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:

Unofficial Great Escape gigs 2024

Posted on 10/05/2024 by brightonmusicblog

Over the past few years I’ve worked hard to round up all the unofficial gigs that take place over Great Escape weekend. This year I’ve had people asking when I’ll be making the post, and others asking for their gigs to be included. A lot of eyes will be on the unofficial gigs this year after bands pulled out of the main festival, so let’s get straight to it. There’s links for almost everything, so check back in for set times / line up changes. Where I haven’t put a line up it’s because it’s not listed yet, or it’s a multi day event. If I’ve missed anything please let me know!

Tuesday 14/5/24
Fail Better presents the Great Excuse / Prince Albert (Staff Party, Claw machine, Dog of man, Lavinia Whatley, Shark Stuff, Powellovision, Hotfiends, jack Pout, Brassic Parp, Under The Ivy, Two for Tea, Nine Dead Mice, Bee & Jackrabbit, M Woodroe)
The Great Boycott / Gladstone

Wednesday 15/5/24
SON Estrella Galicia presents Escape from the Albert (NOT FREE!) / Prince Albert (Swim Deep, Currls, Projector)
Fake Escape / Prince George (Amber Burgoyne, Alex Johnson, Comforts, Reid, Rosie Mark, Madz and the Martians, Mistress, Intimate Friends, Rose White, McEvoy, UrgentSea)
The Greatest Cape / Presuming Ed (DJ Night)
The Great Boycott / Gladstone
Palestine Fundraiser – 6pm-late (suggested donation £5) / Green Door Store (Secret Headline, Holiday Ghosts, The New Eves, Atticomatic, Ideal Living)
Brighton Noise / The Considerable Departure / Pipeline

Thursday 16/5/24
The Beluga Escape / Southern Belle
Joy / Unbarred RSVP Party / Unbarred Brewery
Acid Box Abyss Superfuzz Weekender / Daltons (Honk, The New Eves, The Stanford Family Band, Fez, Hutch, Sahra Halgan, Holiday Ghosts, Bon Enfant)
Fake Escape / Prince George (Amber Burgoyne, Alex Johnson, Comforts, Reid, Rosie Mark, Madz and the Martians, Mistress, Intimate Friends, Rose White, McEvoy, UrgentSea)
Brighton Rock’n’Roll Circus / The Font (12.00pm – The Outers, 12.45pm – m4x, 1.30pm – COWZ, 2.15pm – Shady Baby, 3.00pm – Better Joy, 3.45pm – Georgie Boyd, 4.30pm – TASH, 5.15pm – Lemondaze, 6.00pm- Enjoyable Listens, 6.45pm – JW Paris, 7.30pm – Sam Scherdel, 8.15pm – KEELEY, 9.00pm – Sick Love, 9.45pm – Berries)
The Greatest Cape / Presuming Ed
The Great Boycott / Brighton Electric
Strange Method / Bee’s Mouth (Kwasi, Harry Heart, Champion Fever)
No Friends in the Industry / Love Thy Neighbour / Hope & Ruin (PSYMON SPINE, The Belair Lip Bombs, Smol Fish, The Tubs, Florry, My First Time, For Breakfast, Hutch)
No Friends in the Industry / Love Thy Neighbour / Fiddlers Elbow (Joe & The Shitboys + Others)
Turtle Tempo’s Gr8 Escape / 1Up (Abi Clements, alx frncs, Bexx, Bryony Dunn & The Forest, Charlie Vaughan, Coco and the Lost, Daisy Veacock, Fox Jackson, frances mistry, Georgie Moon, hey bailey, j.flowers.mp3, Jack Howard, Safety Jacket, Szou)
Faber Alt / Bella Union (Keaton Henson, Tess Rose Jackson, Fyfe Dangerfield, Tawiah, Sam Brookes)
Alternative Escape / Secret Comedy Club, 42 Brighton Square (Marissa Burwell, No Windows, HMS Morris, Hotel Mira, Asha Jeffries, My Life Story)
Blinding Talent presents The Alternative Escape / Inn On The Square (Honeybadger, Tropic Gold, Brave Liaison, Dead Air, Sick as Thieves, Roses in December)
Platform B / Sussex Music Mag / Gladstone (World News, Lando Manning, Maximilian, Everyday Saints, Ladylike, Secret Headliner)
The Alternative Escape at The Venue / The Venue (Mithras House) (Amalia Susanu, Bedroomer, Frederick Skellten, Picture Day, Spooky Huge, Austen Showers, Brighton Uni Music Society, Like Robers + Adam Swain, Bedbugz, The Backdrops, Fever Rouge)
The Greatest Ape / Bella Union
Rain Dog Presents / Grand Central (Porchlight, dirtsharks, currls, marth eve joe perfect & the champagne socialists, Van Zon, Moon Idle, Modessa, Route 500, Lariat, Ideal Living)
Brighton Noise / The Considerable Departure / Pipeline
Smithereen Takeover / Black Lion (Chit Chat, Car Park, Porchlight, Meat Sweaters, Slate, Bernard Butler, Alien Chicks, She’s in Parties, Yard, Jools, Tom Vek, Enjoyable Listens)
Smithereen Takeover / Mesmerist (LLSN, Gracie Moore, Neomi, Genevieve Hayward, Daisy Chute, Emily Barker, Make Friends, Secret Show, Really Big Really Clever)

