‘VARIOUS ARTISTS’ – ‘HOMEGROWN FESTIVAL’, ‘VARIOUS VENUES’, BRIGHTON 13.4.24
The brand new one day ‘Homegrown Festival’ took place last Saturday (13th April) with no less than 51 artists split across 6 grassroots music venues and up until now, Brighton hasn’t had a Multi Venue Festival that celebrates JUST the local scene!
The ‘Homegrown Festival’ has successfully come together via a small group of local venues who set up Music Venues Alliance Brighton. The group was formed to help all the grassroots music venues (GMV’s) in the city deal with the unique issues that they face as live music spaces. Music Venues Alliance Brighton (MVAB) has been able to help a number of grassroots music venues fight off planning applications, by offering advice and support with contacting the right people quickly and helping to mount campaigns. This has certainly been really helpful with all the venues working together and benefitting from the results. The six venues participating in the inaugural ‘Homegrown Festival’ are Green Door Store, The Hope & Ruin, The Prince Albert, The Rossi Bar, The Pipeline, and The Folklore Rooms.
With tickets priced to sell it came as no surprise to our team that this exciting new event sold out its allocation and the lucky punters started planning their day. The first band were on stage at 2:45pm and the last act finished at 1:30am, so it was full on for everyone concerned. With our individual plans our team set to cover as many of the 51 acts performing as possible, whether it be just to photograph them in action or to review them as well. We therefore gave it our best shot and so without further ado, here’s our guide to the ‘Homegrown Festival’ with acts shown in performance time sequence:
1. EVERYDAY SAINTS – The Rossi Bar 2:45pm – 3:15pm
2. MINDFRAME – Green Door Store 3:00pm – 3:30pm
3. TRIP WESTERNS – The Pipeline 3:00pm – 3:30pm
4. SOFT TOP – The Hope & Ruin 3:15pm – 3:45pm
5. BABY GEM – The Folklore Rooms 3:30pm – 4:00pm
6. DIRTSHARKS – The Prince Albert 3:30pm – 4:00pm
7. COWZ – The Rossi Bar 3:45pm – 4:15pm
8. MAXIMILIAN – The Pipeline 4:00pm – 4:30pm
9. REALLY BIG REALLY CLEVER – Green Door Store 4:00pm – 4:30pm
10. VAN ZON – The Hope & Ruin 4:15pm – 4:45pm
11. CRYSOMETIMES – The Prince Albert 4:30pm – 5:00pm
12. EVER ELYSIAN – The Folklore Rooms 4:30pm – 5:00pm
13. OPAL MAG – The Rossi Bar 4:45pm – 5:15pm
14. MOON IDLE – Green Door Store 5:00pm – 5:30pm
15. WIMP – The Pipeline 5:00pm – 5:30pm
16. RAINY DAY CAFE – The Hope & Ruin 5:15pm – 5:45pm
17. MARTHA EVE – The Folklore Rooms 5:30pm – 6:00pm
18. RIFF RAFF – The Prince Albert 5:30pm – 6:00pm
19. DUMFUN – The Rossi Bar 5:45pm – 6:15pm
20. COMPLETE SNAKE – The Pipeline 6:00pm – 6:30pm
21. HUTCH – Green Door Store 6:00pm – 6:30pm
22. CORDELIA GARTSIDE – The Hope & Ruin 6:15pm – 6:45pm
23. DUSKHOUSE – The Folklore Rooms 6:30pm – 7:00pm
24. FRANK & BEANS – The Prince Albert 6:30pm – 7:00pm
25. PROM – The Rossi Bar 6:45pm – 7:15pm
26. GEORGIE MOON – The Pipeline 7:00pm – 7:30pm
27. JAR OF BLIND FLIES – Green Door Store 7:00pm – 7:30pm
28. YOUNG FRANCIS HI FI – The Hope & Ruin 7:15pm – 7:45pm
29. VASCHA – The Prince Albert 7:30pm – 8:00pm
30. WOODY GREEN – The Folklore Rooms 7:30pm – 8:00pm
31. QUAKING ASPENS – The Rossi Bar 7:45pm – 8:15pm
32. CITY DOG – Green Door Store 8:00pm – 8:30pm
33. SAFE NATH – The Pipeline 8:00pm – 8:30pm
34. HOW LONG YOU BEEN DRIVING – The Hope & Ruin 8:15pm – 8:45pm
35. LEIBNIZ – The Prince Albert 8:30pm – 9:00pm
36. NIERRA CREEK – The Folklore Rooms 8:30pm – 9:00pm
37. JACKO HOOPER – The Rossi Bar 8:45pm – 9:15pm
38. LADYLIKE – The Pipeline 9:00pm – 9:30pm
39. EPSOM SALTS – The Hope & Ruin 9:15pm – 9:45pm
40. THE WYTCHES – Green Door Store 9:15pm – 10:00pm
41. GLASSHOUSE RED SPIDER MITE – The Folklore Rooms 9:30pm – 10:00pm
42. H_NGM_N – The Prince Albert 9:30pm – 10:00pm
43. HARPER – The Rossi Bar 9:45pm – 10:15pm
44. CANNED PINEAPPLE – The Pipeline 10:00pm – 10:45pm
45. CURRLS – The Hope & Ruin 10:15pm – 10:45pm
46. ELLIS_D – The Folklore Rooms 10:30pm – 11:15pm
47. GAFFA TAPE SANDY – The Prince Albert 10:30pm – 11:15pm
48. HYPSOLINE – The Rossi Bar 10:45pm – 11:15pm
49. CLT DRP – The Hope & Ruin 11:15pm – 12:00am
50. IDEAL LIVING – The Rossi Bar 11:45pm – 12:15am
51. FLIP TOP HEAD – The Rossi Bar 12:45am – 1:30am
EVERYDAY SAINTS
The Rossi Bar 2:45pm – 3:15pm
The honour of the first band of the day went to Everyday Saints and what an opener to an awesome day it was. Talking of firsts, it was my first time frequenting The Rossi Bar and with a capacity of just 60 in their basement, it came as no surprise that it filled up fast. I had been keen to catch the band, having recently seen them play the Hidden Herd all dayer back in March and I was not going to be disappointed today by making sure I was first in line to get in. Lead vocalist Pip Rainbird welcomed us all to the festival as the band launched into ‘Salem’, the first of a short 23 minute, seven song set. What with limited space on the stage, the band opted to forgo using the drum kit and use a drum machine, however drummer James still had plenty to do as he perched on a wooden box that he slapped with his left hand whilst his right hand had a drumstick for the plastic cowbell attached to the drum kit to his side, lest we forget the tambourine on his foot!
Despite the limited stage space, both Pip and Jade Middo both could continue their trademark stage theatrics and singing to each other. Jade’s harmonising and spooky 80s synth work was as ever magical. The bass and synth work adds so much to the vibe and the band’s music, I’ve said it before, but Gary Holder’s bass sound really echo’s that early Gary Numan, I could listen to that all day long. And as for Pip Rainbird, she has the most beautiful haunting voice, together the band really make the perfect mix of something eerie and dark, yet beautiful and dreamlike. They are fast becoming one of my favourite bands. The rest of the set was made up with ‘Guts And Glory’, ‘Soma’, ‘Rumspringa’, ‘She Said’, ‘Lake Of Fire’ and finally ‘Distress Yourself’.
