It was 1714 days ago that we discovered the then brand new Brighton trio of Monakis – that’s four and a half years ago! Their impact on myself and my partner Jordan Mooney (RIP) was immediate! They were opening for the brilliant Wife Swap USA at The Rossi Bar on Queens Road and they simply took our breath away! In fact, here’s what I said:
“First up were a trio of Brighton based lads going by the name Monakis. The lads being James Porter (bass/vox), Aaron Butler (guitar/vox) and Joe Mctaggart (drums). They squeezed onto the stage and then BANG! They hit us with their debut single release ‘Animosity’. Holy f*ck these are awesome! Right from the very off we were treated to traditional punk rock meets IDLES. Vocals were served with a Cockney (Rejects) twang during their very enjoyable seven song set.
Vocal duties were shared amongst the guys and this brash young fun band played with must bravado and yet, just like tonight’s headliners, this was only their fourth gig. This is exactly the sound that folks are looking out for at the moment – a modern take on punk. In following the steps of aforementioned IDLES and Fontaines D.C, Thumper, Ditz, BlackWaters and Wife Swap USA. Myself and my learned colleague Jordan Mooney instantly fell in love with these guys! Praise indeed! We must see them live as soon as possible. They are endeavouring to organise a local appearance on 1st March, so keep an eye on the link below for further details. It was totally worth coming out this evening just to see Monakis. This band is a must! No two ways about it!
Monakis setlist: ‘Animosity’, ‘Hot Mess’, ‘Fake News’, ‘Leather’, ‘Usual Suspects’, ‘On The Run’, ‘Driptease’”.
Last week, however, we had two solid reports that Monakis were no longer! Now this afternoon our fears have been confirmed by the band themselves. Here’s their official statement:
When Jordan Mooney sadly passed away in 2022, it was decided to organise a Charity Memorial Concert in her honour and so I was charged to select the artists that were to perform at this unique full capacity event at Brighton’s Concorde 2 on Sunday 29th May 2022. As Jordan was a keen supporter of new artists and in particular the Brighton music scene, I decided that the Memorial Concert should reflect this, and so in addition to her dear friends of many decades including The Damned’s Captain Sensible, Andy Warren (from the original Adam & The Ants), Paul Halford aka Johnny Moped, Neal X from Sigue Sigue Sputnik, The Only Ones’ Peter Perrett and compere John Robb; we should also have the best of the local bands that she loved also on the bill. One of these being Monakis, along with DITZ, AK/DK and Fruity Water. It should be noted that the artists gave their time for FREE and the money raised went 50/50 to Cats Protection and Music Venues Trust. So it’s still a MASSIVE THANK YOU to everyone involved, and unfortunately Monakis are the first act of the eleven acts on that bill to call it a day! Read the review of that wonderful day HERE.
Good luck to the Monakis lads in their future ventures!
