NIGHT SWIMMING + HIGHDRIVE + MOON IDLE – GREEN DOOR STORE, BRIGHTON 26.9.25
Bath based dream pop band Night Swimming bought their UK headline tour to Brighton’s Green Door Store on Friday courtesy of JOY Concerts. The band are Meg Jones (vocals), Sam Allen, Jesse Roache (guitars), Josh Nottle (bass) and Torin Moore (drums). The band’s mesmerising sound takes the ethereal, melodic elements of early Wolf Alice and Slowdive; combining them with the minimalism of Portishead and Massive Attack.
They opened with the soft ‘Nothing Safe Is Technicolour’ with Meg’s angelic vocals floating over the music. It was dream-pop at its best and a taste of the stunning quality to follow in the rest of their set. Incidentally the technicolour of Meg’s bright red outfit on the night stood out amongst the smoke effects on stage. ‘In The Real World’ continued in the same vein. Their latest single ‘Second Place’, which followed, had a deeper sound and the shoegaze ambience of the likes of Slowdive and The Cocteau Twins shone through beautifully. By the next song ‘Warmer’, some in the audience were moving and dancing along to the sweet tunes.
We heard other sides to Meg’s vocal range on the next few unreleased songs. On ‘Submarine’ there was a choral-like quality, especially at the start with her solo vocal. ‘Submarine’, as with many other songs in Night Swimming’s set, had a trance-like quality that drew you into its beauty and layers of sound. On ‘Hope And Wavering’ her voice was less ethereal, but maintained that special sweetness. That song had delicate hints of a folkier style, whereas ‘Dark Clouds’ was far more upbeat, poppy and danceable. Something soon picked up by the crowd with many more dancing along.
‘Let That Be Enough’ started with trip hop drumming and soft intricate guitar. Later it burst into life part way through, which was picked up by the person on lighting. By contrast ‘Whispers On Argyle’, a song released a few months before, started with Meg’s vocal with minimal accompaniment. There was complete silence in the room for that stunning vocal.
After the more up-tempo ‘Poison Berry’, Night Swimming closed a beautiful captivating set with ‘Five-Year Plan’, in my opinion saving their best to last. With its dreamlike otherworldly quality, it seemed like the whole of the Green Door Store was caught up in the music, either dancing or transfixed. A stunning close to a very special performance being one of the best shoegaze dream-pop sets I’ve seen in a long time.
Night Swimming:
Meg Jones – vocals
Sam Allen – guitar
Jesse Roache – guitar
Josh Nottle – bass
Torin Moore – drums
Night Swimming setlist:
‘Nothing Safe Is Technicolour’ (unreleased)
‘In The Real World’ (a 2025 single)
‘Second Place’ (a 2025 single)
‘Warmer’ (from 2024 ‘No Place To Land’ EP)
‘Submarine’ (unreleased)
‘Hope And Wavering’ (unreleased)
‘Dark Clouds’ (unreleased)
‘Evergreen’ (from 2024 ‘No Place To Land’ EP)
‘Let That Be Enough’ (from 2024 ‘No Place To Land’ EP)
‘Whispers On Argyle’ (a 2025 single)
‘Poison Berry’ (unreleased)
‘Five-Year Plan’ (from 2024 ‘No Place To Land’ EP)
Opening were Brighton trip-hop band Moon Idle. They are Quilla Robinson (vocals, keyboard and guitar), Jasper Fergus (guitar), Felix Burton (drums) and Felix Essex (bass), It was only new bassist Felix’s second show with the band.
Getting there early, I caught the end of their sound check from the Green Door Store bar. It was clear before they had even started it was potentially going to be something special.
Moon Idle started with Jasper playing with the effects via his pedal board which morphed into the opening song ‘Seed’ on a couple of taps from Felix’s drumsticks. The beautiful opening number saw Quilla hugging her guitar as she gave our first glimpse of the beauty and range of her vocals. ‘Girl In Blue’ had a livelier start with clever subtle shifts in tempo within their signature laid-back sound. The next song ‘Make Up’ from the band’s debut EP ‘Kindly’ featured clever clipped guitar parts. Both ‘Make Up’ and the slower ‘Oranges’ which followed showcased Quilla’s soaring vocals which sounded so relaxed even on those notes.