If you want to catch the band in Brighton, they will be playing twice at The Hope & Ruin toward the end of April, they were a firm favourite for me for the day and I wholeheartedly urge you to go and check them out.
(Ben ‘Jerry’ Robinson)
MINDFRAME
Green Door Store 3:00pm – 3:30pm
So, my first jaunt across ‘Homegrown’ starts at Green Door Store with the tight nightmare that is Mindframe! I’ve caught these guys once before and remember feeling overwhelmed with joy at the sounds of experimental rock that blended dissonant guitars and odd time signatures with panic-stricken vocals and tight musicianship. This 3pm performance was no exception to my previous experience as the trio certainly delivered to the packed out venue with many heads bobbing and arms waving in connectivity to the angular math rock soundscape. Anyone who knows me will know I’m a sucker for polyrhythms, so the denim overall-donning lads are already one up on my musical appreciation deal. Experimental tendencies aside, the group have a clear direction on song structures and an exceptional grasp of dynamic control that lasts for the whole half hour. Mindframe also seems to have garnered a clique of fans that hibernated at the front row for the entire performance, celebrating every nook and cranny of the jigsaw puzzle-shaped songs the boys had to offer. If you’re looking for experimental math rock with compelling song structures and matching outfits, then these guys are the ones for you!
(Christian Le Surf)
BABY GEM
The Folklore Rooms 3:30pm – 4:00pm
Baby Gem are a five piece and remind me of a heavier version of The Band. They have a very definite early to mid 1970s vibe about them. I notice that they don’t have any setlists on the stage. Just as I’m thinking that, they say that they were going to change the setlist tonight, but they forgot! Therefore they’re just going to “play the songs in the usual order”. Both guitarists play lead, but one of them, Tom (whose birthday it is today) plays some astonishingly good slide guitar as well. Their material is really impressive, Flowers Of Midnight being a particular stand-out. This is only the second time it’s been performed live, and that was when they played a stripped down set at this venue. The singer tells us that “this is the first rock ‘n’ roll” version. The song is actually quite slow and brooding, but it does have a certain power. Baby Gem have a keen sense of dynamics, which is amply demonstrated in this song. Another highlight is ‘To The Wolves’ which was written by the vocalist. It starts quietly and has a definite sense of foreboding, then BAM! It’s like a bomb going off. The vocals throughout are very haunting. Final song ‘Tiptoe’ features guitarist Fletch using an e-bow, and then there are dual lead guitars. I have to say that this band are a real find! If half of today’s artists are of this calibre, then it’s going to be a great festival!
(Mark Kelly)
TRIP WESTERNS
The Pipeline 3:00pm – 3:30pm
I kick off my ‘Homegrown Festival’ in the company of the Trip Westerns who have not surprisingly filled The Pipeline to full capacity this afternoon and entertain the crowd with their take with a lively mix of mid-20th century rock and R&B, intertwined with surf and psychedelia for their eight tune 31 minute performance. Trip Westerns were a very tight band which certainly benefited from having the talents of Ellis D on energetic drumming, including some striking short ‘n’ sweet drum solos. Lead vocalist Harrison has a good strong voice and a ‘Shotgun Willie’ t-shirt with cowboy hat and matching tash. From time to time he gets out his harmonica for added flavour. They play a newbie which Harrison informs us was penned about a dream he had about a friend he had, which was followed by another new track, this one was about sleepwalking. I see a pattern forming here! There were songs that reminded me of ‘(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone’ and ‘Misirlou’ and even Lou Reed at times as well. In all honesty I have to state that this afternoon they were considerably better than when I have seen them before.
(Nick Linazasoro)
SOFT TOP
The Hope & Ruin 3:15pm – 3:45pm
Sadly we didn’t have a reviewer present for this performance, but we have reviewed Soft Top before. One of these occasions was at last year’s ‘234 Fest’ at the Green Door Store on 23rd September. You can read the account of that day HERE.
DIRTSHARKS
The Prince Albert 3:30pm – 4:00pm
The princes of Brighton’s indie rock scene, Dirtsharks have been powering from strength to strength with a thunderous sound of shoegaze guitars and emotional vocal performances from frontman and guitarist Aidan Moran. I’ve only had the pleasure of catching these guys once before a long while ago with a stand-in drummer, so now it’s a thrill to see them in full form to a full-capacity Prince Albert! In this half hour set, there’s a steady flow of weighty guitar textures and heart-wrenching chord progressions that carry the band into indie rock fruition. Let’s also not forget the violins! Aidan, along with brother Brendan, virtuosically whisk their way through a couple moments in the set with reverb-heavy violin sections that evoke thoughts of post-rock bands such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor. There’s occasional dream pop elements to the band too, which come through heavily on the song ‘Wasting Time’ with its melting guitar lines and euphoric vocals from the Moran brothers. The emotional weight that this band’s music carries is extremely potent – it will evoke feelings and memories of experiences you haven’t even encountered, but yet you can feel so much warmth and despondent emotion through Aidan’s tense, screeching textures and solemn songwriting!
(Christian Le Surf)
COWZ
The Rossi Bar 3:45pm – 4:15pm
COWZ were second on stage at The Rossi Bar. They were a new group to me, and not one I’d had a chance to check out in advance, so I was looking forward to being surprised. COWZ are a duo formed of Saga & Tasha, both who tag team on vocals, there was no backing band and the duo used a laptop for the backing track. They went straight in with their early 2024 single ‘Domination’ followed by last December’s debut single ‘Most Fun In Ages’, both which were fun punchy numbers, dancey, but with playful lyrics. Next up was their new single ‘Rosalie’, this only came out on 11th April, they introduced this song as being based on them both been on Team Rosalie from the Twilight Saga “because she turned into a Vampire and then killed her fiancé whilst wearing her wedding dress” this one was a little slower paced, quite brooding, but it built and built showcasing their variety of vocal styles. The rest of the songs from the 22 minute set were ‘Bad News’, ‘Elephant’, ‘La La Like You’ and ‘Psychos’.
COWZ were utterly engaging, both always on the move and animated, some fab synchronised dancing, they were are a real breath of fresh air, a real unique and fun musical pleasure, I was looking to be surprised and I was not let down, their debut EP ‘That’s Cute! Baby’ is out’ is out in May and you can go and check them out when they play at The Hope & Ruin, Brighton on the 1st May.
(Ben ‘Jerry’ Robinson)
MAXIMILIAN
The Pipeline 4:00pm – 4:30pm
For my next half hour I’m in the company of Brighton resident, singer and guitarist Maximilian Feighan who sometimes plays solo and other times with a band, today we have a three piece set up including a drummer Jamie and Sammy on bass. Their material had a stripped down acoustic indie-folk vibe like that of DG Solaris (fka Laish) and the feeling is of a lazy Sunday afternoon’s music. Maximilian was plugging his debut 10 track ‘Surrender’ long-player which dropped on 28th March and was followed by an album launch show at Fabrica in Duke Street on the 4th April. Recent single ‘Kill Time’ had an outing and reminded me of the quietest songs from Nirvana as well as Radiohead. Although the new LP has just dropped, we were served an even newer unrecorded number as well which made great use of vocal harmonies. After this they played another new one which we are told is about “love and gratitude”, which was an ongoing joke throughout the rest of the set whilst Maximilian retuned his guitar. They signed off with fan favourite ‘Red Wine’ and then the album title track, ‘Surrender’. This performance was to be the calm before the (next set) storm.
