CONFIDENCE MAN + VANITY FAIRY – CHALK, BRIGHTON 16.10.24
“Hmmm, what’s a hybrid show?” I hear you ask! To be honest we weren’t exactly sure what this meant when Resident records announced that they were bringing Confidence Man back to the Chalk venue in Brighton in advance of their third long-player, ‘3AM (LA LA LA)’ which annoyingly is set to drop on Friday (18th October) instead of tonight. Thus there’s no Confidence Man merch stall, which I reckon is an oversight as judging by sheer buzz in the room at the end of the night, they would have shifted tons of other merch! Oh well, we all will have to grab the new album from HERE instead then.
We first encountered the Australian quartet of Janet Planet (Grace Stephenson), Sugar Bones (Aidan Moore), Reggie Goodchild (Lewis Stephenson) and Clarence McGuffie (Sam Hales) back on Thursday 18th May 2017 at 11:30pm, where we witnessed them performing live at the sadly missed Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar as part of The Great Escape new music festival. We were there as I had previously discovered their epic debut single ‘Boyfriend (Repeat)’, which I must confess I was obsessed with! The report of that night read as thus:
“Well would you believe it! We agreed that this lot were the best artists of TGE 2017. Confidence Man are fun fun fun and they have produced extremely catchy dance pop music with a unique look too. They are from Brisbane, Australia and is the brainchild of Clarence McGuffie and Reggie Goodchild, who dress as black bee-keepers on stage. They are fronted on vocals by girl and boy dancers Janet Planet and Sugar Bones. When they finally release an album it would be totally ideal as a keep fit or running video. I can’t understand how their final track, the single, Boyfriend hasn’t been as successful as something like Barbie Girl. Yes I know cheesy as hell, but virtually the whole crowd crouched down with the dancers and jumped up again. They have also released Bubblegum as a single, however their as yet unreleased compositions are arguably their best, such as I’m In A Band, Try Luck, Sit Down, Fascination, Catch My Breath and their funky set opener called Intro. Everyone needs some Confidence Man in their lives!”.
Wind the clock forward and several Confidence Man live gigs later we find ourselves parked on the crowd barrier at Chalk just like we were back on 18th June for their Glastonbury warm-up show – Review HERE. This event is the fourth of five such nights, the others being in Edinburgh (12th October), Liverpool (13th October), Oxford (15th October), Kingston (17th October), plus a DJ set in London on 18th October.
Without a doubt Confidence Man are unarguably one of the hottest acts on the planet right now! They operate just like a portable party and this is very much the case this evening for their sold out show. The crowd are a mixed bunch, with an ever increasing number of younger fans filling the ranks, which is encouraging! Everyone honestly seems really up for it! I gaze forwards at the expansive stage and worryingly there’s no sign of a drumkit or synthesizers which have always been there at every other Confidence Man gig I’ve attended. Somethings changed! There’s still two microphone stands out front though with a hands free mic attached. One has a discreet strip of pink tape around it (stage left, our right) and the other has a strip of blue tape. So it’s evident that Janet will be nearest us on the pink mic.
At 9:02pm a solitary figure dressed in a black bee-keepers outfit appears at the rear of the stage and stands behind a metal stand with DJ equipment and possibly other effects atop. Clearly this is Reggie Goodchild who normally takes care of the synthesisers, but there’s absolutely no sign of drummer Clarence McGuffie. I do hope that he hasn’t left the group as I love the live drums! The stage lighting is pretty decent and there is also the use of lazers throughout the performance. Reggie kicks off with the new Confidence Man & IN2STELLAR instrumental ‘Break It Down (On The Bassline)’ which can be found on the new 2024 ‘fabric presents Confidence Man’ compilation album. It’s a rave style banger and the punters are already ‘aving it large! The music is sounding the same or very close to the released version, so I’m guessing a hybrid show means spinning the released tunes with live additional mixing? Finally, near the closing of the tune Janet and Sugar come bounding onto the stage to rapturous applause.