Friday 17/5
Alt Alt Escape / St Nicholas Church (13.00 Ebony Grace, 14.20 Merrick Winter, 15.10 REID, 16.00 AK Patterson, 17.00 Heights, 18.00 Scarlett Fae, 19.00 Soft Top, 20.00 Night House, 21.00 The Leaning, 22.00 Cub Zoa)
Shy Cat Publicity / CNTRL_ESCAPE / 1Up café (Currls, Comforts, Amethysts, Soft Top, Martha Eve, Maximilian, Ochre, Marta Per, ZZZ Sunnie)
The Beluga Escape / Freemasons
Joy / Unbarred RSVP Party / Unbarred Brewery
Mr Bongo & E Soul celebrates the Great Escape / Mr Bongo Shop – 6 Gloucester Yard
Acid Box Abyss Superfuzz Weekender / Daltons (Kottu, Plantoid, Opal Mag, Hot Garbage, System Exclusive, Electric Cowboy Club, Karma Sheen)
Fake Escape / Prince George (Amber Burgoyne, Alex Johnson, Comforts, Reid, Rosie Mark, Madz and the Martians, Mistress, Intimate Friends, Rose White, McEvoy, UrgentSea)
East Solidarity Tap / East Street Tap (Orchards, Noah and the Loaners, Gurf, Cowz, Francis Pig, Definitely not Haunted, Mascot Graveyard, Le Rox, Georgie Boyd, Enjoyable Listens, Dan Ottewell)
Brighton Rock’n’Roll Circus / The Font (12.00pm Poppy Rockett, 12.45pm Work In TV, 1.30pm Morning Tourist, 2.15pm Wild Mother. 3.00pm WEZ KING, 3.45pm TOM SAINT, 4.30pm Barking Poets, 5.15pm Perchard’s Wall, 6.00pm Floodhounds, 6.45pm RETROPxSSY, 7.30pm CARSICK, 8.15pm Safari Inn, 9.00pm Noah And The Loners, 9.45pm Avalanche Party)
END OF THE TRAIL / FIERCE PANDA / Grand Central (Enjoyable Listens, China Bears, Noah & The Loners, Sasha Assad, Dan Ottewell. The Marble Arches)
Slackscape / Gladstone (Hutch, Holiday Ghosts, Cordelia Gartside, Hollow Hand, Nina Kohout, Vanzon, Baby Gem, Jopy)
The Greatest Cape / Presuming Ed
No Friends in the Industry / Love Thy Neighbour / Hope & Ruin (Flat Party, Ugly, Plantoid, Ellie Bleach, Maruja, Ducks Ltd., Home Counties , Caitlin Rose)
No Friends in the Industry / Love Thy Neighbour / Fiddlers Elbow (Really Big Really Clever, Battlesnake, Triple Drain)
Escape to the Pipeline / Strong Island Records / Pipeline (Slow Fiction, Cardinals, Ugly, C Turtle, The New Eves, Lipworms, YHWH Nailgun, Woody Green)
The Greatest Escape / The Dorset (Top Left Club, Electric Cowboy Club, The Tribulizations)
The New Alt Escape 12-6 / The Walrus (Tyler Crude (BCNR), Borough Council, Holy Loaf, The New Eves, Ike (Tapir), Fliptop Head)
Extreme Music 6-11pm / South Lanes Studio (Meat Sweaters, Ben Narcis, Heights, George Dewhurst)
Escape to the Future / Fitz Regent (Sametime, Comforts, Collect Call, Blue Eyed Giants, Fighting Colours, Alex Saint Ivy, Ahno, Night House, Maximilian)
Palestine Fundraiser / Folklore Rooms (Holiday Ghosts, C Turtle, The New Eves, Fliptop Head)
The GOOreat Peliscape 2pm-10pm / Pelirocco (Oral Habit, Quaking Aspens, The Roebucks, Everyday Saints, Jopy, Owners Club, My Fat Pony, The Stanford Family Band)
ROM / Shipwrights Yard Sessions / Shipwrights Yard (Faux Real, My Life Story, Genevieve Heyward, Canty, Rendolent, Caitlin Rose, Feet, King Hannah, Ishmael Ensemble, Queen Cult)
The Alternative Escape at The Venue / The Venue (Mithras House) (Imogen Thomas, Jack Samuel, Frederick Skellten, Slowwave, Park Crescent, Mike Fillery, Fire Escape, Cas, Grace and Danger, Flavours, My Fat Pony, Two Pounds Down, Lunar June, Oral Habit)
The Greatest Ape / Bella Union
Smithereen Takeover / Black Lion (Currls, Secret Show, Frozemode, Snayx, Noisy)
Smithereen Takeover / Mesmerist (Jack Boyd, Floral Image, Dirty Blonde, Leona Rue, Blaire Davie, Milo Korbenski, Fraulein, Will and the People, Tatyana)
QM Escape / The Actors (Goetia, DRNE, Ellie Pepper, Red Shakes, Cherry Seraph)

