Hope & Ruin Tenth Birthday, headlined by The Four Horsemen (or was it Lime Garden?)

Posted on 15/02/2025 by brightonmusicblog

Happy Birthday Hope & Ruin! The venue in it’s current form opened it’s doors for the first time ten years ago this week, and the birthday celebrations kicked off last night with a free gig fronted by the mysteriously named Four Horsemen. A few crumbs had been dished out on social media that the previously unheard of band was actually local heroes Lime Garden, who’ve had their heads down recently working on new material. Their set was a first airing for some of these tracks as well as some old favourites, and – since it was valentines day – a cover of Careless Whisper where they were joined by Alfie Beer (from goodbye, formerly in Fliptop Head) on trombone. They were ably supported by Ladylike and Harper for a packed out show at the venue which has more than established itself as a corner of the local scene. The fun continues tonight with another free gig featuring How Long You Been Driving, Wimp, Francis Pig and That Band Called Susan.

Memorials / Memorial Waterslides album launch tour at Alphabet

Posted on 25/10/2024 by brightonmusicblog

Earlier this month Memorials released their debut album Memorial Waterslides on Fire Records (last year’s Music for Film didn’t count as a debut because it was soundtracks, apparently). The duo have just completed a UK tour to support the release, starting in Scotland a couple of weeks ago and culminating in a hometown gig at Alphabet last night, supported by Emma Gattrill. A personal highlight for us was the extended version of the album’s centrepiece Memorial Waterslide II (if you’re wondering about part one, that was released on their Centre Pompidou EP earlier this year), which brought to mind some of Stereolab’s extended psychedelic tracks – indeed both bands share a manager and Laetitia Sadier was spotted in the audience at the gig (Graham Sowerby from AK/DK – playing at Alphabet next week – and David Best from Fujiya & Miyagi were also in attendance). The gig ended early without an encore which gave me the time to enjoy a drink at Alphabet’s gorgeous new bar downstairs, which feels like a sophisticated secret drinking den and might well be Brighton’s best kept secret.

Memorial Waterslides is out now at record shops, streaming sites and at bandcamp:

Dome Studio Live – Holiday Ghosts / Currls / Room Service

Posted on 20/10/2024 by brightonmusicblog

Back when we first started the blog, Dome Studio Live gigs were a regular fixture. Initially the nights had started as a collaboration with Juice FM, before they split away and started their own new music nights. The Dome then partnered with The Source Magazine until they changed from being a print magazine to online only. After that the Dome put the nights on themselves and branded them as Spectrum. Then in 2017 the Dome Studio Theatre closed, only reopening last year.

Over the years we saw the likes of AK/DK, Gazelle Twin, Traams, Physics House Band, The Miserable Rich, Jacko Hooper (who still plays as well as running the Folklore Rooms), Jennifer Left (who’s gone on to become landlady at the Hand in Hand) and many, many more at the Dome Studio nights.

Since reopening the new music nights have been run by Ned from QM Records / Normanton Street (who also used to feature on the blog in the early days), who have approached the project with a much wider vision than the pre-closure nights, as well as looking outside of the city borders for acts. Friday night’s Dome Studio Live though was a night of local guitar based acts – headlined by Holiday Ghosts, supported by Currls (with a brand new bassist) and Room Service (with strong fan base in attendance, judging by the tee shirts). It was great to be back.

