GOODBYE + MAXIMILLIAN + ANKNEE – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 17.10.25
Just over a year after headlining their debut performance at The Rossi Bar, Goodbye played their second Brighton headline show at The Prince Albert on Friday. And what an outstanding show it was to be.
Goodbye sit between shoegaze shimmer, post-punk grit and upbeat jangling indie to create their own fresh soundscapes. Their sound is a moody mix of reverb-drenched guitars, brooding basslines and keyboards, over which cut through emotionally raw vocals that reflect and soar in equal measure. The band features Megan Wheeler (vocals), Sarah Ryan (guitar, synth, vocals), Alfie Beer (guitar, vocals), Jake Smith (bass), and Elik Eddy (drums).
A real sense of excitement had built, by the time Goodbye took to the stage. They started with the spacy soundscape of ‘Wartha’. As with many songs across the set, they cleverly changed the tempo throughout their songs, led by some top-quality drumming from Elik. The wonderful vocal harmonies between Megan and Sarah adapted with ease to the changing speed of the music. There was a haunting quality which soared before Megan’s soft vocal to close.
There were several great new tunes in Goodbye’s set, the first of which was up next, ‘Reverie In Fever’. The upbeat jangly indie feel and those Smiths-like sound from Alfie’s guitar appeared first on ‘Reverie In Fever’ and across the set to great effect. The three-way vocals between Megan, Sarah and Alfie also worked particularly well in this song, either when Megan sang the quieter section alone or the three-way unaccompanied vocals to close.
As the band retuned, Elik kept the momentum with his drumming. This morphed into the introduction of ‘Stoic Friend’. Above the magnificent wall of sound rose Megan’s angelic voice, as it did on so many occasions. Introduced as a brand-new song, ‘Tadpoles’ featured some very impressive intricate guitar work from Sarah, which contrasted well with Alfie’s acoustic guitar and Elik’s more laid-back drums. Just as many thought the song had finished, it exploded back to life before closing as it started with a great soft guitar.
There was a genuine sense of fun in Goodbye’s live show, with the band’s light-hearted playfulness. As the band retuned before the next tunes, Megan mischievously kept stepping on the guitarists’ pedal boards.
Back to the music, another new song ‘Iron’, previously appearing on setlists as ‘Really New One’ featured a playfully sassiness in Megan’s voice. Her bewitching vocal on this song also had theatrical hints of Kate Bush. While on the next song, ‘13a’ there was a sweetness and vulnerability in the vocal harmony. On ‘Origami’, which began with Sarah’s gentle keyboard, the vocals started with an almost mystical feel and as the song built up and soared wonderfully and effortlessly.
As Alfie took lead vocals on ‘The Boy’, Megan cheekily insisted he wore the foil “singing hat”. I should add despite being the lead singer in the band, Megan never actually wore the singing hat herself. Just saying, not judging. The fast infectious sounds of Alfie’s jangly guitar and Jake’s brilliant bass lines soon got even more people in the crowd dancing.
There was a change in pace with the starker clipped opening of ‘Meat’ with an almost understated spoken vocal. The music and vocals soared and fell back in perfect unison, as the song built, before a beautifully haunting vocal from Megan as the song faded to its close. This fitted well with the softer introduction on the next song ‘Take Time’. On that song there was a beautiful softness in the vocals.
As well as new songs introduced into their set, Goodbye have developed older songs such as ‘Take Time’ adding more depth to them. Another change was incorporating electronic drum pads into their setup, layering digital textures over the acoustic kit to expand their sound.
Goodbye closed a spectacular set with ‘Benji’s Collar’, which after Megan’s soft solo vocal, exploded into an incredible wall of sound. As throughout the set, her vocals soared superbly to match those rises and took on a more haunting quality as the music dropped back.
A simple “Thank you” from Megan signalled the end of arguably Goodbye’s best performance I’ve enjoyed, and definitely up there with the best I’ve seen from any artist this year. In the set Goodbye teased that more was to come and a single release was imminent. The postcards on their merch stall included a play on the title of one of their songs saying “We will ‘Meat’ again soon. Until then, goodbye”. Exciting times ahead for Goodbye.
Goodbye:
Megan Wheeler – vocals
Sarah Ryan – guitar, synth, vocals
Alfie Beer – guitar, vocals
Jake Smith – bass
Elik Eddy – drums
Goodbye setlist:
‘Wartha’ (unreleased)
‘Reverie In Fever’ (unreleased)
‘Stoic Friend’ (unreleased)
‘Tadpoles’ (unreleased)
‘Iron’ (unreleased)
‘13a’ (unreleased)
‘Origami’ (unreleased)
‘Meat’ (unreleased)
‘The Boy’ (unreleased)
‘Take Time’ (unreleased)
‘Benji’s Collar’ (unreleased)
Opening at The Prince Albert was Anknee, who most Brighton gig goers would have known as Annie the singer with Clt Drp. What they may not have recognised was a completely different style in her solo acoustic performance.
She began with a cover of Phil Phillips’s ‘Sea Of Love’, before several of her own compositions. ‘Good Women’, which is available on Spotify, had a country folk sound, while ‘Silenced’ had the rebellious feel of a protest song. Whatever the style of music, the quality of Annie’s powerful and sometimes tender vocal shone through. ‘The Way That You Want’ was more varied with reflective and self-contemplating parts and also powerful shouted vocals.
For the closing number ‘Behind The Wall’, a Tracy Chapman cover, Annie put down her guitar and stood up from her stool. Her strong unaccompanied vocal was very impressive, and captivated the whole audience. It was a very good opening set, showcasing another side of Annie’s talents beyond those seen with Clt Drp, which I and those in early thoroughly enjoyed.
Ankee setlist:
‘Sea of Love’ (Phil Phillips cover)
‘Good Women’ (on Spotify)
‘Christmas Song’ (unreleased)
‘Silenced’ (unreleased)
‘The Way That You Want’ (unreleased)
‘Behind the Wall’ (Tracy Chapman cover)
The middle artist on Fridays’ bill was Maximilian, who was joined by a bassist, keyboards and drummer. His style leaned into the classic singer-songwriter tradition with its heartfelt lyrics, acoustic textures, and an intimate delivery.
After two mellow understated typical singer-songwriter delivered songs, there was a spoken poetry start to ‘Soft Song’. ‘I Know You’ was introduced as “The only happy song in the set”. It had a more upbeat confident sound and crisper vocals, reflecting the song’s sentiment. Before ‘Long Time Gone’ Maximilian announced he was “going electric” as he swapped guitars. This started softly, initially as a solo before building with thumping drums and crashing cymbals, before fading to just the keys and then getting a second wind. Maximilian closed with ‘Ants On A Hill’, which featured a harsher sound on the drums and in particular the keyboards.
There was undoubted quality in Maximilian’s voice and the band’s music. The introspective acoustics and gentle vocal style in the songs, particularly early on, meant that they tended to blend into one another, risking sameness across the set. This was redeemed later in what was a decent performance from Maximilian, which many seemed to enjoy.
Maximilian setlist:
‘Rest Ur Head’ (unreleased)
‘If Only’ (unreleased)
‘Soft Song’ (unreleased)
‘I Know You’ (unreleased)
‘Long Time Gone’ (a 2025 single)
‘Ants On A Hill’ (unreleased)