(Nick Linazasoro)
REALLY BIG REALLY CLEVER
Green Door Store 4:00pm – 4:30pm
Really Big Really Clever came in fast with, ‘It’s Changed’, the first track on their self-titled ‘23 album. The lyrics of the song served to highlight and underscore Jared Tomkins and Jordan Lilford’s split from their former band ‘Gender Roles’. Completing the new formation are Sam Perkins (drums) and Chris Childs (bass). Once set up, Tomkins uttered the first of many firstly weary, then ironic, but always wry and humorous outbursts of “What a day!” so frequently after each track that the audience began to take it on as a catchphrase. The quartet formed in ‘22 hammered out fast paced guitar heavy songs encompassing themes of self-doubt, uncertainty, and self-help. They thundered through a relentless set giving the audience little time to catch a breath. Most of the songs played during their set were from their self-titled album, with a few extra songs thrown in for good measure.
The contemplative lyricism comes delivered with a wry sense of humour, one song title, ‘Smells Like Lynx Africa’ (not played on the day) giving a nod to the obvious Nirvana influence. The self-described ‘Brighton Indie Punks’ delivered taught, lean, fierce, short punchy tracks. Charismatic, and fun to watch this quartet are well worth checking out at your first opportunity.
(Jess Kemp)
VAN ZON
The Hope & Ruin 4:15pm – 4:45pm
My first new experience of the festival came in the form of Van Zon, a quintet of talented instrumentalists blending elements of free folk, post-rock and experimental music. Right from the get go, I’m bewildered at the band’s left-bent approach to songwriting and composition the likes of caroline and Black Country New Road could dream of! Their music is meditative, compelling and beautifully arranged with an assortment of Daniel Scott-Warren’s clarinet, Mina Alexander’s violin, mandolin and operatic vocals, and Charlie West’s and dissonant guitar passages abound at The Hope and Ruin! Backed also by bassist/co-vocalist Lottie Skala and drummer Ewan Vellinga, the band culminate a wonderful array of sound into a voice of their own! There are some real cinematic dynamic qualities of the band that captivate the crowd, such as their tight grasp of tension building and monolithic song progressions that reminds me a lot of folk artist Richard Dawson and Canadian post-rockers A Silver Mt. Zion. The vocal arrangements though? They’re out of this world. Seriously. The flexible vocal duties between Charlie, Lottie and Mina balance choral music, folk harmonies and a strong communal warmth that grasps the soul, firmly, but kindly.
(Christian Le Surf)
CRYSOMETIMES
The Prince Albert 4:30pm – 5:00pm
Is ‘post-pop’ a thing? I can’t be bothered to look it up because I’m sure it is… and if I did the Google thing I’m pretty sure that crysometimes would appear as a top hit. There’s something very 90s about these songs … clearly defined and sugar coated with a mildly bitter-sweet centre… sort of like a sherbet lemon turned inside out. Three accomplished girls up front with a guy pounding the skins with finesse… it’s a great formula! Setlist: ‘Hot Boyfriend’, ‘Easier Said’, ‘R U Bored’, ‘Slipway’ ‘Hot n Cold’, ‘Tell Me’, and ‘Something Famous’.
(John Bownas)
EVER ELYSIAN
The Folklore Rooms 4:30pm – 5:00pm
Ever Elysian appear to be a six piece, but they’re actually a seven piece, only drummer Brandon Lawton is unavailable today. So onstage we have Anya Marsland on vocals, Toby Mason on guitar, a bassist whose name I am unaware of, Will Hanco on acoustic guitar plus Lily Balmer and Zehra Guler on backing vocals. For many bands playing without their drummer would be an absolute no-go, but Ever Elysian take to it like a duck to water. Opener ‘Time Will Tell’ features gorgeous harmonies. Anya has a wonderfully rich voice. On ‘Under My Skin’ Toby Mason gets some exquisitely haunting sounds out of his guitar using his volume control. It sounds like a pedal steel. Ever Elysian’s music is beautiful. You could luxuriate in it. That’s not to say that their music is one dimensional. They’re another band with a fine sense of dynamics. ‘Fool In Love’ includes some slide guitar which mixed with volume control manipulation really does sound quite wonderful. On top of this Anya delivers some seemingly effortless vocal gymnastics. She’s more than just a vocalist: she’s a chanteuse. So, the second great band of the day. Who’s next?
(Mark Kelly)
OPAL MAG
The Rossi Bar 4:45pm – 5:15pm
OPAL MAG is the new solo venture for Frankie Stanley (formerly of Slant), she describes her sound as dreampop-slacker rock. We are now roughly 4 months down this new musical path and I wish I’d known earlier. I have heard good things over the course of this afternoon before the set and I feel like I am way too late to the party as we reach an enthusiastic capacity crowd. My notes at the end simply said “Wow, this is awesome”, what more can I add! This really was a brilliant set. Whilst Opal Mag is a solo project, Frankie was joined today by Austin Prichard (guitar), Jess Stretton (synth), Kel Cooke (bass) and Hannah Websdale (drums) to form a five piece, considering the band have only been going since December and line up can rotate, they were incredibly tight and did our ears proud.
I know today we are celebrating homegrown talent, but Opal Mag’s sound definitely is one that would translate well internationally. I could detect tinges of shoegaze in there, the magic of the synth, everything was layered perfectly to my ears, it really does have that dreamy vibe going on. Sadly, it was a short 23 minute set taking in the following seven songs; ‘Parking Fines’ ‘Take Away The Rain’, ‘Try Not To Hate Everything’, ‘Does It Have To Be So Hard?’, ‘Confusion State’, ‘I Don’t Like You, But I Love You’ and finally ‘Love To See You Shine’. It was the first time ‘Does It Have To Be So Hard’ got played resulting in a humorous false start, however I was lucky enough to have sneakily stayed downstairs for the soundcheck and so got to hear it twice, and what a song it was, probably my favourite of the set.
Opal Mag were right up there as one of the highlights of the day for me. If you like bands such as Momma, The Breeders, Slow Pulp, I think you are going to love Opal Mag. Now they are on my radar, I’ll 100% be going to their next Brighton gig. I expect nothing but good things for Opal Mag.
(Ben ‘Jerry’ Robinson)
MOON IDLE
Green Door Store 5:00pm – 5:30pm
Moon Idle’s diverse, captivating performance was one of my many highlights of the festival. This exciting new band combined elements of many genres including trip-hop, Latin-jazz and dream pop. Their music had an interesting experimental side. For example, their opening song, ‘Godzilla’ had bursts of industrial guitar noise, which wouldn’t have been out of place on a Just Mustard track. In contrast, the keyboards, on that and other songs, added an atmospheric feel.
Singer Quilla Robinson’s enchanting ethereal vocal was a striking feature of Moon Idle’s sound. At times she reminded me of Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval, especially on the quieter duet ‘Be Same’. Whereas at other times, her voice soared powerfully, such as on the louder ‘Make Up’.
Underpinning their various sounds was a quality rhythm section. Martin Eddington played some fine bass lines, especially on ‘Seed’, while Felix Burton on drums was refreshingly more prominent than most dream pop drummers.