Ladylike and Goodbye at Alphabet gallery

Posted on 13/10/2024 by brightonmusicblog

There’s been a bit of an anomaly since the introduction of streaming that while you can get your recordings online the moment you’ve finished recording and mixing them, there’s always going to be a bit of a lag to get a physical product out in the world. Ladylike released their latest single Horse’s Mouth back in July, but the physical option – on flexidisc – is just coming out now and was available as part of the ticket bundle for last friday’s show or at the Merch stand. If you didn’t make it to the show you can pick it up on their bandcamp page. Support at the gig came from newcomers with familiar faces Goodbye, who we’ll be keeping an eye out for, as well as a Mandrake Handshake DJ Set, who aren’t a Brighton band but Elvis’s support for the local scene is unsurpassed, so warrants a mention. Here’s our photo gallery:

Opal Mag “Looking For” single launch at the Green Door Store

Posted on 14/09/2024 by brightonmusicblog

Last week Opal Mag released their new single “Looking For“, and celebrated the launch with a gig last night at the Green Door Store (supported by Glass House Red Spider Mite and Frances Mistry). We were down the front with our camera to catch the action:

Sad Dads / Surf Instructor single launch at the Prince Albert

Posted on 22/08/2024 by brightonmusicblog

I haven’t made too many posts recently. Some gig pics are still going up on Instagram, but last night wasn’t just some gig. It was the launch of Sad Dads new single Surf Instructor, supported by Room Service and Telecom, as well as the reveal of who was behind I Flipping Luv Brighton. There was a raffle (where two of the prizes were won by Miles Soft Top and Maximilian, surely some kind of fix!), excursions from the stage into the audience, swimming pool noodles being thrown about, even a light sabre fight from Room Service, and a whole load of love in the room. Some bands take music very seriously indeed, but last night showed that you can have a great time when you don’t

Surf Instructor is out now

Lime Garden play a sold out Chalk

Posted on 10/03/2024 by brightonmusicblog

Hot on the heels of the release of their top twenty debut album One More Thing, Lime Garden closed their UK tour on Friday night with a sold out gig at Chalk. Support came from Ladylike (who are locals so also feature in the gallery below) and Ugly.

There was a shoutout to Chloe’s mum up in the balcony when they played Mother, quips about seeing the four coolest women on International Women’s Day, one of the friendliest mosh pits I’ve seen in a while, and, by all accounts, massive queues at the Green Door Store after they announced that’s where the afterparty would be.

(click through to view photos large)

Lime Garden / One More Thing album launch instore at Resident

Posted on 17/02/2024 by brightonmusicblog

Yesterday Lime Garden released their debut album One More Time. After a strong run of singles, of which only those released in the last twelve months feature on the record, and years of playing live honing their skills, they’ve come up with an accomplished collection of songs dealing with hope, humdrum and matters of the heart. Broadening their palette beyond guitar pop Floor and Pop Star casually toss in a bit of autotune, and Fears almost ditches guitars altogether save for a few riffs towards the end. The closing pair of tracks, It and Looking, strip things right back and remind us that it’s not parties every night. And then clocking in barely over half an hour it’s done, leaving us thirsting for more.

Promotion for the album kicked off last night with an in store at Resident (and an anecdote about how at a previous instore Chloe had asked Marika Hackman to sign a sanitary pad), followed by a launch party around the corner. A whole bunch of live dates are coming up including their biggest ever headline gig at Chalk on Friday 8th March, and no doubt a summer full of festivals

Von Zon at Green Door Store

Posted on 13/01/2024 by brightonmusicblog

HAPPY NEW YEAR! When we first saw Van Zon supporting Flip Top Head last year we knew it wouldn’t be long before they were headlining gigs, and last night they did, playing their first bill topping gig at Green Door Store. If you missed it, they’ve got a whole bunch more shows coming up – check their instagram for details. Support came from Moon Idle, playing their modern take on trip hop, and Nina Kohout, whose layered vocal tracks definitely pushed our buttons. As usual, click through to view large

Flip Top Head at the Prince Albert gallery

Posted on 09/11/2023 by brightonmusicblog

Earlier this week Flip Top Head topped the bill at a fantastic gig at the Prince Albert, joined by Brighton Music Blog faves The New Eves, and future stars Van Zon. It comes a few weeks after Flip Top Head released their latest single Alfred Street, which didn’t have a single launch at the time, so let’s shout about it now. Anyway, here’s a whole load of photos from the gig. Click through to view large