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

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

Gig catchup – Ruunes, New German Cinema, Hanya & Collect Call

Posted on 28/04/2022 by brightonmusicblog

Hi! We’re back! We didn’t mean to go away to be honest, but January is always really quiet and then Covid finally hit, and then we were away for a bit, and all in all for no particular reason it’s not been until this week that we’ve taken any decent photos of any Brighton bands. But what a week it’s been – Last Saturday we saw Kayla Painter at the Rosehill, ably supported by Ruunes, AKA Ed Chivers, better known as half of AK/DK and quarter of Fujiya & Miyagi. Then Monday night saw the live debut of New German Cinema, supporting Kip Berman (formerly the front man of Pains of Being Pure at Heart) at the Prince Albert. New German Cinema is the side project of Fear of Men‘s Jess Weiss, who’s worked with Kip Berman in the past, so it made sense that she would be supporting when he was in town. She’s going to be playing an Alternative Escape gig too, so watch this space and we’ll keep you updated. And then on Tuesday night we went to a packed out Hope & Ruin to catch Hanya supported by Collect Call. They’re both playing the same unofficial Alt Escape gig on the Thursday of Great Escape weekend at Presuming Eds. We’ll be doing a writeup of all the local acts playing at the Great Escape and Alt Escape (and unofficial) gigs, and already it looks like more Brighton bands than ever are playing, so expect a bumper post soon

Save Our Local Live Music Scene

Posted on 01/05/2020 by brightonmusicblog

These are difficult times – Lockdown has forced venues and pubs to close putting the live music scene on hold. Gigs have been postponed or cancelled leaving the venues and promoters with their overheads.

The Music Venue Trust have instigated a Save Our Venues campaign, with the Hope & Ruin, Green Door Store, Komedia, Latest Music Bar, Pipeline, Old Market and The Brunswick linked to the campaign. Head over to the Save Our Venues website to find out more. The Prince Albert has their own crowdfunder link and there’s also the opportunity to donate to Brighton Dome

The Rose Hill have mentioned on their facebook page that they may join the Save Our Venues campaign, but I can’t see anything for Chalk or Concorde 2. I’ll update this post if anything comes up for them.

Venues are only half the picture though – It’s one thing having places to go but someone has to put the gigs on in the first place and the promoters are the unsung heroes of the scene. They’re the ones picking up on the bands you haven’t heard of yet, booking them for gigs months ahead. They’re the ones working out whether a band would be best placed to play a big room like the Old Market or somewhere smaller like the Hope & Ruin. They’re the ones dealing with bands suffering from tour fatigue and making sure things are in place so that they still put on a good show. It’s their experience and devotion to the local scene that makes it what it is, and they’re suffering too. So here’s a shoutout to Melting Vinyl, Love Thy Neighbour, Acid Box, Lout, Dictionary Pudding, Hot Wax, Brighton Noise, One Inch Badge, Joy and everyone else who brings gigs to Brighton.

Melting Vinyl, stalwarts of the local scene for over twenty years, are running a crowdfunder to help keep the lights on, with rewards ranging from gig posters to a promoting masterclass with MV founder Anna Moulson. Brighton Dome, who run Brighton Festival, gave ticketholders the option of donating a percentage of the value of their tickets when offering refunds. The advice generally has been to keep hold of any tickets you’ve bought which will still be valid for rescheduled gigs.

Fear of Men at the Prince Albert

Posted on 11/04/2016 by brightonmusicblog

Last night, Fear of Men played a hometown gig at the Prince Albert in over a year. The Guardian loved it and gave it four stars. Since the last time we saw them the band have grown musically – the new material no longer sits into the standard guitar-guitar-bass-drums indie four piece setup, with Jess putting down her guitar for most of the performance, the rotating bassist chair (currently filled by Dog in the Snow’s Helen Ganya Brown) now being a bassist and keyboard player and backing vocalist and half of Michael Miles drum kit has been replaced with electronic pads. The band are as thrilling to see live as ever – Jess Weiss is an ever more compelling front person, and the rest of the band are tighter than they’ve ever been. Fear of Men deserve to be playing much bigger venues and it was a rare treat to seem them playing somewhere as intimate as the Prince Albert. Make sure you don’t miss them next time.

