22-01-28 - Friday I - Bess Atwell @ Patterns, Brighton (Thursday 27th Jan)

So last night I actually went "out out", into Brighton, to see a band! I'd heard Bess Atwell on Radio 6, and I have even added a couple of her songs to playlists on Spotify. I shared her song, Co-Op, with some friends on WhatsApp and one of them let me know that she was playing in Brighton. I looked into it and tickets were only £12, so I thought it was worth buying a ticket. 

This was my first time out in several months; I did go up to London to see PWEI last October, but then Omicron took over and I didn't see Cud at The Garage on Dec 4th or PWEI at Chalk in Brighton on Dec 11th. I took the train, wearing my mask, and feeling a bit trepidatious... 

I went straight to the venue and handed my coat in at the cloakroom. I wandered in to the main room and ordered myself a bottle of Brooklyn Lager Special Effects. I was debating whether to have an actual beer, but Special Effects is one of my favourite non-alcoholic beers, so I was happy drinking that. 

There were two support bands, Growing Boi and Almahata. They were on early, which suited me, and Bess herself was due to take to the stage at 9pm. They were both good acts, very much singer-songwriters, and Growing Boi had a great voice I thought, if the guitar playing was a bit dodgy. He then went on to support Almahata and Bess, so he must be a very accomplished musician. Almahata (which is actually a female solo act called Phoebe) was good too, and she had one particular song, What if Now We All Change, which I really liked. 

The two support bands were downtempo, acoustic (ish) and what I'd expect to see as support for an act like Bess Atwell. Bess herself came on at 9pm with a non-alcoholic beer and a camomile tea, which gives you some indication I suppose of her target audience. Patchouli incense sticks and ethically-crafted sandals didn't feel like they were too far away. The audience were enraptured. Although Bess and Chris were using microphones and amps, her songs are very intimate and there was a silence that took over the venue while she was singing. In between songs there were a lot of calls of "we love you, Bess!" and "Marry me!" She played the Co-Op song early on in her set, and there weren't any other songs which I was holding out for; there weren't many others that I knew, although I did enjoy Cherry Baby and Time Comes in Roses. 

It got to just after half past nine and thoughts started turning to bedtime. I'm such a middle-aged man. I knew that it would take me a while to get home, and while the music was great it wasn't energising and there weren't any specific songs I was waiting to hear Bess sing live. So I waited for a song to finish, and then I collected my coat and headed off to the station. 

It was a good enjoyable night, but it wasn't particularly what I was looking for last night. Maybe it was the first time for a while that I'd been in a busy venue, but I also think I've got quite a lot of other things going on, being Mum mostly but there is other stuff I'm worrying about too. I appreciated the performances, but I was glad to be heading home and I was pleased when I managed to get to bed at a comparatively reasonable time. I think I'd be happy to go and see any of these acts again, but I'd need to be in the right frame of mind to properly enjoy the experience. 

TTFN. 

18-06-10 Fleabag in Brighton

Last night we went to see Fleabag at The Old Market. It was brilliant; a one-woman show completely different from the TV show. It helped that it wasn't Phoebe Waller-Bridge, but it didn't help that we'd watched the first episode again on Friday night. But Maddie Rice was brilliant and she kept us all in thrall for the entire play.  

Friends came with us, which was nice, and we went for a couple of drinks afterwards. We (TW, Ty and myself) had been out for drinks beforehand, at Brewdog. I'd stayed on the Dead Pony Club, a 3.8% session beer, kind of, because I didn't want to be a drunken buffoon in the theatre. As it was, there were quite a few of those anyway, so I needn't have worried. I bailed and caught the 11 o'clock train home, but TW and Ty stayed in Brighton at The Green Door Store and then Casablanca's. They caught a taxi home and suffered more than I did this morning... 

TTFN.

Sunday 16-10-02 Snowdogs

Yesterday was spent wandering around Brighton, spotting the Snowdogs scattered around the town. It was a brilliant sunny day, it couldn't have been much more different from Saturday if it tried. The girls were in good spirits, they were chatting with each other and pointing out various things to each other. They did bicker a bit, but once we got into the walking they got on well with each other. 