Moon Idle were happy to let their music do the talking. They did introduce their final number ‘Delay Me’ as “something different” with its use of effects, dancier drum beat and Jasper Fergus’s rocky distorted guitar section. Above all this, Quilla’s haunting voice soared beautifully on this closing number. Definitely a band to watch out for, based on this showing.
(Peter Greenfield)
WIMP
The Pipeline 5:00pm – 5:30pm
After the relaxing set of Maximilian it was time to skate right across the music spectrum for (as far as I can recall) our debut encounter with Wimp, whose fan base this afternoon mainly appears to be made up of members of other like-minded outfits and thus The Pipeline is rammed. Operating the usual guitar and vox, drums, bass and vox, and guitar format, the guys briefly lured us all into a false sense of security with a quiet intro, before exploding into a loud, meaty head bobbing grunge tune and within a couple of minutes it was mosh central. Their second number was more punk than grunge and the sort of sound that one would normally hear booming out of the venue into the street down below. They informed us that they had hot-footed it from the Green Door Store having witnessed Mindframe in action (see that review above). Wimp’s vocal style is on the shouty side which is backed by rock solid music. They played a new song mid set which signalled ramping up to another level, based on this their future is looking bright. They have tons of energy and are certainly blowing any afternoon cobwebs away. Just when you thought it couldn’t happen, they got even faster and heavier, although the vocals stayed at the same slower pace. Their drummer took to the lead vocals on their final number, which he shared with the two guys at the front of the stage. During this track, it occurred to me that they should look to play the ‘Rebellion’ punk festival. Yep! Enjoyed this set.
www.instagram.com/simp_for_wimp/
(Nick Linazasoro)
RAINY DAY CAFE
The Hope & Ruin 5:15pm – 5:45pm
As Rainy Day Cafe take the stage I notice a familiar face on bass – it’s Jack from Currls, and yes, his performance with Rainy Day Cafe is every bit as energetic as his performance with Currls will be later tonight. Rainy Day Cafe is the project of guitarist and singer Ben Williams. As far as I’m aware he doesn’t have a regular band, not that you’d realise that by seeing the band onstage. They’re certainly well drilled. They deal in fast, jangly but powerful indie, and are not a million miles away from the early Housemartins. The songs are tuneful and concise. I doubt if anything in their set is more than two minutes long. The songs arrive, make their point, and finish. Guitar solos are brief and to the point. There is no noodling. These songs are fat free. ‘Boy’ is a slower song, which rather unexpectedly features a shred-tastic guitar solo to finish. This band really are a breath of fresh air, and the third ‘find’ of the day for me.
(Mark Kelly)
MARTHA EVE
The Folklore Rooms 5:30pm – 6:00pm
Unfortunately we didn’t have a reviewer at this performance and hope to rectify this next time around.
RIFF RAFF
The Prince Albert 5:30pm – 6:00pm
Next up for me is the blazer-layered five-piece Riff Raff at The Prince Albert. Another band for me that I only know by name, these guys play around with a distinctive blend of various progressive and indie styles with an emphasis on rhythm and storytelling. There’s a nightmarish quality to the band that comes through in their unique sound play of furious bass and drum patterns, dissonant violins for the lead singer to nonchalantly charge their way through! Their vocal techniques stretch across vulnerable melodies and screamed passages that tear at the soul. The core instrumentalists, however, are locked within a total grasp of synchronicity and propulsion most bands would only dream of achieving. Some songs in the set are slow and meditative, while some are furious and hell-bent avant-punk tornadoes, twisting and turning their way through the sardine-packed Prince Albert. Now when I say furious, I mean furious, as in lead-singer-creating-her-own-mosh-pit furious after spending the intro to one song perched atop the bar with a megaphone in hand. These guys are definitely one to watch out for… expect nightmares, expect self-inflicting poetry, expect tight musicianship, expect Riff Raff.
(Christian Le Surf)
DUMFUN
The Rossi Bar 5:45pm – 6:15pm
The Rossi Bar was fairly packed with an expectant crowd for the alt-rock DUMFUN. They weren’t to be disappointed, with a typically lively loud set with grungy sounds from the opening number ‘Sun’. Singer and guitarist Conah White summed their set up perfectly early on saying “Loud noises, that’s what we’re here for”. Those loud noises were very tight with Sophie Douglas’s thumping bass lines and Jed Johnson’s frenetic drums. Amongst the noise, ‘Wait’ had a haunting introduction and ‘You’ was softer in parts. Conah introduced ‘You’ as “A love song for the amazing bands, those working [at the festival] and you [the crowd]”. ‘Alone’, their newest release, had an early Pixies feel. DUMFUN closed with ‘Death Warmed Up’, and it’s fair to say their exciting set certainly warmed up the crowd.
(Peter Greenfield)
COMPLETE SNAKE
The Pipeline 6:00pm – 6:30pm
After my debut encounter with Wimp, things suddenly raced off the music spectrum with the arrival of Complete Snake, a name new to me. It looks as though they are Brighton based via Australia and their ranks have included Idris Mirza on growls and guitar, Oliver Smart on drums, Richard Reyes on bass and Alfie Williams completes the lineup on guitar. I’m going to stick my head out here and label them as ‘Noisecore’ which is a genre supposedly hated by 99.99% of the world, although their Bandcamp page refers to them as ‘Metalcore’. Cast your mind back to the famous opening number from ‘Brits 92’ where The KLF were booked to perform their mega ‘3am Eternal’ hit single for the world to watch on their TV’s, but Bill Drummond (alias King Boy D) and Jimmy Cauty (alias Rockman Rock) had other ideas of entertaining the millions and they called on the assistance of Extreme Noise Terror to accompany them, and that’s the sound we are served this tea-time. Everything’s at warp factor 12, except the drummer’s left foot which is a blur at warp factor 30. We are told they have a new album out, and I’m guessing that it either has a load of tracks on it or doesn’t last very long. However, having stated that, their final number today was quite a lengthy one. If you crave music (in inverted commas) that is the polar opposite to Celine Dion and want to drive your parents mad by then screaming “Turn that crap off!”, then Complete Snake are for you! Nuff said!
www.instagram.com/completesnake/
(Nick Linazasoro)
HUTCH
Green Door Store 6:00pm – 6:30pm
Hutch, the quintet from Brighton is made up of Jack Pritchard (vocals + guitar), Dan Shepherd (vocals + guitar), Charlie Bogg (vocals + bass), Owen Bullock (vocals + drums) and Eva Lunny (harp, who was not in evidence on the day). They were the second departure from hard rock of the day after ‘Moon Idle’ offering a mid-program palate cleanse. Self-described as, “Twang, Pop, Post-Yacht-Rock, soft Psych” they formed after lockdown. Becoming regulars of Brighton’s music scene from ‘21 onwards they travelled deftly between wistful shoegazer vocal delivery a la Tim Burgess and ‘vintage-core’ revival instrumentalization. Bands that came to mind were ‘the Bees,’ and ‘The Aliens’ delivered with a dash of ‘Shearwater,’ perfect for a blissed-out dance around. They deftly conjure up the wistful and hazy days of summer. Acknowledging frequent comparisons to the Beatles (though I would suggest more of a post Beatles George Harrison would be a better fit or a hybrid of ‘The Beatles’ and ‘The Monkees.’) The band played ‘Day Tripper’ during the soundcheck. Their set featured beautiful retro compositions, collectively and individually they are very accomplished musicians. Two audience members next to me commented that the set felt very “retro ‘60s hippy” to them. The lyrical subject matter included snails, rainbows, mechanical bulls, ice on lakes and most unexpectedly Radiator’s. Pritchard takes the lead and sets the tone of the delivery thanking the audience frequently and effusively, with comments like “Thank you so much Green Door this is super fun!”.