This is going to be a short and sweet set, only lasting a mere 42 minutes and ten tunes, half of which are from their ‘3AM (LA LA LA)’ newbie. But boy the energy levels from the front duo are as epic as ever! The choreographed dance moves are implemented to perfection and the crowd loves it! Selection two is last year’s DJ Seinfeld & Confidence Man single ‘Now U Do’ which features Janet on live vocals. This is followed by their recent ‘I Can’t Lose You’ single which is now also on ‘3AM (LA LA LA)’. This is clearly a popular choice as many of the younger attendees are singing their hearts out. Many of whom no doubt have had the cheeky nudie pixelated video on repeat! ‘Control’, also from the new album is the next choice and although this is a slower number, there is still copious amounts of arm waving from the punters mainly at the front. Last year’s instrumental ‘Firebreak’ anthem is up next, which is a cue for Janet and Sugar to vacate the stage and have a change of costumes…or so I thought. Every time I hear ‘Firebreak’ I can’t help hearing Brighton’s very own electronic music producer, remixer and DJ Jake Williams epic smash hit ‘Son Of A Gun’ which dropped under the JX banner. Tonight’s version doesn’t sound a million miles off the Chloé Caillet remix of ‘Firebreak’.
The oldest selection this evening is up next in the form of ‘C.O.O.L Party’ which comes from 2018’s ‘Confident Music For Confident People’ album and this witnesses the return to the stage of Janet and Sugar who haven’t actually changed their clothes at all, but simply added ‘cool’ sunglasses. During this tune, Sugar produces a bottle of bubbly which he shakes up and opens and sprays right across the first few rows of fans. I ducked as I knew it was coming, but still obtained a free complimentary shampoo. This tune has a break in it which sounds very like Patrick Hernandez’s ‘Born To Be Alive’ hit single. Although, if anyone fancies an obscure vinyl hunt, the Disco Connection version was actually better!
Tune seven was ‘Real Move Touch’ which on disc features the talents of Sweetie Irie on vocals. It’s from the new ‘3AM (LA LA LA)’ album and tonight the vocals are there. During this track both Janet and Sugar emptied bottles of water into their hair as they both leaned backwards on the crowd barrier and thus drenching a few of the crowd in the process. There was notably an even louder applause on this tune, a popular selection then! Another bouncy tune arrived in the form of ‘So What’ which is also on the new LP. The duo were back off the stage and Janet was held aloft on Sugar’s shoulders as they whisked right along the photographers pit area.
The rap infused electro style ‘Breakbeat’, also from the new platter, was the next selection, with its memorable “pill in my pocket” line and accompanied with “we say hey ho, you say ho” chants. This was a good selection, but not as good as their closing number, ‘Holiday’ which is found on their ‘Tilt’ album from back in 2022. This track, more than any of their released tracks, has for me, grown and grown to become one of my Top 3 Confidence Man tunes. The other two being the aforementioned ‘Boyfriend (Repeat)’ (from 2018 ‘Confident Music For Confident People’ album) and their Confidence Man x Daniel Avery ‘On & On (Again)’ 2023 single. Sadly neither of which get an outing tonight and neither does ‘Don’t You Know I’m in A Band’ (from 2018’s ‘Confident Music For Confident People’ album) which is nearly as good. Thankfully they did perform all of these back here in June. With a “Thank you guys for supporting the record” from Janet at the very end and at 9:44pm that was our lot! Right then over to the pub to discuss tonight’s proceedings…Cheers!
Confidence Man:
Janet Planet – vocals
Sugar Bones – vocals
Reggie Goodchild – live mixing
Clarence McGuffie – drums (not present this evening)
Confidence Man setlist:
‘Break It Down (On The Bassline)’ (Confidence Man & IN2STELLAR tune) (from 2024 ‘fabric presents Confidence Man’ compilation album)
‘Now U Do’ (a 2023 DJ Seinfeld & Confidence Man single)
‘I Can’t Lose You’ (a 2024 single & from 2024 ‘3AM (LA LA LA)’ album)
‘Control’ (from 2024 ‘3AM (LA LA LA)’ album)
‘Firebreak’ (a 2023 single)
‘C.O.O.L Party’ (from 2018 ‘Confident Music For Confident People’ album)
‘Real Move Touch’ (Feat Sweetie Irie) (from 2024 ‘3AM (LA LA LA)’ album)
‘So What’ (from 2024 ‘3AM (LA LA LA)’ album)
‘Breakbeat’ (from 2024 ‘3AM (LA LA LA)’ album)
‘Holiday’ (from 2022 ‘Tilt’ album)
When Confidence Man perform these sorts of gigs they have apparently not had any support artists up until now that is! An email was sent out from ‘their people’ to a certain Daisy Capri and the opportunity was very welcome indeed. Daisy changed her plans and she’s here tonight with us under her alter ego Vanity Fairy, who is very much in demand at the moment! Tomorrow she will be performing at the Eventim Apollo in London as support to the band of the moment The Last Dinner Party. Then on Saturday she’s back in Brighton as support to Altered Images at the Concorde 2, which I personally think is a perfect match – Tickets HERE. Clearly Clare Grogan also thinks this as Vanity Fairy will then be on the same bill for a further five Altered Images concerts, namely Bristol, Exeter, Cambridge, Birmingham and Leeds. After this, Vanity Fairy will hop across onto the Electric Six eleven date tour throughout November and December. Clearly those artists, their managers and their promoters within the music industry can see the benefit of having Vanity Fairy up on stage prior to the main event.
