VISION VIDEO + STIIILL – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 15.6.25
I last managed to catch Vision Video performing live at the tailend of 2023, when they played their debut Brighton concert. I concluded my review back then by stating “Vision Video….a band with a social conscience!”. Tonight they have returned to Brighton on the opening night of their 16-date UK tour and my above closing statement now rings true more than ever!
Vision Video are a Goth-pop group out of Athens, Georgia, USA, which is famous as the home of The B-52’s and R.E.M. Vision Video are influenced by among others The Cure, The Chameleons and Joy Division, blended with sharper edges inspired by The Clash and The Replacements. Vision Video have thus far dropped a trio of albums: ‘Inked In Red’ (2021), ‘Haunted Hours’ (2022) and ‘Modern Horror’ (2024), and their ‘In My Side’ EP came out in 2020.
The band is spearheaded by lead singer and guitarist Dusty Gannon, who is aged around 38 and has by the sound of it, already lived a whole lifetime’s worth of mixed good and bad adventures. He is a war veteran who served in war-torn Afghanistan as an Army rifle platoon leader and he also worked for five years as a metro Atlanta firefighter and paramedic. Dusty is certainly no stranger to death and his lifetime of experiences pour out of him as he pens the Vision Video songs. It’s no wonder that goth music is his go-to genre, but he’s endeavouring to change the world into a better place and so the band’s pop element adds to their distinctive sound. On the face of it, their material sounds far too upbeat to be truly classified as goth music, but when you realise that he has addressed topics including war, trauma, mortality and mental health in his lyrics then you can truly understand the Vision Video ethos. Clearly, writing music is a therapy for him to exercise his demons and a valid way of processing the trauma he has already witnessed in his life. It’s a medium and a way of channelling his negative memories and emotions into something truly constructive.
Some might say it all sounds a bit depressing, but Dusty’s life is currently on the up and tonight we learn that he is engaged to be married to Scarlet this year and that said lady is in attendance this evening. During his band’s 63 minute 13 track set he also informs us that he’s a bi-sexual man.
The band’s lineup this evening at The Hope & Ruin is different from my 2023 encounter, as back then Emily Freedock was on keyboards, but it was announced 7 months ago that the band sacked her, so we are in the company of Angelica Avila who is present this evening. Last time around they had Tom Ashton from The March Violets on bass, but tonight there is no bassist. Their drummer was Jason Fusco but he left the band a year ago and was replaced by Ryan Houchens, who judging by tonight’s performance, delivers an intensity to proceedings with his energy.
The tour flyer I saw just said “UK Tour” but from the outset, Dusty referred to the tour as “Death To Fascism Tour”. Clearly elephants in the room are going to be addressed, and indeed they were. The set lasted 63 minutes as Dusty chose to address the crowd after a majority of the tunes, which to be honest, shouldn’t be that surprising as their latest long-player, ‘Modern Horror’, warns against further war and brutality. I have personally felt on edge of late with the way things are playing out in the big wide world with the escalation of the treat of war and the instability of certain world leaders and billionaires, and right down to the closure of grassroots venues, cancellation of festivals, and the saturation of live music events and tours and the situation of half-full venues. Clearly I’m not alone as Dusty covers all of these grave situations throughout the set. It’s as though I’m actually up on stage saying it all. I endeavour to come away from the night not feeling downhearted, but elated to have been again able to witness live music! But is this actually the case? Let’s find out…
First up though are ST///LL who are a Post Punk band from Brighton, Cork and Worthing comprising this evening of Andrew Birch on vocals, his brother Mark Birch on guitar and Chris Carey on bass guitar. Yes that’s right folks, no drummer! I was looking forward to catching their performance at The Prince Albert supporting Wasted Youth on 23rd May, but at the last minute, the opportunity to get up and close with Orbital at Chalk was offered and it would have been an opportunity missed if I hadn’t gone, so I did – Review HERE.
So tonight is my debut encounter with ST///LL although we did briefly cover them in the previous incarnation as The Last Cry when they supported Toyah at Chalk back in 2019 – Review HERE.
This evening we are in the trio’s company for 37 minutes from 7:31pm until 8:08pm and in that time the lads gave us 8 compositions, but before the music starts, frontman Andrew has a spoonful of posh (manuka?) honey as he informs us that he has a sore throat. To be honest, if he hadn’t told us, none of us would have been any the wiser as his vocals sounded great and the longer the set went on the better and more intense he sounded. The first thing I notice is the impressive looking microphone and its stand. The stand is solid white instead of the usual black, and the mic is one of those vintage 1950’s jobbies that Dave Vanian of The Damned prefers.