Saturday 18/5
Alt Alt Escape / St Nicholas Church (13.00 Sekinue, 14.20 Reema, 15.10 Bee and Jackrabbit, 16.00 Michael Baker, 17.00 LLSN, 18.00 Franklin Mansion, 19.00 Yumi And The Weather, 20.00 Sock Drawer, 21.00 Hutch, 22.00 Karma Sheen)
The Beluga Escape / Gladstone
Hanover Psychedelic Club Presents Technicolour Hours of Emergent Happenings NOT FREE / Annunciation Ballroom
Fake Escape / Prince George (Amber Burgoyne, Alex Johnson, Comforts, Reid, Rosie Mark, Madz and the Martians, Mistress, Intimate Friends, Rose White, McEvoy, UrgentSea)
East Solidarity Tap / East Street Tap (The Menstrual Cramps, Orchards, Noah and the Loaners, Gurf, Cowz, Francis Pig, Definitely not Haunted, Mascot Graveyard, Le Rox, Georgie Boyd, Enjoyable Listens, Dan Ottewell)
Brighton Rock’n’Roll Circus / The Font (12.00pm Shark City Mayors, 12.45pm Max Bianco, 1.30pm TUCO, 2.15pm RAPTUROUS, 3.00pm Harmony Bo, 3.45pm Generation, 4.30pm Ventrelles, 5.15pm Soaked, 6.00pm Cross Wires, 6.45pm Hadda Be, 7.30pm 88 BUNKFACE, 8.15pm Marseille, 9.00pm Another Day, 9.45pm Laurie Wright)
END OF THE TRAIL / AJM / Folklore Rooms (Georgie Boyd, Better Heaven, Bollo Bollo, The Raymonds, Candid, The Ultra Violets, The Outcharms, Dirtsharks, Noah & The Loners)
The Fake Escape / The Rosehill (Bunty, New Gardeners Society, Sebastian Müller Alien Alarms; Rollinson; Cederick Knox; Amoeba.av; A Basic Fault, Mafu, MOSS.)
The Greatest Cape / Presuming Ed
No Friends in the Industry / Love Thy Neighbour / Hope & Ruin (Van Zon, Cruush, Bumble B. Boy, Flip Top Head, Glasshouse Red Spider Mite, Full Flower Moon Band, Parker Fans)
No Friends in the Industry / Love Thy Neighbour / Fiddlers Elbow (Handcuff, Marathon + Jools)
Filthy Pedro Presents: The Great Peliscape 2024 (Alt Alt Great Escape) / Pelirocco (9:30 Fruity Water, 8:45 Red Peril, 8:00 En Heat, 7:15 Lucy’s Diary, 6:30 The Phone Call, 5:45 The Clocks, 5:00 Boy in the Cupboard, 4:15 Mike Fillery & the Other Two, 3:30 Melt Plastic Group, 2:45 Larry Pickleman)
Escape from the Escape / Saviour Records / Pipeline (Carpark, Naïve James, Nuns of the Tundra, Holocene, Laura’s Dream)
END OF THE TRAIL / PLAY IT LOUD / Pipeline (Enjoyable Listens. Noah & The Loners. TBC, Niche Crush, Georgie Boyd, Genevieve Hayward )
Live Music @ 1Up (Nature TV, Natsuma, Sunda Blue, Arjun Nala, Sabrina G, Mud Coffee and Aperture.)
Folklore Alt Alt Takeover / Folklore Rooms (THE HALFWAY KID, IDEAL LIVING, SAMUEL NICHOLSON, ROWENA WISE, EDWIN RAPHAEL, TATYANA + LILY LYONS)
Club The Mammoth / Daltons (Girls In Synthesis, Floral Image, Karma Sheen, Looking Glass Alice, ELLiS-D, + secret guests)
Alt Alt Escape / Rossi Bar (Secret Headline, Lip Worms, Trip Westerns, Ideal Living, Kill The Icon, Daay, Harper, )
Escape to the Future / Fitz Regent (Snake Eyes, tbc, Hops, Icebeing, Giant Peach, China Bears, Porcelain Doll, John Jones, Wave Chase)
First Word Records 20th Birthday (£10 tickets) / Alphabet (Essa live + DJs)
The Alternative Escape at The Venue / The Venue (Mithras House) (Kathleen Marsh, Victoria Bishop, Billie Boatman, Demsey, Lana Death Ray, D’Arcy, Mudd Factory, Car Boot Sale, Fever Rouge, Ry-Guy, Trashed, Amongst Liars)
The Greatest Ape / Bella Union
Family Store presents the Substantial Abscond / Brighton Electric (the Kitchen Sink, Gurf, The Baby Seals, Crab)
Smithereen Takeover / Black Lion (Chum, Jopy, Stanford Family Band, Owners Club, Secret Show, Shader, Shambolics, Laurie Wright, Projector, Monakis, Secret Show, City Dog)
Smithereen Takeover / Mesmerist (Ruby, Marnie Marie, Cowz, Hutch, Aysanabee, Last Living Cannibal, Secret Show, Sametime)

