26-06-09 - Tuesday II - EMF @ Factory Live, Worthing, 3rd June 2026

Well, that would've been a blast from the past if I'd seen EMF first time around... What a great night. The support band, Ecce Shnak, from New York, were really good and something a bit different. I'll go and see them again if I get the chance. They sang a song about the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham, and another song about a cat. 

Then EMF came onstage and they looked like they were enjoying themselves immensely. They dropped "I Believe" and "Children" fairly early on. Then they did a few of their more recent ones including "Reach for The Lasers" which contained a medley of dance floor smashes. Then they sang "Unbelievable" followed by a weird version of "I'm a Believer" (the Monkees' song) and then they were gone. A thoroughly enjoyable night. 

TTFN.

26-03-12 - Thursday I - TVAM & Massive Luxury Overdose @ Hope & Ruin, Tuesday 10th March

Saw these two bands on Tuesday night. MLO were better live than they were on Spotify, and it seems they've grown up on a diet of Depeche Mode and New Order basslines. Their songs were quite danceable as a result. 

TVAM didn't do it for me but the gig was sold out and the mood was very atmospheric, so he must be doing something right. His haircut was reminiscent of the guy out of Flock of Seagulls - now there's a niche reference!

TTFN.

24-02-27 - Tuesday II - Alien Chicks @ The Green Door Store, 10th February 2024

Well, that was a thoroughly enjoyable night. I love the Green Door Store as a venue, it is so straightforward and without pretention. The support band came on at about 8pm and were good; I thought initially that they sounded like the Cocteau Twins but by the end of their set I thought they sounded like an evolution rather than a re-run - hopefully that is a good thing? 

Then it was time for the main event and true to form it didn’t go smooth from a technical perspective for Alien Chicks. This time, the guitarist / lead singer realised that his guitar had packed in within the first bars of the first song. So, once he had sourced a replacement, the show got into full swing. And very enjoyable it was too. They are quite a punky band but I think what saves them from being a pedestrian punk band are their rhythms. I thought that when I saw them at The Great Escape last year and I still think it; they owe an awful lot to their drummer. But, whatever, I really enjoyed the evening and even threw a couple of (mental) shapes to complement the dancing going on at the front.

In the pantheon of live acts that I have seen recently and would be happy/willing to see again, Alien Chicks are in there. 

TTFN.   

23-11-23 - Thursday I - Prima Queen @ The Green Door Store, 22nd April

There's a lot of events I've been to this year that I need to jot down. As a result, a few of the next entries aren't going to be in chronological order.

Back in April I went to see Prima Queen. Really enjoyed the night, they were less rocky than I was expecting but I really enjoyed their music and the overall vibe they had going on. Would see again.

23-08-07 - Monday I - Jaguar Skillz @ Factory Live, 14/04/23

The Factory Live is just behind our house, which is maybe a bonus we didn’t fully take into consideration when we bought the place. It’s close enough to walk there in the rain without a coat, but not so close that it’s noisy at chucking out tome.

We went to see Jaguar Skillz a few months ago and had a really good time. Krafty Kuts has a club night at the Factory every few months and this was one of them. I enjoyed Jaguar Skillz’s set, it was quite showy, but I did enjoy the warm-up DJ who then went off to a residency in Ibiza, lucky fella, and Krafty Kuts’ set after Jaguar was really funky and well put-together. 

We enjoyed it so much that we’re off to see KK again at the end of September, so that must be a recommendation. 

TTFN. 

23-07-19 - Wednesday I - Pub In The Park @ Preston Park, Brighton, Sunday 16th July 2023

Ah, Pub in The Park. That was a fun day, until I sprained my ankle literally falling out of a pub...

We saw Craig Charles DJ - again - and Dodgy, who actually made sense in the Sunday sunshine, and Gabrielle, who rounded the day off quite nicely. It's been quite notable over the last few days that whenever you mention Gabrielle, the reaction of almost everyone is to put a hand up over one eye in a very similar gesture. She has ptosis in her left eye, apparently, which we didn't notice since she was wearing sunglasses. 

We had a few cocktails, which was a bit unlike me, and then we had a few more, and then once the day ended in the park, we went to the pub. Once I'd had enough, I headed for the door, and I missed the step and sprained my ankle. I didn't feel it at first, but once I had slept it off sufficiently it really hurt, to the extent that I was concerned it was broken and I went to A&E to have it checked out. Luckily it didn't take very long to get seen (I guess that is the benefit of going at 05:30) and they told me it was a sprain. I've taken a few ibuprofen, and that seems to be managing it for me. 

All told, though, I really enjoyed Pub In The Park. The weather was great, the music was good and the beers & cocktails were very enjoyable. It's a shame though that I won't be able to go running for a couple of weeks... 

TTFN. 

23-05-20 - Saturday II - Fräulein @ Prince Albert, 26th April

Wow. I saw Fräulein at The Great Escape in 2022, and although I had already booked to see Ditz on Thursday 27th, when I saw that they were playing I had to book tickets. I went with Dave who loves a bit of live music, it’s always nice to introduce friends to new music. The Prince Albert is a small venue with a capacity for 110, so any gig there feels intimate. 

Fräulein are a rock duo, consisting of a male drummer and a female guitarist / singer, and they are really quite angsty. They remind me of Pixies, in a good way, and there were times during the evening where they cranked up the volume / emotion during songs and I found myself expecting them to go loud at that specific point, or agreeing that it made sense at that point, if that makes any sense. Maybe I was remembering their 2022 gig (at Zahara nightclub of all places!), but listening to them play felt like I had come home; although it was angst and noise and raw emotion it felt comfortable and warm.

