PALINDRONES + INFRA VIOLET + IAMIMPERFECT + DISTANT FIGURES – THE PIPELINE, BRIGHTON 12.7.25
Astonishing as it may sound, the greatest music event ever held, namely ‘Live Aid’ was staged at Wembley Stadium and J.F.K Stadium Philadelphia 40 years ago tomorrow! Gracing the stages on 13th July 1985 in performance order were:
At Wembley:
Coldstream Guards, Status Quo, The Style Council, The Boomtown Rats, Adam Ant, Ultravox, Spandau Ballet, Elvis Costello, Nik Kershaw, Sade, Sting with Phil Collins & Branford Marsalis, Howard Jones, Bryan Ferry with David Gilmour, Paul Young, U2, Dire Straits, Queen, David Bowie, The Who, Elton John, Freddie Mercury & Brian May, Paul McCartney with David Bowie & Bob Geldof & Alison Moyet & Pete Townshend, and ‘Band Aid’.
At Philadelphia:
Bernard Watson, Joan Baez, The Hooters, Four Tops, Billy Ocean, Black Sabbath, Run–D.M.C., Rick Springfield, REO Speedwagon, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Judas Priest, Bryan Adams, The Beach Boys, George Thorogood and the Destroyers with Bo Diddley and Albert Collins, Simple Minds, Pretenders, Santana with Pat Metheny, Ashford & Simpson with Teddy Pendergrass, Madonna with Thompson Twins and Nile Rodgers, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Kenny Loggins, The Cars, Neil Young, The Power Station, Thompson Twins with Madonna, Steve Stevens and Nile Rodgers, Eric Clapton with Phil Collins, Phil Collins, Led Zeppelin with Phil Collins, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Duran Duran, Patti LaBelle, Hall & Oates with Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin, Mick Jagger with Tina Turner, Bob Dylan & Keith Richards & Ronnie Wood, and ‘USA for Africa’.
These artists were (and a vast majority still are) the crème de la crème of the music world. But let’s stop to think….How the hell did virtually all of them arrive at that place in time and have their performances broadcast live throughout a majority of the planet? Well the answer is simple….they began by performing in the smallest clubs and grassroots venues around, and through hard graft and some fortunate breaks along the way, they made it! This truly highlights the great importance of those small, limited capacity venues up and down the length and breadth of the land. Venues exactly like this evening’s venue, The Pipeline which is neatly sandwiched between Brighton Town Hall and East Street. At a guestinmate the capacity of this first floor performance room can’t be more than 65 souls, and yet it’s here that on an almost daily basis that bands and artists rock on up and play their material to the friends, followers, the other bands and new converts, often just for the hell of it. Thus The Pipeline, the similarly sized Rossi Bar, and the slightly larger venues in Brighton are an essential breeding ground for the acts of tomorrow, and to keep genres and scenes still going.
We are here at The Pipeline by a stroke of luck, as only a few days before those internet algorithms finally decided to flag up on both my Facebook and Instagram scrollings that Palindrones and IAmImperfect were playing at this venue, and the accompanying video snippets of all four acts on the bill seriously drew my attention. Especially on account that we have not seen or reviewed any of the 4 acts, which, having reviewed so many over the past 8 years, is a real rarity. We simply had to go and investigate.
Liquid refreshment was acquired and we headed upstairs. The proposed set times were:
Distant Figures 8:00pm – 8:30pm
I Am Imperfect 8:45pm – 9:15pm
Infra Violet 9:30pm – 10:00pm
Palindrones 10:15pm – 10:45pm
However I’m going to work backwards and so it’s to this evening’s headliners that we begin with Palindrones. Black clothing is very much the order of the day for this evening from the bands and the mixed aged punters. The sound for a majority of the night is rather good and the lighting is adequate for such a compact venue. According to their blurb “Palindrones is an electronic music duo from London, UK. They play dreamy, Industrial Synthpop, crafting immersive musical landscapes that mix pounding beats and blistering synth drones with a lush, hypnotic ambience, subtle pop melodies and haunting, esoteric lyrics, drawing the listener into a dream-like reverie. Palindrones was born in the London DIY punk scene, an ethos they carry into their frenetic live shows, evoking the energy of a rock gig and the pulse of a euphoric trance club”. This is exactly the music that I like, so I’m guessing you’re already primed as to how this one’s gonna go!
Palindrones are a duo comprising Karen on lead vocals, keys (mininova), & Jamie on vocals, keys (ultranova), and percussion (Korg SPD-SX, Floor tom). They started exchanging music files during lockdown and they have taken it from there. Annoyingly I learn that this is their fourth Brighton gig (Blast! I’m slacking!).
