WELLY + CHRISTIAN LE SURF – CHARLES DICKENS, BRIGHTON 18.4.25
Welly deliver a playful yet sharp-witted take on Brit-pop and indie pop with humorous observations on everyday modern life, turning the mundane into something vibrant and relatable. Singer Welly is backed by a tight-knit band of Joe and Matt on guitars, Jacob on bass, and Hannah on percussion and synths. Following on from their album launch at Brighton’s Resident Records (Review HERE), Welly returned to Sussex on their seaside tour to play The Charles Dickens pub in West Worthing on Good Friday.
Welly came through the sold-out packed crowd onto the stage (or carpeted area) singing along to the sounds of ‘Don’t You Want Me’ by The Human League. Even before their first song, Welly had established the fun, somewhat chaotic nature of their vastly entertaining and enjoyable set that was to follow. The audience soon picked up on this by joining in with the fun and singing along too.
A recording proclaiming “Now for a moment of light entertainment” began Welly’s opening number and title track of their debut album ‘Big In The Suburbs’. The loud fast style was set, with many dancing and singing along. These have become expected at Welly’s live show. What ‘Big In The Suburbs’ demonstrated was how Welly have matured lyrically with lines such as “The whole town’s Tory but they’ve nationalised hate”, but without losing their clever witty side. Later in the set Welly joked “We’ve taken off the PE kits and are taking it seriously.”
Lead singer Welly is known for his engaging banter with the crowd. He asked “Anyone here from Worthing?”. When somebody piped up, they were born down the road, and “The owner knows me”, somebody joked “You’ll be barred after this”.
‘Home For The Weekend’ followed with its distinctive cowbells at the start, and was an obvious crowd favourite. There was a great bassline from Jacob as Welly interacted with the crowd. Welly are more than just banter and wise cracks; the whole band is very tight which allows Welly the space to chat and interact with the crowd.
Next up ‘Knock And Run’ had a heavier dance beat and an interesting fresh take on indie and Madchester. The long “ohhhh” signalled the start of ‘Soak Up The Culture’, with Welly on tambourine. Welly may have ditched the PE kits at their Worthing gig, but this didn’t stop Jacob running on the spot and jumping around while playing bass, before he wandered into the crowd to play. Both he and the band as a whole didn’t drop the energy levels throughout the set.
Following the lively ‘Shopping’ with its witty observations on retail culture, the recording of a telephone answering machine “Please leave a message after the tone” introduced ‘Cul-De-Sac’. When I say this was a slower track, that is relative to the rest of Welly’s set, not live music in general.
Welly asked about the Worthing Lancing rivalry, adding “I hear they’re into horse riding in Worthing”. That next song was ‘The Roundabout Racehorse’, which showed a different side of Welly’s sound with a funkier disco feel, especially Jacob’s basslines.
Welly asked if there was anybody from France and if anyone could count to four in French. “Un Deux Trois Quatre” signalled the start of ‘It’s Not Like This In France’. They changed the lyrics towards the end of the song to “It’s not like this in Lancing”, and I can assure you it wasn’t.
Hannah added an interesting spacey synth sound to ‘Life Is a Motorway’. Later in the song she joined two of the guitarists in the audience, but had to rush back frantically through the crowd just in time for her keyboard part.
With all the band members back on stage and much of the last of the bunting just about clinging to the basement ceiling, Welly closed with an old number ‘Me And Your Mates’. This old favourite had most in the crowd singing and dancing along to this Welly classic.
The recording of a supermarket self-service checkout saying “Item left in bagging area” announced the end of a thoroughly entertaining set, full of fun, witty lyrics and top catchy tunes. The band left through the crowd to calls for another song. There wasn’t to be an encore. I’m sure that everyone packed into the basement of the Charles Dickens pub was delighted with Welly’s performance. Judging by the loud cheers, applause and glowing comments, it is a show that I and everybody there will remember fondly for a long time.