The band announced that they are releasing a new single ‘Godzilla’ on 3rd October, (pre-save it HERE). The song was a distinct change in style with its heavier, harsher more industrial sound over which sat Quilla’s contrasting sweet vocals. Think Just Mustard with trip hop drums and basslines.
Moon Idle closed with the multidimensional ‘Delay Me’. The opening effects could have been used in a sci-fi show, while the drums and bass seemed inspired by the likes of Massive Attack. The bass in particular on that song was far funkier and more prominent. ‘Delay Me’ later switched from trip-hop to more alt-rock, with the feel of a rock jamming session and the effects going into overdrive. A great choice to close their wonderful set.
Moon Idle have clearly been evolving, adding to and fine tuning their songs between shows to good effect, bringing even more depth and variety both within existing songs and across their set. They mixed up their sounds with more powerful bolder sections, without ever losing their laid-back minimal trip hop base. All resulting in a very special performance, which was hinted at in their soundcheck.
Moon Idle’s next Brighton show is on Thursday 30th October at The Hope and Ruin supporting Adult Leisure (Tickets HERE).
Moon Idle:
Quilla Robinson – vocals, keyboard and guitar
Jasper Fergus – guitar
Felix Burton – drums
Felix Essex – bass
Moon Idle setlist:
‘Seed’ (unreleased)
‘Girl In Blue’ (unreleased)
‘Makeup’ (from 2023 ‘Kindly’ EP)
‘Oranges’ (unreleased)
‘Godzilla’ (unreleased)
‘Delay Me’ (unreleased)
The middle band on the running order were Highdrive, a Brighton-based five-piece with a lively fuzz punk sound. While it was my first time seeing Highdrive, I recognised Lucas Leitch (vocals, guitar), Felix (guitar) and Billy Houghton (drums) from Holler and Eva Jaksi (bass, vocals) and Bella Palanques (guitar) from Triple Drain.
In contrast to the other two bands on Friday’s bill, Highdrive were a lot louder. I should have guessed that from the Jesus and Mary Chain and Just Mustard t-shirts worn by two of the band. Those noise levels were clear from the start of their opening song ‘Cherry’. Initially on this song Lucas’s vocals were relatively gentle compared to the band’s music, yet worked well. Eva’s fast bass lines on this song were impressive. The loud quiet sections of the next two songs ‘Something I Said’ and ‘Swan’ worked well. The former started with a rock intro, whereas the latter had a mellower start. Guitarist Felix could be seen playing most of ‘Something I Said’ on his knees playing guitar and using effects from his pedal board.
There was a change in style at the start of ‘Tie Me Down’ with a gentle guitar and more of a pop shoegaze sound, before exploding as the drummer and bassist increased the tempo and volume. The band went straight into their next song ‘Emetophobia’ which had a Fontaines DC vibe, but I may have been reading too much into the drummer’s Fontaines t-shirt. There was a louder more direct style in Lucas’s vocals, he was also jumping around more by this stage of the set. I also noticed a lot more dancing and movement in the audience, and not just those at the front.
Highdrive closed a very good lively and exciting set with ‘Passing By’. I have enjoyed seeing them in their other bands Holler and Triple Drain, and I was equally impressed with my first time seeing Highdrive. Lots of energy, great tunes and well-constructed songs, I will definitely be looking out for their next Brighton show.
Highdrive:
Lucas Leitch – lead vocals, guitar
Eva Jaksi – bass, vocals
Bella Palanques – guitar
Felix Cleeve – guitar
Billy Houghton – drums
Highdrive setlist:
‘Cherry’ (unreleased)
‘Something I Said’ (unreleased)
‘Swan’ (unreleased)
‘Tie Me Down’ (unreleased)
‘Emetophobia’ (unreleased)
‘Passing By’ (unreleased)