It’s clear that from the off that Jamie and Karen are up-for-it tonight and that they are in the zone. Karen’s eyes have that engaging sparkle to them, which wins over those gathered. They begin with the first of five tunes that have been released this year, this being ‘Abraxas’, which has a fast dance rave goth style beat, with Karen’s vocals delivered at a much slower space. This then segues straight into ‘Kryne Lamiya’, which is another unusually titled number in the same ilk. Of note is Jamie’s use of impressively looking drumsticks, that when striking the solo drum, they light up red. The very danceable tunes come at us fast and furious and ‘Anima’ is their next selection and the crowd are merrily bopping away.
The halfway point is marked with the arrival of ‘Animus’ and if goths used glow sticks, then they would seriously be waving them throughout this performance. More banging numbers arrived with ‘Azathoth’ and forthcoming release, ‘The Brightling Star’ (now that’s a good pub name!). Jamie often hits the Roland drumpads, but I can’t separate their sound from the rest of what is going on, but when he switches to the solo actual drum, and when Karen also joins him by hitting two wooden blocks together, it has that Bow Wow Wow drumming vibe going on. They leave us with ‘Resonance Factor’ where yet again Karen’s vocals are enthusiastically delivered from the heart and the beats wrap around me in an immersive way.
They were pretty damn well perfect throughout their performance, but I feel as though I need to have a moan in stating that only offering 7 tracks across an all-too-short 28 minute headline set, from 10:18pm to 10:46pm, wasn’t enough for me! But maybe, just maybe, that was their clever plan, as I was left feeling that I wanted to hear so much more. There was only one option open for me and that was to open my wallet and purchase both of their albums, these being 2023’s ‘Chapter One: With Fearful Velocity’ and 2025 ‘Chapter Two: The Slender Blade’. Hopefully they will make a swift return down the M23 and play for us again real soon!
Palindrones:
Karen – vocals, synth
Jamie – synth, percussion, electronics, vocals
Palindrone setlist:
‘Abraxas’ (from 2025 ‘Chapter Two: The Slender Blade’ album)
‘Kryne Lamiya’ (from 2025 ‘Chapter Two: The Slender Blade’ album)
‘Anima’ (from 2023 ‘Chapter One: With Fearful Velocity’ album)
‘Animus’ (from 2025 ‘Chapter Two: The Slender Blade’ album)
‘Azathoth’ (from 2025 ‘Chapter Two: The Slender Blade’ album)
‘The Brightling Star’ (unreleased)
‘Resonance Factor’ (from 2025 ‘Chapter Two: The Slender Blade’ album)
The third band of the evening were Infra Violet who are also a duo. They comprise Beth on guitar (PRS Santana) and vocals, Toby on bass guitar (Ibanez Talman) and synths, and for live performances they also use a laptop for synths and drum machines. Infra Violet are an Indie-pop duo based in Brighton. A collaboration between DIY singer-songwriter Beth’s tapping fingerstyle guitar and raw soulful vocals, and producer Toby Campen’s 80’s & 90’s inspired multi-instrumental playing and atmospheric soundscapes.
Forming in early 2020, the duo already has several successful releases including ‘Polaroid’, ‘Move’ and ‘Grow’, mastered by Pete Maher (Depeche Mode, U2, The 1975). They’ve gained regular international radio play including BBC Radio, Phoenix FM and Nightride FM, plus a feature on ‘This is Synthwave 3’ compilation album by Red Manor Records.
‘Dream Tether’ was their debut album, released late 2021 to overwhelmingly positive acclaim. Pushing the boundaries of the genre by combining singer-songwriter, rock, fingerstyle and electronic influences, the duo has poured everything into an emotional, passionate and bold debut. They released their third single, ‘Drives’, on 26th June and this will also turn up on their highly anticipated second album.
We are also in Infra Violet’s company for 28 minutes, from 9:36pm to 10:04pm, in which time they too play us just a 7-song set. Before they and we realise it, their set begins, they look almost unready when given the nod from the sound guy (Kian/Cian) at the back of the room. They weren’t ready as Beth’s guitar had no sound coming out, but within a few seconds and panicked looks later, it was fixed, and all was well with the world, as they carried on with opener ‘Grow’, the first of a trio of cuts from from 2021’s ‘Dream Tether’ album. This is followed by ‘Gold’ from the same release and now that the duo are more relaxed and into their stride, I’m sensing this is the real Infra Violet we are now getting.
A quartet of one word titled co-penned 2023 to 2025 singles are performed next, these being ‘Move’, ‘Drives’ (second ever live performance), ‘Alchemist’ and ‘Masochist’. Toby enjoys throwing his head back as he plays his bass, and Beth at times has an unusual tapping fingerstyle on her guitar. But what really steals the show is ‘pocket rocket’ Beth’s truly powerful vocal delivery. It’s astounding and quite possibly will be the most impressive I will hear this month, mind you I might have a Cordelia Gartside performance to come! Infra Violet offer up chart friendly material with a slight EBM and goth stance, and based on this they are more likely to support Taylor Swift than Clan Of Xymox. They reminded me at times of singer and keyboardist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody aka American rock band Evanescence. They closed with the oldest song of the set, 2021’s ‘Polaroid’, with its bouncy beat and notable keys, which ironically was my fave of the set. They are therefore clearly moving away from what I personally like and into more mainstream territory, but there’s serious potential going on here!