They open with ‘Empty Room’ from last year’s ‘Empty Room’ / ‘Shout Out’ single release. It truly has that retro mid 80’s goth sound that the likes of The Sisters Of Mercy, Gene Loves Jezebel and ‘Eloise’-era Damned were purveyors of. It’s the drum machine that whisks me back the decades. Andrew is interestingly animated despite his sore throat, whereas Chris and Mark appear nonchalant, especially Mark. They give off the air of wishing they were elsewhere else! So they’ve got the juxtaposition balance with Andrew just spot on. Tune two is the first of four in a row from the self-titled long-player that dropped in 2023, this being ‘Darkened Eyes’, which has a decent keys sound which is coming from a backing track somewhere. These keys sound like they could have been performed by Diorama or Covenant, and they are accompanied by a swirl of guitar and bass noise. To say that they are going down very well might actually be an understatement.
Andrew dedicates song three ‘End Of Days’ to all those suffering from dementia. Clearly this is a subject very close to his heart as on conclusion of this moody number, he turns away from the crowd and haunches over in pain. The tune could be likened to those that I used to hear back in the day at Subterfuge club (1981-87) in Brighton where the most outrageous back-combed hair post-punk goth peacocks on the scene would gather and be seen. It’s here during their set that I ponder whether ST///LL might not work even better with live keyboards and electronic drums, I think they would, but understand the implications of this, as in the extra costing and whether that drum sound could actually be replicated live. Anyway, suffice to say that this track was delivered with real passion!
‘Scars’ was up next and this has a slow atmospheric intro and then the drumbeat kicks in and it’s an altogether different number. I was almost expecting Andrew to sing “It kicks like a sleep twitch” as he was sounding like ‘Papillon’ by Editors. There’s an almost hidden Echo and the Bunnymen backing sound in this tune and for me was the best thus far. They followed this with another energetic number, ‘Misunderstood’, which benefits from its repeated chorus of “I’m misunderstood, she did it the wrong way”. ‘Shout Out’ from 2024’s ‘Empty Room’ / ‘Shout Out’ single is the next selection and this has a late 80’s early 90’s style Depeche Mode rhythm to start. It’s a decent tune which could have been even better with wailing Gary Numan style synths on top. Its title is repeated and it’s an earworm!
As if by magic, my observation comes true on the following number, ‘She Walks In Shadows’, from their album, which has an energetically fast backbeat and somehow the guitar actually sounds like that Numan wailing synth sound. This is the finest song of their set and goes out of its way to sound like Clan Of Xymox. The trio sign off with their latest single, ‘In The Static’, which starts with backing keys and then the guitar kicks in. It’s a very good choice to end on and judging by the screams in the crowd, it’s very much a job very well done.
ST///LL are back in action next month with a couple of local gigs. The first is on Sunday 13th July as special guests of The March Violets at The Hope & Ruin (Tickets HERE) and the second is at the ‘Alive at The Barn! Music Festival’ at The Barn Theatre, Southwick, West Sussex, BN42 4TE at 6:30pm on Saturday 26th July (Tickets and information HERE). In the meantime you can check out their Bandcamp page at still6.bandcamp.com.
ST///LL:
Andrew Birch – vocals
Chris Carey – bass guitar
Mark Birch – guitar
ST///LL setlist:
‘Empty Room’ (from 2024 ‘Empty Room’ / ‘Shout Out’ single)
‘Darkened Eyes’ (from 2023 ‘Stiiill’ album)
‘End Of Days’ (from 2023 ‘Stiiill’ album)
‘Scars’ (from 2023 ‘Stiiill’ album)
‘Misunderstood’ (from 2023 ‘Stiiill’ album)
‘Shout Out’ (from 2024 ‘Empty Room’ / ‘Shout Out’ single)
‘She Walks In Shadows’ (from 2023 ‘Stiiill’ album)
‘In The Static’ (a 2025 single)
After a 22 minute live music hiatus we are back in action with Vision Video who last time around performed their version of ‘Transmission’ by Joy Division from their 2022 ‘Haunted Hours’ album. Looking down at their setlist in front of me there’s sadly no ‘Transmission’ this time around, but there are two cover versions across the set. Dusty with his painted face and his Fender guitar in tow are very much the centre of attention and to his left (our right) is Angelica Avila on Roland keys and backing vocals; and to the rear is Ryan Houchens on drums and presets, and he’s sporting a Sextile t-shirt – good lad!
They kick off with a trio of choice cuts from their current ‘Modern Horror’ album, the first of which being ‘Dead Gods’, and immediately they sound very much like The Cure and myself and the crowd pick up on Ryan’s drumming energy. However, I can see Angelica hitting the keys but there’s no sound coming out! On conclusion the keys wiring is checked and Dusty is away with the energetic ‘Sign Of The Times’. The trio are very animated and the drums and guitar are sounding good, but I still can’t hear any keys whatsoever! There’s either still a fault or they are so low down in the mix that we can’t hear them, or possibly they are being drowned out by the other two? There’s more of the same vibe on selection three ‘Normalized’.