I did ask if they were playing The 2023 Great Escape but I think they had other commitments  unfortunately. Safe to say though that I will be keeping an eye out for them visiting Brighton again, and I will be in the audience somewhere… I really liked them and hope they go on to bigger and better things. 

TTFN. 

23-05-20 - Saturday I - Leith Ross @ Chalk, 18th April

Saw Leith Ross again last month. Really enjoyed it, as expected, but it was a weird experience. The last time I was at Chalk it was to see Dry Cleaning, and that was a sold out event. This was sold out as well, but it was a completely different demographic, due to the nature of the act. Leith Ross is a young Canadian singer / songwriter who is gay and prefers “they / their” pronouns. So understandably the audience was completely different to the crowd at Dry Cleaning. The main differences were that I could see the stage, since the rest of the audience were mostly young women under 30, and they were shorter than the crowd I am used to at a gig, and the toilets had been changed to non-gender specific. I felt weirdly  out of place, but not in a bad way, it was as if I had been transported into the future in some weird way. The crowd weren’t as reverential as they were at the Bess Atwell gig I went to, but it was really inclusive and everyone seemed to be really happy to be there; it felt like a celebration more than anything else, despite some really dark and honest songs from Leith. The one that got me last time I saw them was “Tommy”, which was nostalgic for a male grandparent; admittedly it was just after Dad had passed away but it really spoke to me and so I was happy to go again to see them perform with TMO. 

Leith Ross has a great voice and some really great songs, and they deserve some wider appreciation, I think. I don’t know if I’ll go and see them perform live again, but I’m certainly open to hearing their songs on the radio and Spotify and I would recommend searching them out and listening to a track or two to see what you think. 

TTFN.

23-03-04 - Saturday I - Dry Cleaning @ Chalk, 1st March 2023

Saw Dry Cleaning at Chalk. They were brilliant. It was a sold out gig, so it was packed, which upsets me. It's good for the band and the venue, but when it's so busy that it's difficult to move I get a bit worried.

I missed the first support band but caught DEHD, which didn't float my boat; a couple of songs were okay though, which was nice.

Then Dry Cleaning came on and it's weird; the way the singer almost throws away the lyrics dismissively hides or distracts from the degree to which the rest of the band are wigging out most of the time. I enjoyed the performance, I recognised a few songs, although I thought they didn't do justice to Strong Feelings, the 1st song of theirs that I heard. I also thought they cut short one or two songs, but I might have got that wrong. The energy dipped in the middle, I thought, but then they brought it back for the finale, which of course included Scratchcard Lanyard. All told, it was a fine night and worth a trip into Brighton.

TTFN. 

19-11-23 Saturday - Sick Joy @ The Hope and Ruin, Wednesday 20th November

Wednesday came around and it was time to go and see Sick Joy at The Hope and Ruin. I came home after work, as the doors weren’t due to open until 8pm, so I had time to get back to Worthing and to the comic shop to collect my weekly order before having dinner and then heading back into Brighton.

Coming home meant that I didn’t have to buy dinner out, which for the last couple of times has involved Bill’s or Wahaca, which are both nice and not particularly expensive, but I realise I have turned into a miser and I am beginning to resent all sorts of costs – I might even think twice about buying a cheap and dirty Maccy Dee’s these days. So, I was refreshed and dressed appropriately, and headed back to the big city that is Brighton.

Last time I was here to see Priests, I didn’t stick around downstairs, so on this occasion I took some time to properly appreciate the main bar. It’s a kooky, off-beat kind of affair. The tables didn’t match; the wallpaper was faded. It had a real organic feeling, which was nice. It felt kind of “thrown together”, but it worked. It was bright enough, but quite informal and welcoming. In the corner, the kitchen was situated in a caravan which they had somehow recreated inside. I had a very nice non-alcoholic German wheat beer before heading upstairs.



There were three bands on the bill on Wednesday, so they didn’t have time to hang around. The first band on were Gloo, who were brilliant in my opinion. The drummer was very precise, as well as sporting a very impressive almost handlebar moustache, and his rhythms drove the Buzzcocks-esque songs. I certainly could have listened to more of them. The second band were from Brighton, Big Spring. They were good as well, but I don’t think their sound was quite suited to the venue. It may be that if the sound had been set up for them specifically, it might have been clearer. They seemed to be going for a big arena-style sound though, and to my mind it didn’t quite fit the surroundings.

Then it was time for Sick Joy, who blew me away. They were brilliant. They reminded me slightly of Nirvana, in that there was a power to their music, even when they played slower, more restrained numbers – it felt like they could explode into a cacophony of noise at any point. I think Dinosaur Jr have the same feel as well. I loved their songs, they were balls-out rock. They finished their set and we all called for an encore, to which they replied that they hadn’t written any more tracks. They did finish though, with “Heaven”, which seemed to be a crowd favourite.

I’d not heard any of these bands before Wednesday, but it did strike me that we currently have a wealth of brilliant live music being played around the country, and we are quite lucky. On this occasion I paid £7 for a ticket and got to see three great bands. On my previous visit to the Hope and Ruin I wasn’t that keen on the main band, but the support made up for it. And before that I got to see Sophie and the Giants, who were brilliant - so I’ve had a good run of luck recently with my choices. Long may it continue!

TTFN.