Infra Violet:
Bethany Munroe – vocals, guitar
Toby Campen – bass, synths, laptop
Infra Violet setlist:
‘Grow’ (from 2021 ‘Dream Tether’ album)
‘Gold’ (from 2021 ‘Dream Tether’ album)
‘Move’ (a 2024 single)
‘Drives’ (a 2025 single)
‘Alchemist’ (a 2024 single)
‘Masochist’ (a 2023 single)
‘Polaroid’ (from 2021 ‘Dream Tether’ album)
The second act to perform this evening are IAmImperfect who according to their social media offer “Industrial Synthpop Goth from Sheffield” and they, Paul Jackson (vocals, synths, programming/laptop) and Kelly Dorset (Gibson guitar) wouldn’t be wrong in that. They have thus far dropped a handful of releases, four singles and an EP. We are in their company for half an hour from 8:51pm to 9:21pm and during that time we are rewarded with a half dozen compositions, commencing with a couple of yet-to-be-released tunes ‘Surviving Is Not Living’ and ‘Solitary Shell’.
I immediately pick up on how melodic Paul’s vocals are and musically, I am drawn to the sound of Sascha Mario Klein and Henning Verlage, who together are Neuroticfish, and in particular their excellent ‘Suffocating Right’ release, which I played to death about a decade ago. In fact as each IAmImperfect song was delivered, I couldn’t unhear the ‘Suffocating Right’ earworm in my head. For those of you who aren’t sure of the sound then a comparison would be 1990 ‘Violator’-era Depeche Mode. Thus, IAmImperfect would be absolutely perfect for Wave-Gotik-Treffen (‘Wave Gothic Meeting’) the annual world festival for “dark” music and “dark culture” which is held in Leipzig in Germany.
There are definite rock influences in IAmImperfect’s sound, which mainly comes from Kelly and his Gibson, and yet this pushes against harmonious vocals and electronic backing beats that come via Paul. They work well together and each feels the music as they play. We are then informed to head on over to Bandcamp where we can purchase their new single, which is titled ‘The Fallen’, which is an immediate tune with its solid beat and keys riffs. Their ‘Old Wounds’ single from last year has anthemic qualities, after which we are informed that they are going to end by playing two singles that are available on the merch stall on an EP. The EP in question is last year’s ‘Reincarnate’ release which contains 4 tunes. Paul states that the first of these, ‘Inside Of Me’ is about suffering with anxiety. This briefly features Kelly on backing vocals when he delivers “There’s always something holding me back” as part of his lines. They sign off with the solid rockin’ ‘Static & Feeling’, which again sees Kelly on backing vocals as he delivers the spine-tingling “Just rotten flesh” line. It’s been an enjoyable set, and I knew it would be. Shame that these guys aren’t Brighton based as I truly would love to see them again!
IAmImperfect:
Paul Jackson – lead vocals, synths, programming
Kelly Dorset – guitar, backing vocals
IAmImperfect setlist:
‘Surviving Is Not Living’ (unreleased)
‘Solitary Shell’ (unreleased)
‘The Fallen’ (a 2025 single)
‘Old Wounds’ (a 2024 single)
‘Inside Of Me’ (from 2024 ‘Reincarnate’ EP)
‘Static & Feeling’ (from 2024 ‘Reincarnate’ EP)
Kicking off this evening’s entertainment was Distant Figures which is the project of locally based artist Andrew Lowlife. We are in his company for 27 minutes from 8:11pm to 8:38pm and it’s simply him along with a Novation keyboard, a mini effects unit and a laptop. There’s no microphone as all of the tunes are instrumental affairs and there isn’t a mic available for Andrew to address the crowd. This is simply a case of letting the music speak for itself, and indeed it does. Musically it’s an amalgam of booming EBM dance with goth tinges akin to latter Nitzer Ebb meets ‘Razormaid’ remixes, meets ‘Magic Fly’ by Space, (not ‘The Female Of The Species’ one). Andrew’s gaze is fixed on exactly what he is doing throughout his set, but does briefly on one occasion step out of character and brings out his effects unit into the crowd and invites a punter to have a go. Despite the lack of interaction Andrew’s set went down well with the punters.
Distant Figures:
Andrew Lowlife – Novation keys, mini effects unit, laptop
Distant Figures setlist:
All material played does not have proper titles
www.facebook.com/andrew.lowlife
