BLOC PARTY + EVERYTHING EVERYTHING + ENGLISH TEACHER + MYSTERY JETS + LIZ LAWRENCE + FEET + MARTIAL ARTS – BRIGHTON BEACH 20.7.25
It’s Day Three of Seven of the very popular ‘On The Beach’ series of open air concerts on Brighton Beach. Day One’s event was headlined by Bonobo with a half dozen other artists sharing the bill – Read our account HERE and Day Two’s event was headlined by Eric Prydz also with a half dozen other artists sharing the bill – Read our account HERE.
Bloc Party: 21:00-22:30
There was genuine excitement in the packed crowd as they awaited the arrival of Bloc Party for their headline set, where they performed their debut album ‘Silent Alarm’ and others from their greatest hits. That sense of anticipation started 7 hours earlier, as possibly the first person through the gate, who as you might expect was wearing a Bloc Party t-shirt, ran to claim a prime spot front and centre on the barrier.
It wasn’t the predictable setlist of an album played in track order, nor the album and then other hits, which you so often get. Bloc Party started with the beautiful melodic ‘So Here We Are’ with a real tenderness in Kele Okereke’s vocals, while their third number of the night was ‘Hunting For Witches’ from ‘A Weekend In The City’. Not that the crowd needed any help anticipating the song order as they were singing along enthusiastically from the start of each and every one. Kele picked up on this, as he pointed his microphone towards the crowd during the chorus of ‘One More Chance’ as they echoed his words. Early on Kele called out “Brighton, let’s get this party started”; from where I was it was already in full swing. With the opening notes of ‘Banquet’, the excitement levels went up yet another gear, as did the light show with the sun setting. There was a good variety of tempo and style across the set with mellower tracks such as ‘The Love Within’ and ‘Signs’ working well with their more up-tempo hits. It seemed fitting that ‘Waiting For The 7.18’, with its lyric, “Lets drive to Brighton for the weekend” should be included. There was no waiting around for the next track, ‘Helicopter’ with its instantly recognisable guitar intro. When Kele announced there were two more songs left, he added “Thankfully they’re pretty good”. They were, and even better was that after ‘This Modern Love’. They fitted in another song to close a brilliant performance with ‘The Pioneers’.
Everything Everything: 19:15-20:15
The penultimate act on Sunday was Everything Everything, dressed in matching turquoise shirts. The Manchester art rock band are noted for their eclectic sound and complex, avant-garde-inspired lyrics. Their opening song ‘The Mad Stone’ set the tone with its fun, fresh, experimental pop qualities. Across the set, the brilliance and intricacies in Jonathan Higgs’s vocals were striking. This included, the fast tongue-twisting parts on ‘The Mad Stone’, the poppy higher pitched ones on ‘Kemosabe’ and tender mellower moments on ‘Jennifer’ to highlight but a few. In some cases, he used different styles within the same song, as on ‘Distant Past’. ‘Distant Past’ was a definite crowd favourite with its strong dance feel. From the start and throughout Everything Everything’s fans in the crowd added to the great performance from the stage. No need for the band to prompt for hands-in-the-air clapping, the eager audience were already onto it. After the up-tempo ‘Distant Past’, Everything Everything closed on a more solemn note with ‘No Reptiles’. Not that that change in tempo detracted from the totally entertaining and enjoyable nature of such an inventive and fun set.
linktr.ee/everythingeverythingband
English Teacher: 18:00-18:45
With the stage backdrop reading “This Could Be English Teacher”, a play on their album title, the Leeds band announced their arrival with the unmistakable opening bassline of ‘The World’s Biggest Paving Slab’. There were a couple of older songs from their ‘Polyawkward’ EP, which changed the tempo with the haunting ‘Mental Maths’ and Lily Fontaine singing solo at the start of ‘A55’. Lily’s voice was so good, the crowd cheered individual moments of her vocal brilliance mid-song, such as her emotionally pained soaring notes on the menacing ‘You Blister My Paint’. English Teacher often adapt the arrangement of their songs when played live. On ‘This Could Be Texas’ they altered an opening line to “800 people gathered on Brighton beach”. ‘R&B’ was another example, often played at double speed, this time the addition of the cello gave it another interpretation. The band skilfully fused ‘This Could Be Texas’ into ‘Broken Biscuits’, even more impressive as drummer Douglas Frost swapped from keyboard to drums and Lily took over on keys. English Teacher closed a brilliant performance with ‘Albert Road’. The sheer quality of that long soaring note Lily held unaccompanied at the end was extraordinary. It was the second time this year I’ve had the pleasure of watching English Teacher play on Brighton beach; the first being ‘The Great Escape’ festival in May. For me, their performance at ‘On The Beach’ on Sunday was even better.
Mystery Jets: 16:45-17:30
Mystery Jets are an English indie rock band, formed on Eel Pie Island in Twickenham. The size of the crowd had picked up by the time they took to the stage. They opened with ‘Petty Drone’ with its pleasant soft indie rock sounds and harmonic vocals. Those at the front of the audience were clapping along to their second song, the softer ‘Serotonin’. The backing singing on ‘Flash A Hungry Smile’ was replaced by backing whistling, which added to its nostalgic feel. When the band suggested the crowd could have a dance to ‘Bubblegum’, many took up that offer. Mystery Jets mentioned that 20 years ago their first tour was with Sunday’s headliners Bloc Party, and they played Concorde 2, just across Madeira Drive from the ‘On The Beach’ site. They took it back to the noughties with the catchy ‘Two Doors’, before closing a pleasing set with ‘Someone Purer’ which started slowly, but was more rousing at its close.
Liz Lawrence: 15:50-16:20
Liz Lawrence is a singer, songwriter and guitarist, who is known for her solo work and for previously being half of electro-pop duo Cash+David. She was joined by a full band for her live show. After a polite “Hello Brighton”, she and her band played a strong pleasing indie pop set. Liz played with a smile on her face throughout. During the instrumental parts she would wander around the stage or dance in a style similar, but less exaggerated, to Talking Heads’s David Byrne. A highlight was the bitter sweet ‘None Of My Friends’ with its good bass line, before closing with a couple of rockier numbers.
Feet: 15:00-15:30
Feet are an indie rock band formed in Coventry. Their sound mixed Brit-pop, rock, and psychedelic influences. Their catchy tunes with quintessential English witty lyrics worked well across their set. ‘English Weather’ referencing the need for umbrellas was an example of their observational lyrics. The sun cream handed out by the helpful event staff was more in keeping with the weather than umbrellas on this occasion. Each of the three guitarists seemed to have a slightly different playing style, which came together well. It was a very good set from Feet, which rightly got a good response from the cheering crowd, who had arrived early.
Martial Arts: 14:15-14:45
Manchester-based five-piece Martial Arts opened Sunday’s proceedings at ‘On The Beach’. Their melodic post-punk sound was a mix of 1990’s alt-rock and hints of bands such as The Murder Capital. Above the music were Jim Marson’s powerful vocals, which demanded the audience’s attention. After their fast energetic numbers Martial Arts closed a very strong performance with a slower number, which worked well.
As well as the quality of the bands on stage, the helpful, friendly and efficient event staff deserve a mention. They helped make this well-organised event such a great experience.