We stopped at Hove Lagoon to see the first one, but couldn't find it. Apparently it was in the café, but we weren't to know that... We didn't find the one at the King Alfred's Leisure Centre either, but after that we started flying. You can see the photos below. 

We walked from the i360 up to Churchill Square, and then on to the train station. From there we cut down through The Lanes back to the seafront, then we drove to The Level where the kids played in the skatepark for an hour. Then it was on to The Marina, where we saw another couple, and we had dinner at Pizza Express, which was lovely. M & D, our friends (and neighbours), did the same thing, and our paths crossed several times during the day. We had planned to have dinner together anyway, but we were at The Level together too. Our children get on really well, and so they loved the day. 

And I made it home in time to see Antiques Roadshow too, which was nice. 

Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Collapsed Lung @ Concorde 2, 23rd July 2016

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Ned's again, at the Concorde 2 in Brighton. They were supported by Collapsed Lung, who had a minor hit with Eat My Goal in 1996 and again in '98, but it was used in a number of programmes and adverts, and so I was looking forward to seeing them too.
Doors opened at 6pm, which was early, but I expect that there was a club night or something on after Ned's - they were due to be wrapped up by 10. I caught the train at 5:08, to be precise, from West Worthing, expecting to be in Brighton by 5:30. Unfortunately the train ran slow and I didn't get my connection at Hove, and so didn't get into Brighton until gone 6pm. I headed straight for Sawadee, a Thai restaurant we used to frequent from time to time when we lived there. I had fishcakes to start, a perennial favourite, and then a Massaman curry, which is flavoured with peanuts - if you like Thai but haven't tried a Massaman, I'd recommend it.
Anyway, I headed from there to the Bristol Arms for a restorative orange juice (no really), and then wandered down to the Concorde. Collapsed Lung had already started by the time I got there, so I went straight through to the main room and listened to their stuff. I was really impressed, they had a good vibe going and although there weren't many people there watching, I think those that were there enjoyed it. The tracks had a vibrancy, one of the main guys (Jim Burke) was quite striking in that he was wearing a moustache, glasses and a baseball cap. And certainly the group seemed to be enjoying themselves, which is always infectious. They played a few new songs, I think, including one called "New Song Old Band" which is going to be a single in November apparently - I enjoyed that. And of course they played "Eat My Goal", which went down a treat with its call and response chorus. And then they were gone. I would certainly go and see them again, given the chance, and who knows when that might be?
I had seen on Twitter that Ned's were due on at 8:40, so I wasn't really in a rush to get the venue. I did wonder why they opened the doors so early? I normally like to get there as early as possible, but to be in the venue from 6pm and the main band weren't playing for two and a half hours? That just seems a little bonkers. Still I was caught out like that when I went to see Cud at The Garage a couple of years ago...
Anyway, the tunes which the DJ played after Collapsed Lung left the stage took me right back to the early 90s... Carter USM, The Weddoes, Jesus Jones, the Stuffies, EMF even, Mega City 4, Senseless Things, Prodigy... Excellent stuff. And then the song announcing the band was an old crackly version of "I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside", and Ned's ambled on to the stage.
They started with a couple of songs I didn't recognise, I thought the first was probably a b-side from something off of BrainBloodVolume, and someone has already put up the set listing here. All the songs were recognisably Ned's tunes, but I didn't recognise them all. I thought that at points the gig was a little dark, as in brooding, but maybe that was due to me being a little jaded - I had been out at a friend's birthday party the night before, and I was a little off-kilter still. The crowd loved it all though, there was a vibrant moshpit at the front, and a couple of crowdsurfers too. Jonn, the lead singer, certainly enjoys throwing himself around the stage while the bassist guys are sawing away at their instruments, and I think that encourages the moshing. As the night went on, and more familiar songs were played, that moshpit extended out further and further, and the dancing was infectious. The band certainly seemed to enjoy it, and almost seemed surprised that so many people recognised their songs. They even threw in a new one, called "Self Defence" by the sound of it, and it fitted in perfectly with the set.
All in all, it was a good night, and it was worth going. I was intending to meet up with an old friend who I've known since I was 17, but unfortunately she couldn't make it due to family commitments. I was looking forward to seeing her after such a long time; maybe I can find another gig to tempt her down to the South Coast at some point in the future...? Anyway, having seen Pixies at the start of July, and with the Wedding Present in August, Ride in September and JimBob in December, it's shaping up to be a good musical year.