Welly:
Welly – lead vocals, cowbell, keys
Hanna Witkamp – keyboards, maracas, tambourine, melodica, backing vocals
Jacob Whitear – bass, backing vocals
Joe Holden-Brown – guitar, backing vocals
Matt Gleeson – guitar, backing vocals
Welly setlist:
‘Big In The Suburbs’ (from 2025 ‘Big In The Suburbs’ album)
‘Home For The Weekend’ (from 2025 ‘Big In The Suburbs’ album)
‘Knock And Run’ ‘Deere John’ ‘Soak Up The Culture’ (from 2025 ‘Big In The Suburbs’ album)
‘Shopping’ (from 2025 ‘Big In The Suburbs’ album)
‘Cul-De-Sac’ (from 2025 ‘Big In The Suburbs’ album)
‘The Roundabout Racehorse’ (from 2025 ‘Big In The Suburbs’ album)
‘It’s Not Like This In France’ (from 2025 ‘Big In The Suburbs’ album)
‘Life Is A Motorway’ (from 2025 ‘Big In The Suburbs’ album)
‘Me and Your Mates’ (a 2022 single release)
Opening for Welly with a solo set was Christian Le Surf, a singer song-writer and multi-instrumentalist from Worthing. His inspirations and influences stretch far and wide, from which he creates experimental pop worlds that dive into inclinations of post-rock, folk and indie pop.
From his opening number, and throughout his set, Christian songs had very clever and intricate structures. I can imagine each time you listen to his songs you’ll pick up on another aspect of them. Saying that they are not over-complicated nor do they lose the listener.
As well as bringing in other instruments via his effects board, Christian cleverly looped his vocals on several tracks. Those both helped build a bigger sound than many contemporary solo singer-songwriters manage live.
‘I Wish You Hell’ had an upbeat fresh 1960’s psychedelic feel, as if post-punk had been around in that decade. ‘Irene’ had a storytelling narrative style, which reminded me a little of ‘Fast Car’ by Tracy Chapman. The lively percussion on ‘That Little Playlist’ and the way Christian varied his vocals across the track worked very well.
Christian invited the audience to join in the chorus of ‘Hopeless Building’. There was a real heartfelt quality in his voice, as he sang this song, and many did join in enthusiastically with the chorus. This song received the most applause.
‘Chicago, The Moon!’ was announced as the title track of his second album released this month, to which he added “It could get a little rowdy”. Not mosh pit rowdy, although the track had a sharper punkier sound, but more the way the pace and style changed throughout the song. There were video games sound effects to the guitar at the start, before Christian put down his guitar to play a range of percussion instruments, some hit, some shaken, I won’t try and name them all. Later in this track he went into the crowd with his guitar. If all the percussion instruments and different guitar styles wasn’t enough, he later included the piano standing at the back of the stage.
Christian Le Surf closed a very interesting, impressive and entertaining performance with ‘Sex & Violence’, with its relatively simpler format and slower tempo. It again showcased Christian’s quality voice and clever use of looping in instruments. Judging by the cheers from the crowd gathered at The Charles Dickens, his performance went down very well with those in early.
Catch Christian’s album launch headline show here in Brighton at The Hope & Ruin on Tuesday 22nd April – Tickets HERE.
Christian Le Surf:
Christian Le Surf – vocals, electric guitar, loop pedal, effects board, percussion
Christian Le Surf setlist:
‘Improvisation’
‘I Wish You Hell’ (from 2025 ‘Chicago, The Moon!’ album)
‘Irene’ (from 2019 ‘Asleep On The Back Benches’ EP)
‘That Little Playlist’ (from 2022 ‘The Everyday Traditions’ EP)
‘Hopeless Building’ (from 2023 ‘The King’s Meadow’ EP)
‘Chicago, The Moon!’ (from 2025 ‘Chicago, The Moon!’ album)
‘Sex & Violence’ (2017 standalone single)
linktr.ee/christianlesurfmusic