Prior to performing the first of four tracks from their ‘Inked In Red’ album from 2021, this being the energetic ‘Kandahar’, which is a city in Afghanistan, Dusty informs us that he’s a war vet and he dedicates the next tune to those that suffer in war, namely the women and children. He then refers to Afghanistan, Palestine and other areas of conflict. Before playing ‘Balaclava Kiss’, he tells us that this is about fighting for what you believe in. Thankfully mid-song we actually hear the keys for the very first time! I turn around to my friend and he too nods to indicate that he too can finally hear them! The only cut from 2022’s ‘Haunted Hours’ LP is up next, this being the slower melodic reflective ‘Beautiful Day To Die’, and Dusty informs us that it’s about mortality. He then goes on to say that he was a firefighter and medic and that it made him very aware of our mortality.
‘Stay’ from the latest LP is the trio’s next selection, but prior to this Dusty informs us that “22 veterans lose themselves every day in the USA”. By that he means die! He then encourages folk to act and ask for help if they are suffering. This, as you would surmise, is another reflective melodic song, and it has a good rhythm as well. Before they go onto the next tune, Dusty informs us that he is engaged to Scarlet and that he’s a bi-sexual man and that they (the band) are going to try something new that they have never done before. It’s a cover of a song written in 1984 by the Replacements, cue ‘Androgynous’ from the ‘Let It Be’ album. He says it’s a track about being OK with who you are. He then puts his guitar down and Ryan takes a rest, and this is delivered with only Dusty’s vocals and Angelica’s keys, which sound not unlike Jools Holland. They tried something new and different and it certainly got the punters approval.
It’s back to normality with song nine ‘Let Go Of Time’ from the latest LP. We are told that it’s “a vampire love song” and it’s dedicated to Scarlet who he is marrying this year. I wonder if from the back she uttered “fangs” very much?. This is another melodic track. Next tune is “about falling in love with shit that is bad for you”. The song in question is ‘Siren’s Song’ which has a bouncy beat that some might say is too uplifting to be a goth number! Thighs are immediately rectified on the goth front with the arrival of the following song, which Dusty states “is for our lord and saviour Robert Smith”, cue a cover of ‘Just Like Heaven’, which was a UK Top 30 single and appeared on their ‘Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me’ album which dropped on 26th May 1987 via Fiction Records. At the gigs I review, I tend to take notes as I go along, thankfully I was concentrating at the correct times tonight as I was stationed centre front and during this track Dusty came forward onto the floor speaker in front of the stage and swung about his Fender. If I had been tapping away making notes on my phone, his guitar would have knocked my block off! As you would expect with a room mainly full of gothy types, this cover was very well received!
With a drum roll they were away with the supposed last song of the set, the title track from their ‘Inked In Red’ album from 2021, it’s another boppy number. On its conclusion Dusty stated that rather than them leaving the stage, walking past the punters to the back of the room, and going into the dressing room, it would be far easier if they jokingly ducked behind their instruments on stage instead, which they indeed did do, and we cried for “one more song”. They bounced back and we were rewarded with ‘In My Side’ which is also from ‘Inked In Red’. We were taught the chorus of “I can feel your knife in my back, I can feel your knife in my side” lyrics and we had to sing along. This song has a fast beat and is drums led. Once it had finished Dusty thanked everyone and said that events like these are special and that we must cherish them whilst everything else is happening around us.
So how did I actually feel at the end of the night? Well to be brutally honest, a tad depressed is the answer on account of everything else that’s happening outside our gig bubble.
Vision Video:
Dusty Gannon – vocals/guitar
Angelica Avila – keys, backing vocals
Ryan Houchens – drums, presets
Vision Video setlist:
‘Dead Gods’ (from 2024 ‘Modern Horror’ album)
‘Sign Of The Times’ (from 2024 ‘Modern Horror’ album)
‘Normalized’ (from 2024 ‘Modern Horror’ album)
‘Kandahar’ (from 2021 ‘Inked In Red’ album)
‘Balaclava Kiss’ (from 2024 ‘Modern Horror’ album)
‘Beautiful Day To Die’ (from 2022 ‘Haunted Hours’ album)
‘Stay’ (from 2024 ‘Modern Horror’ album)
‘Androgynous’ (cover of the Replacements 1984 song from their ‘Let It Be’ album)
‘Let Go Of Time’ (from 2024 ‘Modern Horror’ album)
‘Siren’s Song’ (from 2021 ‘Inked In Red’ album)
‘Just Like Heaven’ (cover of the Cure 1987 song from ‘Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me’ album’)
‘Inked In Red’ (from 2021 ‘Inked In Red’ album)
(encore)
‘In My Side’ (from 2021 ‘Inked In Red’ album)
