s performance.

On both acoustic and electric guitar Graham provides some very good intricate guitar playing. He gave the right level of support, neither overshadowing nor being in the background to Cess’s singing. Their final song, ‘Swells’ further showcased the full range and quality of Cess’s voice, being beautiful and full of emotion in its delivery, from quieter parts to almost shouting out the lyrics. Greenness gave a quality, varied performance as a duo. Based on their set of new material, they are a band with a bright future. You can catch Greenness with their full band when they play Latest Bar in Brighton on 1st November. (The ticket details haven’t been announced yet.)

Greenness:
Cess Frangi – vocals
Graham Pratt – guitar

Greenness setlist:
‘Meet Me Where The Grass Grows High’
‘The Apple’
‘Psychopomps’
‘Meltdown’
‘Telephone’
‘Swells’

www.greennessmusic.com
linktr.ee/greennessmusic

Faces On Leaves

The second band on was Faces On Leaves, the songwriting and recording project of James William Murray and Alexander Taplin. Formed in Brighton, during the summer of 2020, Faces On Leaves was loosely inspired by Shakespeare’s ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and explores themes of dreams, desire, and longing.

Between the two of them, they played electric guitar, keyboards, ukulele and a drum kit comprising of a floor tom drum and cymbal. They frequently swapped instruments and positions on stage throughout their set.

The band describe themselves as “Hypnotic low-fi indie for those who enjoy the darker side of life”. I thought their sound was very folky, almost mediaeval, monastic and very haunting.

During their set they previewed new songs from their forthcoming second album, the title track ‘Tower Of Jewels’ and ‘I Could Give You More’. During their set they explained that they got the band’s name from their song ‘Athens 1020’ and that ‘Black Rock’ was about their favourite part of the city.