Knowing their audience well the band delivered local favourite’s including ‘Radiator Store,’ ‘The Bow,’ and ‘Slowest Creature.’ My personal favourite among many standout tracks was ‘Ice On The Lake’, a perfect track to drift away in a reverie to. As we get closer to warmer weather ‘Hutch’ might well be the perfect soundtrack to your summer.
(Jess Kemp)
CORDELIA GARTSIDE
The Hope & Ruin 6:15pm – 6:45pm
Sometimes it’s just not good enough to have preconceived ideas about an artist. All the music I’d heard by Cordelia Gartside featured her singing with an acoustic guitar. But wait! As she takes the stage at The Hope & Ruin she is accompanied by a band! In addition to herself on electric guitar, she has a lead guitarist, a bassist and a drummer. Yes – a proper band!!! Not only that, her lead guitarist (who I believe is called Amy) is playing a PRS, which is the kind of guitar that only serious guitarists play, and as Amy shows in pretty short order, she is a serious guitarist. Cordelia is another great singer, extraordinary in fact. Her songs are grungy and emotional, with Amy unleashing peaks of crystalline notes throughout the set. Cordelia and her band remind me of Heartworms, but without the gothic overtones. Each song has a character of its own. You can tell that the songs are related, but they in no way sound the same. ‘Tonal’ is one of Cordelia’s newer songs that she has written as a ‘band’ song. It has quite a few time signature changes and reminds me of Throwing Muses, Belly and The Breeders. She should be on 4AD! ‘Hospital Corners’ is the last song. Cordelia tells us that after it finishes they’re “just going to run away”!!! Tellingly, throughout the set the audience don’t make a sound while the band is playing. I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but Cordelia is another ‘find’!
(Mark Kelly)
DUSKHOUSE
The Folklore Rooms 6:30pm – 7:00pm
Ah, the luscious and enigmatic Duskhouse! Out of all the acts I’ve covered for this festival, these guys have been floating in my radar more times than I dare to remember. I distinctly remember the band’s formation over three years ago and trying to find the time to see them live, but alas, it took until 6:30 at the Folklore Rooms to see what they’re like…! Put simply, they did not disappoint. A folk collective at heart, the core quartet infuse rustic indie tendencies with textures such as group harmonies and effect-heavy distorted guitar for a soundscape that is universally admirable. Lead vocalist Lily Balmer commands the stage with partner in crime guitarist James Bowden and their two backing vocalists Zehra Guler and Georgia Estelle as they journey through lovelorn folk balladry. Of course, the one-two combination of Hank Mardukas and Moon Idle’s Martin Eddington on drums and bass guitar are just as essential complimenting each other nicely. There are various pools of artists I could compare Duskhouse to in sound, namely Fleet Foxes and Joni Mitchell, but the group have a wonderfully unique voice of their own that deserves a lot more passing ears to take in.
(Christian Le Surf)
FRANK & BEANS
The Prince Albert 6:30pm – 7:00pm
The drummer takes off his shoes and there’s a team hug as Frank and Beans take to the stage…for a blistering two-piece aural attack. It’s like the cool guy from marketing recruited his best nerdy ‘top button buttoned’ mate from accounts (who was best able to count those drum beats to precision on a special spreadsheet) and they formed a sonic sledgehammer of a band in a late night staff room soirée…it’s tribal, it’s exciting, and with a massive light show it could cross into clubland with that throbbing bassline that’s comes in out of nowhere as the guitar and drums compete for supremacy…
(John Bownas)
PROM
The Rossi Bar 6:45pm – 7:15pm
Fifth on The Rossi Bar lineup are Brighton emotional-hardcore band PROM, who only half an hour before had been moshing around at the front to the fourth band on the line up DumFun. Could this be the theme for what is to come, an eager fan told me as the band made it on the stage that anything goes and to be prepared. Lead vocalist and guitarist Alessandro Cogolo echoed these sentiments with a pre-show warning to the audience “Some rules first, be cautious, anyone with a camera or drink standing at the front, be careful as someone potentially will jump onto you and brake something, anyone that wants to stage dive, move, hurt each other, get down to the front and do it….you have all been warned” and with they burst into a snippet of a Foo Fighters ‘Times Like These’ before embarking on a fast paced 6 song set. Asking Alessandro afterwards what the songs were, he said they are all new and unreleased; he thought they’d play them to mix things up a bit, but they will be out on an album in 2025. The songs were; ‘In To It’’, ‘Mexagonal Shape Of Anxiety’, ‘From The Wayside’, ‘Joy Is….’, ‘Two Empty’ and ‘Publice Place’.
The set was a blistering 17 minutes long, a band with tones of energy and spirit for sure, there is no reason why anyone would not want to jump around and go crazy to this, with Sam Allen utterly powering those drums throughout and Jack Smith’s thumping bass and backing vocals, it was a real powder keg of explosive sound. True to form the crowd by the end were full on moshing and leaping about, this had been a first time for me seeing the band, but it won’t be the last, go catch them and make sure you are wearing your mosh pit boots.
(Ben ‘Jerry’ Robinson)
GEORGIE MOON
The Pipeline 7:00pm – 7:30pm
With my ears still ringing from Complete Snake’s set, I remain at The Pipeline for the delights of Brighton based Georgie Moon who is a singer and songwriter from a small village in Hampshire. Today, her influences range from Amy Winehouse, Joy Crookes, Olivia Dean, Pip Millett to Cleo Sol. We are informed that Georgie will be bringing some “Neo soul to the punk Pipeline”. We are given a short but sweet six song set, with Georgie on vocals and her chum on guitar. They open with a tune titled ‘Vital Signs’ which was a single from last year and it’s immediately apparent that Georgie has a lovely voice, one which has an American twang to it. She follows this with her latest single ‘2017’ which dropped back in January and this guitar reminds me of ‘The Girl From Ipanema’. Selection three is called ‘Japan’ and is about long-distance relationships and then the other party falling in love with someone else. It’s a sad song, but we are assured the rest of the set would be happy ones. Tune four we are told will be with us soon, after which we get a Joy Crookes cover, this being ‘Mother May I Sleep With Danger?’. They signed off their 24 minute set with ‘Sit Tight’.
(Nick Linazasoro)
JAR OF BLIND FLIES
Green Door Store 7:00pm – 7:30pm
Jar Of Blind Flies, a grungy alt-rock three-piece, were straight out of the blocks with their opening song ‘Not Your Baby’. A wild mosh pit formed almost as soon as the first song started. The shared vocal on this track between drummer Marley’s trash metal screaming and guitarist and vocalists Maddy’s singing style, worked well. There was a goth darkness to Maddy’s voice. Maddy put down her guitar for the darker ‘Angels’, which she sang often crouched or kneeling on the stage floor. Her soaring vocals shone on this track in particular, especially the way she held the long notes.