Here’s our pics from last night. Click through the gallery to view large:

Weekend Gig Picks – Gaps and Fear of Men

Posted on 06/04/2016 by brightonmusicblog

Once upon a time, when we used to be far more prolific on the blog we used to write a weekly gig picks column. Every now and then we revive it when we feel it’s worthwhile, and this weekend two of our favourite bands are playing at the Prince Albert on different nights, so here we are.

Tomorrow (or thursday, if you’re not reading this the day it was posted) Love Thy Neighbour are putting on GAPS supported by Chelou and Native Ray. Their new EP of remixes of A World Away came out last Friday, and the vinyl edition of their album In, Around The Moments comes out this Friday, so they’ve got lots to celebrate.

Then on Sunday it’s Fear of Men‘s turn, courtesy of Melting Vinyl and Teen Creeps. They’re supported by Girl Ray and Tiger Lion. Their new LP Fall Forever comes out on 3rd of June and they’ve just shared the video for Island, the first taste of the new material. By our calculations, they haven’t played a hometown gig in over eighteen months but we bet it’ll be worth the wait.

GAPS at the Prince Albert photo gallery

Posted on 27/01/2015 by brightonmusicblog

Last night we braved the cold to head out to the Prince Albert where GAPS played a hometown gig following their recent mini tour. Since the last time we saw them they’ve gained some rather lovely visuals which meant they were standing in the dark – that we got any photos of the band was something of a miracle. They’ve also written an awful lot of new material too which has broadened their sound while still operating within the bands existing premise of folk + electronica, now taking in breakbeats and some trouser shaking bass. Support came folk troubadour Lloyd Williams who did some very clever things with a guitar, a banjo and a floor mounted accordion. Here’s our pics, click to view large:

next week : Bootleg Festival at the Prince Albert

Posted on 09/10/2014 by brightonmusicblog

When I first started buying records, a bootleg was something very different from what it is now. Bootlegs used to be live recordings of gigs – if you were very lucky they’d be direct from the sound desk, but more often than not they’d be taped by someone in the crowd so you’d end up with muffled sound and the audience singing along. Next week the Prince Albert and Brightelmstone Promotions are putting on a four night event called The Bootleg Festival, less about mash ups, and more about the live recordings – every night is getting recorded with ticket holders getting a download of one song from each act and full recordings going on sale. And since it’s being put on with the full cooperation of the Prince Albert, recordings from the sound desk are guaranteed! There’s some great Brighton bands playing with Clowns, Crayola Lectern, Flash Bang Band and Thieves by the Code already on the line ups with more bands yet to be announced. Advance tickets can be bought online here.

Clowns at the Prince Albert

Posted on 22/09/2014 by brightonmusicblog

On Saturday night we headed down to the Prince Albert to see Clowns – one of Brighton’s best live bands, but who we hadn’t seen in over a year. In that time they’ve been lying low and finishing off their long awaited album. Hopefully we’ll be able to give you more details of that very soon indeed, but until there here’s what our camera saw:

(click on the pics to view large)

Gigs of the week

Posted on 12/02/2014 by brightonmusicblog

If you’re brave enough to leave the house without fear of being blown away or drowned, here’s our gig picks for this week:

Tonight two local acts are supporting Basia Bulat at The Hope. You can catch Bella Spinks and Heliopause on Queens Road from 8pm. Meanwhile Audiobeach Studios celebrate their fourth birthday with a showcase at Sticky Mike’s with sets from BirdEatsBaby, Nylon Sky, Echo & the Beats and Departure from Normal.

Friday Night is Valentines day, and The Valentines are playing their last ever gig at the Prince Albert, with support from Fire Eyes and Dirt Royal. You can also catch Normanton Street over at the Green Door Store.

Our pick for Saturday night is also two local acts supporting a touring band – Ez Stone and Ellie Ford are on the bill with Lily & Madeleine at Sticky Mike’s. We also like the look of Derriere who are playing at the Blind Tiger.