Sunday 19/5
The Beluga Escape / Lion & Lobster

Van Zon / Cannon Fodder

Posted on 08/05/2024 by brightonmusicblog

Our focus on New Releases has mainly switched over to our Instagram Stories these days, but we’re making an exception for a band who have seemed to appear from nowhere fully formed. We first caught them at the Albert last November, bottom of a bill which would have people queuing around the block for these days, alongside the New Eves and Fliptop Head. At that point Van Zon had only been going for a few months, but managed to leave a big impression.

A few months down the road, and they’re ready to release their debut effort Cannon Fodder. You could call it a single, but it clocks in just shy of eight minutes. It defies genres – Post rock weaves it all together, but the violin pulls it into folk territory, and the clarinet and 6/8 time signature sometimes nudge things toward neo-classical and further away from any sort of classification. Not wanting to just regurgitate their PR, I can’t disagree with line that says that it’s “Like a painting by a renaissance master”.

With an Instagram feed of less than a dozen posts, no Facebook, Twitter, or other social media, and very little else about the band anywhere online, I met up with them to try and demystify things. Van Zon tell me that they’re named after a Dutch serial killer, but that the name also means From The Sun in Dutch. Drummer Ewan is part Dutch too, something the rest of the band didn’t find out until they’d settled on a name. They tentatively describe themselves as experimental folk rock, but don’t feel like their sound can easily be slotted in alongside any pre-existing genre. Cannon Fodder was one of the first songs that they played live, and has evolved each time it’s been played out, only becoming it’s final version when it was recorded around a month ago. The rest of their unrecorded material continues to change each time it’s performed, with the band keen to continue to make them “even more epic”. They claim the lack of an online presence isn’t a deliberate attempt to be mysterious – that they don’t have the time, and that they aren’t great at social media. Yet, as we part ways they upload a post of an old painting, with nothing but the dictionary definition of Cannon Fodder in the description, and no hint that it might refer to their upcoming single. So much for not being mysterious. However, the phone signal isn’t great and there’s part-serious, part humourous concern that it’s going to upload multiple times. Maybe this approach to social media is the essence of Van Zon right now – embracing their contradictions and letting their subconscious lead the way, wherever that may take them, and things just turning out just right.