Unfortunately, there was an altercation in the over-enthusiastic mosh pit. This was totally out of keeping for the festival. Its friendly atmosphere was as much a feature of the day as the great music. Drummer Marley rightly stopped the set, calling out this unacceptable behaviour. He declared “We’ve not got time for that shit. People are here to be themselves.”, as he told the perpetrator to leave. Order restored, Jar of Blind Flies closed a dynamic set with ‘Crawl Back Inside’, the fastest song of their energetic set.
(Peter Greenfield))
YOUNG FRANCIS HI FI
The Hope & Ruin 7:15pm – 7:45pm
Thrashing into the golden hour is Young Francis Hi Fi, a self-described bubblegum punk band that is vastly obtuse compared to all the acts I’ve covered so far…! Sonically, there’s a conventional line-up of bass, drums and a lead vocalist sandwiched in between two electric guitars. So, what makes Young Francis Hi Fi a different and original band? Well, the energy and confidence of the titular frontman Young Francis is certainly the highlight of the performance, with he, and his cohorts by the names of Jimi Dymond (guitar), Bobby Herz (bass) and Danny Joe Handsome (drums) each with their own personalised denim vest jackets, powering out a handful of 2-minute punkers that call back to the classic hard rock of the 1970s. From the speedclock drum grooves and electrifying guitar riffs, Young Francis Hi Fi certainly pull off a renaissance of a bygone rock age and twist their own spin of melodic bubblegum power! All in all, this band are a pretty fun moment in the ‘Homegrown’ canon that, while an outlier in my own musical taste, is still an exciting band to catch.
www.instagram.com/yyoungfrancis
(Christian Le Surf)
VASCHA
The Prince Albert 7:30pm – 8:00pm
Vive-la-trans… or should that be vive-la-trance? Vascha knocks out a beat-laden dance-track that definitely deserves a bigger, smokier, bassier venue than The Prince Albert… although this will do for now… techno, techno, techno is the order of the day, and it may be slightly weird… but it’s weird in a really fun way…. Pride Events will eat this up!!!
www.instagram.com/vaschavaschavascha/
(John Bownas)
WOODY GREEN
The Folklore Rooms 7:30pm – 8:00pm
Unfortunately we didn’t have a reviewer at this performance and hope to rectify this next time around.
QUAKING ASPENS
The Rossi Bar 7:45pm – 8:15pm
Quaking Aspens are a Brighton based duo who are half American, half English and were formed in Denmark. They both play lead guitar and tonight are joined live by a bassist and drummer. No names I’m afraid – they all seem to be bound by the Official Secrets Act, or something very similar. Their music is ethereal shoegaze influenced slowcore. For ‘Electric River’, which is quite early in the set, the vocals are a little indistinct. This is a pity as what I’m able to make out sounds really lovely. Any sound problems are soon sorted out however. One of the guitarists has a Bigsby tremolo on his Telecaster, which is something that I hadn’t seen before. ‘What You Need’ features both guitarists fingerpicking together with some beautiful harmonies. Apparently all of the songs played tonight will be released this year. I very much look forward to hearing the studio versions.
(Mark Kelly)
CITY DOG
Green Door Store 8:00pm – 8:30pm
The trio that make up City Dog are singer and guitarist Deri Bovaird, drummer Keelan Shepherd and bassist Jack Dewdney… now I’m no expert, but none of these three look particularly canine in physique to me. However, the music they bring to Brighton’s fair city contains a fury of a million wolves. These lads have enjoyed success through several singles and support alongside Buzzcocks and Bob Vylan over the past three years before arriving here at the ‘Homegrown Festival’. Through tense guitar riffs and angular grooves, City Dog set the Green Door Store on fire with their hard-hitting and relentless garage punk sound play. Underneath flashing red, blue and white lights sits Deri’s harsh shouting vocal performances that tear the room apart while Keelan and Jack blister their way through cascading drum rhythms and low and foreboding bass riffs. Even some of the slower songs in the set, like ‘From The Drain’ from their newly released self-titled EP pummel their way through the room and grow in dynamic stature, carrying a dark presence that only adds to their appearance.
(Christian Le Surf)
SAFE NATH
The Pipeline 8:00pm – 8:30pm
Unfortunately we didn’t have a reviewer at this performance and hope to rectify this next time around.
HOW LONG YOU BEEN DRIVING
The Hope & Ruin 8:15pm – 8:45pm
I managed to race over to The Hope & Ruin to see what was occurring, just managing to get through the door as the band were firing up. Spotting a big gap at the front I moved into what I thought was a position to spectate, not realising seconds later that it was to become a crazy mosh pit. Flipping heck, How Long You Been Driving doesn’t half make some noise. Described as “Brighton hardcore for da goofy kids”, they are some fine quality UK Metal hardcore that’s for sure. I have to admit, it’s not my usual go to music and I had no idea what I was in for, but my word this was full on insane fun and as raw as you can get. The band members from PROM who I’d seen earlier in the day were leading the charge in the mosh pit. Sadly I don’t know the names of the 4 band members, but the chainsaw-like bass sound was immense, there was no pause in the powerful flow from the drums or lead guitarist, let alone those screaming vocals that ripped right through you. The set was a good solid 30 minutes, at one point the lead singer not knowing how many were left as “he’d written out the set list in a rush” pushed on with more and more. The songs on that list that were played were, ‘Terrible Noiz’, ‘Sure To Question’, ‘Stone Cold Answer’, ‘Thinking While You Sleep’, ‘Consumption’, ‘Save Face’, ‘Grot Job’, ‘Big Boy’, ‘Party Song’, I am sure there were more, it was like a mega shot of adrenaline watching them play and soaking up crowds energy. If you want your own fix, they are next playing The Hope & Ruin, Brighton supporting Dead Kiwis on the 15th April and then Supporting WIMP at the Green Door Store on 1st May.
linktr.ee/howlongyoubeendriving
(Ben ‘Jerry’ Robinson)
LEIBNIZ
The Prince Albert 8:30pm – 9:00pm
Leibniz are a three piece consisting of Erin Lunn on guitar and vocals, Elishe McKay on drums and Jack Roberts on bass. They are purveyors of fast, screamy, growly punk metal with some utterly awesome lead guitar. They have a song about insults. No titles though. The guitar goes through a flanger pedal and the song starts off sounding quite ethereal, but the chorus is much heavier. Next up we get a song which is “kind of new-ish”, but again, no titles. Again the verses are slow and ethereal, whilst the chorus is heavier. I think that there may be a pattern developing here! They demand a mosh pit, and get one. It consists of three people, who to be fair to them, really go for it. The rest of the crowd are crushed up against the walls. This is what rock ‘n’ roll is all about!!! They have a song about gender, and tell us that it’s probably the last time that they’re going to play it, which is a pity because it’s really good! It features a bass solo and the drummer is all over his kit. Superb stuff!
(Mark Kelly)
NIERRA CREEK
The Folklore Rooms 8:30pm – 9:00pm
Sadly we didn’t have a reviewer present for this performance, but we have reviewed Nierra Creek at The Folklore Rooms before. This was on 19th December last year and you can read our account of that night HERE.
