5 acts to catch at Brighton's Hidden Herd festival

Words: Steve Willcox

Local Brighton music bloggers Jim West and Kulvin Kailey set up Hidden Herd in 2015 as a means of putting emerging music artists firmly at the front of the pack.

In 2018 the pair embarked on their first one-day festival venture, and  o Saturday March 21 they are back with Hidden Herd Festival episode three, taking place on both floor levels of Patterns by the seafront in Brighton.

12 acts, performing from midday to 10pm, with no stage clashes, you can catch the likes of Flyte, Low Island, Girlhood, bdrmm, PROJECTOR, Mosa Wild - to name but six!,

And if you are unsure when to take a snack or smoke break during the day and who you might miss, here are five acts you shouldn't miss at all costs.


Arxx 1.30pm

Brighton gals Arxx have been one of Little Indie’s favourites since their conception back in 2017. Bringing some raucous energy and indie-pop sensibilities so early in the day might make for an interesting contrast with those just finishing their lunch on the veranda outside. Expect loud subversive sounds from this unlikely duo.




Circe 3.15pm

I keep on missing out watching this London band play live, but this time nothing’s gonna stop me as I've heard from so many friends what a class act these guys are. Bringing melodramatic lyrics along with moody guitars and synth melodies, combined with singer Alexa Povey’s celestial vocals, you just can’t go wrong with this choice.




Kate Lomas 5.30pm

This singer-songwriter, producer and pop princess from Bath has enough energy to shake these foundations to the ground, with lots of industry interest around her at the moment after playing sets at Glastonbury and in the BBC Maida Vale studios. Expect plenty of synth dream-pop beats, but with enough lyrical bite to get things heated.




bdrmm 6.15pm

Not normally my cup of tea, but from listening to a few of their tracks I can see why people fall in love with this Hull-based slacker shoegaze quintet. Blending reverb-heavy guitars with disjointed vocals along with dream-pop beats makes this one of my favourites of the day.




Low Island 7.45pm

The free-spirited Oxford art synth-rock outfit create that special mix of electronic indie-dance with the falsetto vocals of Carlos Posada akin to AHA’s Morten Harket. Their dreamy mix of ambient electronica with the four multi-talented musicians is a compelling encounter I personally can’t wait to witness.




Tickets for Hidden Herd are £22 and are available here.