Van Zon are playing five alternative escape gigs next week:

15 May / Pipeline (10:30) – Brighton Noise Stage
16 May / Grand Central (6:45)
17 May / The Gladstone (5pm)- Slack City Stage
17 May / UnBarred Brewery – (9pm) – JOY stage
18 May / The Hope And Ruin (2:30) – Love Thy Neighbour Stage

Homegrown Festival

Posted on 15/04/2024 by brightonmusicblog

Unless this is your first visit to this site, it’s probably no surprise that we’re big supporters of Brighton’s thriving music scene. So when a one day festival announced showcasing some of the best local talent we jumped straight in and bought an early bird ticket quicker than it would take to count all the members of Fliptop Head. When Saturday came we had an ambitious plan to try and see a dozen bands. What the day did highlight is just what a blind spot we have when it comes to Brighton’s rock scene – It’s nothing personal, and the fact that the day had sold out indicates that there’s definitely a lot of support for music all across the spectrum.

Anyway, we kicked off early with Trip Westerns at Pipeline, who we’d seen at Green Door Store just over a week before where the ticket price for that gig was the same price as the early bird ticket. Minutes in and we’d broken even already. When they finished it was a sprint up to the Hope & Ruin, to catch the last five minutes of Soft Top‘s set and then enough time for a trip to the bar and to secure a prime viewing spot for the ridiculously good Van Zon. Being only a few doors up we thought we’d be lucky enough to get into Opal Mag’s performance, but we were beaten to it by dozens of other people. Technically I was in – it went to one in / one out straight after me – but we didn’t even make it down the spiral staircase. Reports from others were that they were fantastic and are going from strength to strength. No matter – it was off to Green Door next just in time for Moon Idle, and then Brighton Music Blog faves Hutch who peppered their set with new songs and old favourites. Then it was back down to Pipeline to catch a little bit of Georgie Moon, although we couldn’t stay for long because Woody Green at Folklore Rooms was next on our list. With a mere 60 capacity it was unsurprisingly packed out, so you can’t tell from the photos that Nina Winder-Lind from the New Eves was on cello, making a beautiful set even more so.

After a little break for food and warmer clothes we found ourselves back at Pipeline, and made it to the front for Ladylike‘s performance, which felt more assured and intimate than when we saw them supporting Lime Garden last month. Folklore Rooms next – learning our lesson from earlier in the day and getting in a whole set ahead of Ellis D, and catching Glasshouse Red Spider Mite in the process. As with their single launch at Green Door Store a couple of weeks back, they were bathed in red light which fitted their dreampop shoegaze perfectly. Of all the acts of the day, we were most looking forward to Ellis D, who first featured here in a New Music post back in 2019, but who we’d never managed to catch live. These days he’s the cool big brother of the Brighton bands, making it all look so easy, and playing a sweaty, electrifying set despite a few technical issues. I did have in my plan to see Ideal Living and Fliptop Head – easily two of Brighton’s best bands right now – playing later at Rossi Bar, but by that point I was ready to hit the hay. What a day. What a festival. What a town. Cheers Homegrown – here’s to next year (hopefuly)!

6E6A6357e Glasshouse Red Spider Mite Folklore

Maximilian / Surrender album launch at Fabrica

Posted on 05/04/2024 by brightonmusicblog

Last week Maximilian released his debut album Surrender, on Dead Dog records, and last night he played it live start to finish at Fabrica supported by Skydaddy and Brighton’s Opal Mag.

Playing an album all the way through in sequential order isn’t the most obvious thing to do – A set of songs which might make for a good gig can be quite different to a playlist / ordering that makes for a good album, but Maximilian created an immersive world last night aided and abetted by some of Brighton’s finest musicians that more than lived up to the challenge – intimate, and uplifting, the evening felt like it was over far too soon.