JACKO HOOPER
The Rossi Bar 8:45pm – 9:15pm
Jacko Hooper has been heralded in recent years as one of Brighton’s biggest folk heroes; notable for his bittersweet songwriting and distinctive vocal palette, he is strongly notable for his involvement in the creation of The Folklore Rooms, one of my favourite venues in the UK! The gentleman has been building up a solid catalogue of unique folk songs for the past twelve years, sitting inside his own personal bubble of introspection, heartbreak and a soulful, emotive performance that shines through strongly at The Rossi Bar. Backed by only his voice and his acoustic guitar, Jacko quietens the room into a lovelorn haze of reverberated vocals and rustic chords. Now, normally I’m not a fan of singers singing their songs in an accent or vocal inflection that’s not their own (with maybe an exception to XTC’s Andy Partridge), but Jacko twists his voice to such a pitch where it totally dissipates from his speaking voice, in a wonderfully powerful manner! In the space of one song, he transmutes his voice from curved vowels and growling demeanours to sombre and solemn murmurs that paint each song with beauty and wonder. Part of me even feels guilty that it took from my first Folklore Rooms performance in July until now to finally catch Jacko live, my humblest apologies!
(Christian Le Surf)
LADYLIKE
The Pipeline 9:00pm – 9:30pm
Sadly we didn’t have a reviewer present for this performance, but we have reviewed Ladylike twice last month, with the second time being at Chalk on 8th March and you can read our account of that night HERE.
EPSOM SALTS
The Hope & Ruin 9:15pm – 9:45pm
The last one on the roster for me is Epsom Salts, yet another band I’ve heard by name and not by nature, so to speak! The quartet of Shea Harding on vocals, Robin Marsh on drum, Kristian Floate on bass and Jake Reid on guitar come through at The Hope & Ruin with a demented and twisted exploration of all things noise, punk and hardcore, taking hold of the crowd by the necks from the opening track’s jerky drum groove and dissonant guitar tones. I’m hearing a lot of artists like IDLES and Model/Actriz come through in the band’s sound with a certain loose quality that gives them a homegrown charm (did you see what I did there?). Throughout the set, Shea virtually torments themself with despondent vocal screaming and body contortions while the remainder of the band take hold of angular song progressions for Shea to take platform on. When they’re not screaming however, Shea’s vocal delivery remains in a compelling and meditative state before devolving into dark territories, like on the song ‘Hangman’. The real star of the show for me is Jake Reid; his guitar textures are incredibly exciting as he turns his tones into decapitated patterns of noise that act as the main backbone of the music! Honestly, with music as strong as this, it’s a shame that when searching the band on Google, I get results for magnesium sulfate instead…! Oh yeah, and Riff Raff came down to mosh too!
(Christian Le Surf)
THE WYTCHES
Green Door Store 9:15pm – 10:00pm
In the break between the bands for swap over and soundcheck for the headliner the blackout curtains were drawn obscuring the view of The Wytches. This further added to the assembled crowd’s excitement for the main act. As soon as they were drawn back there was a rush for the stage, with the performance area filling rapidly in the bid to take up the best position. Formed in Peterborough in 2011 as with all but one of the bands performing at Green Door Store for Homegrown ‘Wytches’ are now Brighton based. The band arrived on stage as scheduled greeted by applause and effusive cheering from the audience. As Kristian Bell (lead vocals + guitar), Daniel Rumsey (bass guitar + backing vocals), Mark Breed (keyboards + guitar) and Demelza Mather (drums) readied themselves, I realised all the benches around me had people standing on them as there was no floor space available. The first song of the set ‘Maria’ comes from the 2023 album ‘Our Guest Can’t Be Named’ and starts with a slow rocking beat, the lead vocal following that of the musical composition, restrained initially then rising to become version of the rougher more strung out of Jack White’s solo vocal offerings. As the set went on the vocal leaned increasingly to the cracked, stretched, and insistent of Cobain’s vocals circa ‘Bleach’ era Nirvana. The set went on to deliver tracks from the 2023 album as well as some from 2014’s ‘Annabel Dream Reader’ and 2020’s ‘Three Mile Ditch’. Musically speaking there was a frequent feel of the ‘Cramps’, and on occasion Surf stylings. The second song ‘Gravedweller’ delivered the first successful and sustained Mosh pit of the night and felt like it should be on a film soundtrack. As the outro of the track swelled to crescendo the mosh pit seemed to double in size as the crowd cheered. The song ‘Darker’ held pace for the headbangers in the audience, as the band indulged themselves in the same on stage. From here on everything became a bit of a blur of bodies and sound, the band and audience joining in the pure joy of musical experience, it was unclear where stage began, and audience ended. Make sure you catch The Wytches before they inevitably move on to bigger venues.
(Jess Kemp)
The Folklore Rooms 9:30pm – 10:00pm
Unfortunately we didn’t have a reviewer at this performance and hope to rectify this next time around.
linktr.ee/glasshouseredspidermite
H_NGM_N
The Prince Albert 9:30pm – 10:00pm
Call me boring if you will, but H_ngm_n are a band that I’ve actually seen before. It doesn’t mean that the spirit of adventure has left me, it’s just that they’re a good band and I wanted to see them again. Is that OK? I saw them supporting The Blue Stragglers at The Hope & Ruin last summer, and I was really impressed with them then. They don’t disappoint tonight, although I suspect that the set played tonight is very similar to what I heard last time. The singer says that ‘Ghost’ is “spooky”, possibly to his ears. It is an interesting song though as it has an almost electro-sounding drum part. ‘Ghost II’ is apparently a sequel to the previous song, although apparently that is only a working title. It could almost be a Foo Fighters song. Whatever, it’s going to be on their album when that eventually comes out. The band may not necessarily like me for saying this, but their material sounds surprisingly commercial. Given sufficient exposure, it could be pretty successful. A two-piece Foo Fighters / Green Day anyone?
(Mark Kelly)
HARPER
The Rossi Bar 9:45pm – 10:15pm
The intimate basement at The Rossi Bar was palpably awaiting the appearance of ‘Harper’ having filled to capacity prior to the start. Harper are fronted by Calista Morgan on vocal and guitar duties together with her four bandmates, three on guitar and a drummer. This is a band who have been quietly building a tall reputation having reached the quarter finals of the 2023 Hotvox ‘Isle of Wight New Blood’ competition beating thousands of hopeful entrants. Calista’s very distinctive vocals could be described as an amalgam of Lana Del Rey and Stevie Nicks and to this end, the band delivered us a spellbinding set of melodic indie dream-pop. The track ‘Small Mercies’ is a great introduction to their music and can be found here:
smallpond.bandcamp.com/track/small-mercies
(Martin J Fuller)
CANNED PINEAPPLE
The Pipeline 10:00pm – 10:45pm
The time has come for me to bail out of the inaugural ‘Homegrown Festival’ and what no better way to feed of the live energy of the unusually titled Canned Pineapple who are a local 5-piece scuzz-pop and slacker rock group who have no less than three guitars on the go as well as drums and bass. Their lively and very entertaining extended 45 minute set certainly lifted up the decibel levels and from the get-go, and it’s very clear that Irish frontman Sean is the spokesperson of the outfit. From tune one, Sean shakes his frame when singing which is a tad unusual, but provides the desired effect on my ears. He is a full on character and charismatic leader and their music reminded me of a cross between the material found on the Good Vibrations label back in the day meets the Beatles. Their tune ‘Bowie’ is fast becoming an anthem with its “yeah yeah yeah” chorus and is arguably only bettered by their chart friendly rockin’ tune that I think was called ‘Kennedy’. ‘King Of The Monkeys’ with its “Don’t look at me I’m the King of the monkeys” chorus was another enjoyable tune. The lads signed off with the catchy ‘Why Don’t The Pretty Women Look At Me?’. It had been a foot tapping and hip swinging set. Yep another decent act and one I would see again!