In a nutshell, VF brings that feel good factor magic into the room and her slightly awkward but certainly infectious personality shining through, as does her self-penned compositions which have been put together with her brother and producer Sammy Yamaha in their home studio. VF operates very much like the wonderful Divine used to, as in turn up, plug in, and go! She composes her late 1970’s / early 1980’s disco and HiNRG music and then with a tap of a foot or the touch of a hand the tunes play in the clubs and concerts venues via a box of tricks on the floor. Thus far, there have been a number of single releases, but in the main there are two EP’s of work, these being 2021’s ‘Love From Above’ and this year’s ‘Top Of The Pops’. I’ve lived through the 70’s and 80’s disco and HiNRG eras and right now VF is about as close you can get to those sounds! So if you’re a fan of the ‘Saturday Night Fever’ soundtrack album and associate Bee Gees output at that time, then you’re in for a treat when you see a VF set.
This evening we are rewarded with a seven song set which ran for 34 minutes, from bang on 8pm until 8:34pm. VF takes to the stage dressed head to toe in a sequined outfit with ruff trimmings, similar headgear and over the top makeup that was fashionable in some quarters back in the day. She begins with a yet to be recorded song titled ‘Sentimental Lover’ which is a must for fans of The Weather Girls ‘It’s Raining Men’. There are many choreographed moves throughout her set and so you can expect it’s sequins to the max. For tune two VF informs us that this was her debut single, this being ‘He Can Be Your Lady’ which is also from 2021’s ‘Love From Above’ EP. After which we had ‘Vanity’s Dream’ from the same EP. The vocals of this are falsetto and sounding just like The Bee Gees mixed with the sounds akin to Sarah Brightman & Hot Gossip’s ‘I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper’.
A little self-promotion came next with the distribution of a large quantity of adapted naughty playing cards with VF’s contact details covering over the naughty bits. One of our party managed to obtain a number of these and we cheekily left these on our table at the pub afterwards as special beer mats!
‘Superstar’ from the 2021 EP came next and as you would expect was another disco tune. VF decided to get up close and personal and came to the crowd barrier and then had a wander throughout the audience, which went down very well. The final trio of tunes can be located on the newish ‘Top Of The Pops’ EP, with the first of these being her ‘Love Of My Life’ earworm with its “I just wanna tell you boy I need you” chorus. I’d actually have to say that this was the choice cut of the performance for me. Mind you, the following tune ‘Love Me Right’ was very close. It’s as about as disco as you can get and all that was missing was the sound of the Synare drum synthesizer which is triggered by hitting rubber pads which were pressure-sensitive or programmable. Not sure what I mean? Think the Anita Ward ‘Ring My Bell’ hit! VF signed off with the title track from the ‘Top Of The Pops’ EP which really does sound as though it’s from ‘Saturday Night Fever’. Another crowd wander was the order of the day here and it all ended with “Thank you so much for having me” and she received a large applause.
Vanity Fairy:
Daisy Capri – vocals & original music on backing tracks
Vanity Fairy setlist:
‘Sentimental Lover’ (unreleased)
‘He Can Be Your Lady’ (from 2021 ‘Love From Above’ EP)
‘Vanity’s Dream’ (from 2021 ‘Love From Above’ EP)
‘Superstar’ (from 2021 ‘Love From Above’ EP)
‘Love Of My Life’ (from 2024 ‘Top Of The Pops’ EP)
‘Love Me Right’ (from 2024 ‘Top Of The Pops’ EP)
‘Top Of The Pops’ (from 2024 ‘Top Of The Pops’ EP)