As I find myself saying for the second post in a row, if you missed the gig, Maximilian is on the bill at Homegrown Festival next weekend, so you can catch him again then.

Glasshouse Red Spider Mite / Erstwhile single launch at Green Door Store

Posted on 02/04/2024 by brightonmusicblog

Last Friday Glasshouse Red Spider Mite played their first headline show, promoting their debut single Erstwhile, which came out on 20th March (which you’d have spotted if Instagram showed you our story on release day). Support came Van Zon, who we can’t get enough of these days, and out of towners Plainmoor. If you missed the gig and want to hear more from the band, you can catch them (and Van Zon) at Homegrown festival on Saturday 13th April

click through to view large:

Projector / Now When We Talk It’s Violence album launch at Green Door Store

Posted on 24/02/2024 by brightonmusicblog

This week Brighton Music Blog favourites Projector hit the road to promote their new album Now When We Talk it’s Violence. There’s a whole bunch of other tour dates (go check their website), but obviously the only one that really matters is their hometown gig, which took place at Green Door Store last night. It was everything you’d hope for and more – the album played through larger and louder than you’d have heard it at home, a mosh pit, band members removing layers of clothing, a Pixies cover, and fantastic support sets from Ideal living and Vincent Vocoder Voice. Go stream the album (or better still, buy it) today

(click through the images to view large)

Brighton Rocks #38 : Anzahlung

Posted on 01/09/2022 by brightonmusicblog

Anzahlung initially formed as a side project to legendary band The Cravats, the duo made up of The Shend and Joe 91 today released their second album What You Think is All You’ve Got, and are on the bill for ex-Kraftwerk member Wolfgang Flur’s gig at the Concorde in October. We caught up with them on a sunny day in Saltdean to quiz them about their Brighton

What’s the best thing about Brighton?
Joe : Brighton is the only place I’ve lived apart from Welwyn Garden City, which is a big C and small c conservative commuter town. Brighton is the complete antithesis to Welwyn; it’s still the only place in the world (that I’ve visited, at least) where I’d feel safe holding my boyfriend’s hand. It also has the most pubs per square mile than any other place in the UK, apparently. Convenient.
The Shend : Anything goes

Who are your favourite local bands?
Joe : Lambrini Girls. One of the most chaotic, energetic and occasionally absurd live bands I’ve seen in ages. Slum of Legs, sadly almost defunct but they’ll always have a special place in my heart. I’ve just discovered R. Dyer’s music, magical stuff.
The Shend : Human Leather, Arxx, Red Deer People

What’s the best venue?
Joe : We’re not short of decent venues in Brighton but the bulk of my favourite gigs have been at Green Door Store. Me and The Shend have played some exceptionally fun gigs there with our other band The Cravats.
The Shend : Concorde 2

What’s the best rehearsal space / studio?
Joe : Brighton Electric. Staff are super lovely, the facilities are second-to-none and they serve decent beer. Under The Bridge deserves a mention too, Anzahlung have rehearsed there a couple of times, it’s friendly and affordable and they do lots of great community work too.
The Shend : Brighton Electric

What’s the best club?
Joe : I don’t frequent a particular club that often but there are plenty of great club nights in Brighton right now – Mi Piaci, Farmageddon, Traumfrau, Polyglam to name a few.
The Shend : Stay Sick

What’s the best record shop?
Joe : Resident is my go-to for records and has been since I moved here in 2013. Lovely place and glad to see that it’s still thriving.
The Shend : Across The Tracks

Where’s the best places to eat?
Joe : Too many to choose from! Recent highlights have been Adelfia, Khambis, Planet India and Alushi.
The Shend : Grubbs Burgers

What’s the best pub?
Joe : Prince Albert. Usually frequented by an assortment of types but never any hassle, decent venue upstairs and a giant Dot Cotton mural out the back.
The Shend : Prince Albert

Who’s your favourite Brighton celebrity?
Joe : I feel obliged to say The Shend… but I’m going with Ben Wheatley. Sightseers is one of my favourite films.
The Shend : David Thomas

When was the last time you had any Brighton Rock?
Joe : I don’t eat rock, my teeth are knackered enough as it is! I do have a Throbbing Gristle stick of rock under my bed, purchased at their 2006 reunion gig in London. I wonder what state it’s in now.
The Shend : Never