(Nick Linazasoro)
CURRLS
The Hope & Ruin 10:15pm – 10:45pm
Sadly all good things must come to an end, and as my last train from Brighton leaves at 23:13, Currls are my final band of this first ‘Homegrown Festival’. Quite honestly, I can’t think of a better way to end it, as Currls are a stupendous live band. They comprise Holly Deanna on vocals and guitar, Hannah Websdale on drums and Jack Smith on bass. Jack is obviously in no way fazed by his earlier stint with Rainy Day Cafe as from the get-go he is giving his usual 150% onstage. The band are even punchier than I remember, which really is saying something. Mid set Holly breaks a string and has to borrow a guitar from Ben Williams of Rainy Day Cafe. Almost all of the bands today have only had half hour sets, and Currls are no exception. There is literally no time to change a string. They play ‘April Fool’ which was the first song that they released. It’s “a good one to dance to” apparently. It’s certainly bloody fast! They have a new EP entitled ‘Let’s Talk About The Weather’, and play ‘Cruel’ from it, which sounds pretty promising. There’s a bass solo of sorts, and Jack finishes the song by dragging his bass across his amp, but as bass misuse goes, this is pretty minor. They invite the audience to mosh for the last song, but it doesn’t really happen, which is a pity as it’s a really mosh-worthy song! As it ends Jack makes a short but impassioned speech about Palestine. An emotive subject for sure. He throws his bass down on the stage, picks it up again and throws it off the side of the stage. I’m pretty sure it survived…. My band of the day, hands down.
(Mark Kelly)
ELLIS_D
The Folklore Rooms 10:30pm – 11:15pm
Sadly we didn’t have a reviewer present for this performance, but we have reviewed Ellis_D on a number of previous occasions, one of these being for the ‘We Are The Last Generation’ EP launch at the Green Door Store, you can read our account of that night HERE.
GAFFA TAPE SANDY
The Prince Albert 10:30pm – 11:15pm
Since we stumbled onto Gaffa Tape Sandy in a wedding-style marquee in the woods at Latitude Festival back in about 2017 we’ve always taken the time to track them down if they are playing nearby or on a festival stage somewhere around the countryside. There is just something about them that’s hard to quantify…other than to say that they seem to live through their music on stage, as their songs charge and shimmer in equal measure. They definitely deserve this headline slot at The Prince Albert, and it’s a great wrap-up for the day.
(John Bownas)
HYPSOLINE
The Rossi Bar 10:45pm – 11:15pm
There were many stunning vocal harmonies across the festival. Hypsoline‘s Beth Molly Moore and bassist Trilby White were another superb example, with one’s breathy dreamier voice blending with the other’s more direct style. From the shared vocals on the opening number ‘Nights Like These’, their voices worked well together.
Hypsoline had a fresh captivating indie pop sound. ‘Space Babe’, about needing space in relationships, was a perfect example of how Beth’s breathy voice worked so well with Trilby’s brilliant bass lines. By contrast, ‘Call Your Name’, a song about trusting your gut reaction, had a harder sound.
‘Satellite’, which Beth introduced as “Trilby’s song”, saw the bassist take the lead vocals on this slower tune. It started with a beautiful vocal harmony over quality drums. Its softer guitars had a west coast USA feel. ‘Instead Of Me’, like most of the set, was musically built around Trilby’s bass and Hannah Feenstra’s drums. So much so that Beth could be seen stamping along to Hannah’s bass drum as she sang. Hypsoline closed with ‘Disposable Girl’. After a mellow start, it built to a louder rockier track, which soared up and dropped back seamlessly. It was an emotional show for Hypsoline, as it was drummer Hannah’s last show with them. She’ll be a hard act to replace.
(Peter Greenfield)
CLT DRP
The Hope & Ruin 11:15pm – 12:00am
Sadly we didn’t have a reviewer present for this performance, but we have reviewed CLT DRP on a number of previous occasions, one of these being for their headline show at The Hope & Ruin on 8th September last year, you can read our account of that night HERE.
IDEAL LIVING
The Rossi Bar 11:45pm – 12:15am
A few technical issues don’t stop Ideal Living. Not wanting to delay their start any further, lead vocalist Billy Marsh made the call “Go for it and mix it as we go”. A decision the packed crowd welcomed. One person said, louder than she intended, “We’re drunk, we won’t notice”, which raised a laugh. With art-rockers Ideal Living being an 8-piece band, trumpet player Jamie and percussionist Freddy had to stand on the seats off to the side of the stage.
Billy had a very unique vocal style…correction styles. On the first song it was a very clipped delivery, whereas on the following song his voice sounded deliberately agitated, as if wanting to get his message out quickly, while it was fresh in his mind. Later in the set, he had more of a story telling, lecturing style, as if passing on wise words. Musically Ideal Living had an interesting mix of sounds across their set and within songs, which ranged from musical crescendos to softer jazz styles. This added to the very fresh compelling feel of their set. ‘Roam’, Billy’s personal favourite, included a spectacular a cappella round, which the whole band joined.
Billy encouraged people to consensually hug one another during ‘Dirty Blinds’, a sweet soft song that was almost a lullaby. Many did, and it perfectly fitted the mood of the show, and the festival as a whole.
(Peter Greenfield)
FLIP TOP HEAD
The Rossi Bar 12:45am – 1:30am
Fresh from their show in Bristol earlier, Flip Top Head closed Brighton’s first ‘Homegrown Festival’ in the small hours of Sunday morning, where it all began, in The Rossi Bar. Flip Top Head started with ‘Seventh Bell Number’, with its free jazz feel and Bowie Bartlett’s hauntingly beautiful vocals. Trombonist Alfie Beer started at the side of the stage, by the end of the song, he had popped up at the back of the venue. His new take on surround sound! Before the next song, Ollie White had to call out to his bandmate, “Alfie, wherever you are, are you ready?”. This typified the fun nature of the late-night ‘Homegrown’ sets at the venue.
Bertie Beer shared lead vocal duties with Bowie, and they harmonised well, including on an a capella start to a song. Flip Top Head incorporated many musical styles. ‘So Much For Molecatching’ was rightly described as their “pop song”. ‘No Nail Vicar’ had a late-night jazz feel (it was 1am) before becoming funkier. The change in styles saw instrument swaps within the band, which soon meant bassist Marie Friess having to play off stage.
Flip Top Head closed their varied and fun set with the lively ‘Alfred Street’, which saw a crowd surfer and the whole crowd dancing enthusiastically along. It didn’t finish there. Not wanting the festival to end, the crowd called for another song. Flip Top Head didn’t disappoint, playing ‘Everlong’ as an encore. They left those still standing at the end of the ‘Homegrown Festival’ very happy indeed.
(Peter Greenfield)
And there you have it! The ‘Homegrown Festival’ has been a massive success! Roll on next year!