J Mascis at The Haunt, Brighton, 9th Jan 2015

So I was looking forward to this. I'd bought the ticket ages ago, back in October. I stayed late at work, and wandered in to town slowly, taking in a stop at Burger King on the way. I also popped in to the Goldfish Bowl for a lemonade, and then it was past seven p.m., and the doors were open.
I took one last look at my confirmation email, and noticed the following advice: "Please print this email and bring it with you to the event..." Whoops, I had imagined we were in the 21st century, and print-outs were no longer required. I began running through scenarios in my head where I was refused entry; it was early enough that I was sure if I put my mind to it, I would be able to obtain a print-out... But where would I go? Could I find someone back in the office? Or would I have to go into a convenience store and pay a couple of pounds for use of their PC and printer? Or was there an internet cafe open somewhere nearby? As it was, I walked up to the door staff, waved my phone in their general direction, and they ushered me in. Phew, crisis averted.
Up the stairs, I spoke to the receptionist who actually had my name on the list, she gave me a stamp on the wrist and let me in.
I've not been to The Haunt before, it's pretty dark and grim. They were selling cans of Red Stripe at £4.30, I know because I bought one before J came on. On the way home, I bought two cans for £2.80, so that's an indication of the sort of mark-up they had in place.
I didn't have to wait long before the support, Luluc, ambled on to stage. They are an Aussie duo playing folk music, although I'm sure the guy had rock god pretensions; he was waving his acoustic guitar around like it was a stratocaster, trying to sustain the notes, I think. They were good, and their harmonies were absolutely astonishing. I am intending to listen to them on Spotify, and if I like it, well, there'll be a couple of new CDs for my collection...
The place wasn't rammed while Luluc were on, so when they finished, I went to the loo and bought that can of Red Stripe. Then I noticed that I was surrounded by tall people, and I couldn't actually see the stage any more. The place got more and more rammed, and fuller of tall people, and then J came on stage - and promptly sat down.
So there I was, standing behind some very tall people, in the dark, getting hotter and hotter, and more squashed, and listening to J play an acoustic set. It was actually quite nice, except that where, if he was playing a normal electric set, he would go into overdrive and lay on a squealing guitar solo, he did that as well during the acoustic set. The effect was quite jarring, as he would go from a gentle strum into full-on guitar-melting riffage, and then cut back to the gentle strumming with no warning. He also had a heavy reverb / echo on the vocals, so it sounded like he was singing from the bottom of a well.
The long and the short of it is, I wasn't enjoying it. I began to wonder if I was going to last until the end, since I had heard that he now does a cover of "Fade Into You", a Mazzy Star number, which I thought might be nice. I also read the review of his previous night's show at La Scala and was looking forward to him fuzzing it up at the end.
But eventually, after about 45 or 50 minutes, I couldn't take any more. I was too hot, the venue was too claustrophobic, the music was too jarring... I had to get out. As  I left, there was a guy at the back who had obviously overheated, he was sitting against the back wall with his head in his hands - so it wasn't just me, that was reassuring.
Hitting the cold air outside, the cold, and the quiet, was a relief. I breathed deeply, and felt the cold pricking my cheeks, and to be honest wondered why I hadn't left fifteen minutes earlier.
I'm a big Dinosaur Jr fan, I've listened to the four albums I've got a lot, and Freak Scene is one of my favourite songs ever. I saw them about the time they released "The Farm" at the Koko up in Camden, and really enjoyed that. I don't know whether it was the venue, or the music, or my state of mind, but it really didn't do it for me that night. Shame.