The Prince Albert has been a bastion for everything punk rock (and associated genres) for quite some time now! It has arguably established itself as the go to punk venue of choice for bands that are able to bring in around a hundred eager punters for a good time! Of course Brighton has other punk orientated venues including The Pipeline and the Cowley Club, but their capacities are around half that of The Albert and there isn’t really competition between the establishments as each have their own loyal clientele.
It’s true to state that The Prince Albert is well known throughout the land due to its famous ‘dead pop stars’ murals on its exterior walls and now some are cropping up inside the venue as well. For some tourists the building is the first port of call having arrived by train from Brighton Railway Station which is located a mere few feet away. It’s not an uncommon site to see folk of all nationalities endeavouring to get a few photos of the venue whilst standing there trying to identify all of the deceased stars, with some being easier than others. The unique illustrations scream out at passers by due to the striking colours of the backgrounds, with a majority of images being in black and white. It’s not just stars of the punk world up there, but a whole host of musicians from right across the spectrum, including Frank Zappa, Ian Curtis, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison and Lou Reed, and that’s just a few that are tucked up in the top left corner!
The building screams out that “this is a grassroots music venue”, one which has witnessed many bands on their way up to stardom, as well as those from the past that surely keep playing for the love of it, as well as a host of local music acts.
The promotion of one of the upcoming events recently came to my attention, as being a sci-fi nerd, I noted the use of an image from the 1956 ‘It Conquered The World’ movie, which starred Peter Graves, Beverly Garland and Lee Van Cleef. It’s a classic, but these days would fall under the banner of it’s so bad that it’s good! The gig in question will be taking place on Friday 10th November and there are two support acts, these being Rage DC and Sweet Jonny, with both names are familiar to me, especially Rage DC who we have reviewed a few times.
We reported on Rage DC at last year’s Undercover Festival in Guildford and observed thus:
“Rage DC, a four-piece from Bracknell, are Undercover stalwarts, and have been selected as tonight’s “aftershow” act. We’ve reviewed them at a recent show in Brighton, (Read HERE) and their punch-the-air anthems provide an energetic soundtrack for a final dance workout of the evening. The music is power punk with big hooks and chant along choruses, based around the twin guitar attack of Loric and Graham. Drummer Ziggy is an absolute powerhouse behind the kit, and bassist Chris is getting plenty of air beneath his feet with frequent leaps and bounds around the stage. Every song’s a winner, but I particularly enjoy roaring along to ‘Make A Noise’, ‘Austerity’, ‘I’ve Had Enough’, and set closer ‘RIP Mr VIP’”.
Sweet Jonny refer to themselves as “A gutter garage rock band from a do nothing town, to your new nightmare neighbours” and Louder Than War described them as “Low down and dirty punk rock’n’roller gorehounds… they do it well and don’t give a monkeys, a s*** or indeed a f***.”
So we’ve got those two covered, but there’s an air of mystery over the headliners of the 10th November gig. The flyer states “VD Boilers play Johnny Moped”, could this mean that the legendary Johnny Moped now have their own tribute act? Surely not?
I know that ‘V.D. Boiler’ is a tune found on Johnny Moped’s classic 1978 ‘Cycledelic’ album, so that’s where the imposters(?) got their name from and I’ve seen Johnny Moped support The Damned at the Brighton Dome (Review HERE) as well as them previously playing at Patterns (Review HERE) and at The Prince Albert (Review HERE), but I reckon the only way of finding out who these guys are is by checking out the 5-piece VD Boilers punk band. I have a strong suspicion that you won’t be disappointed!
Snap up your tickets HERE.
More information on real Johnny Moped can be found HERE and HERE.
