Live
The Brighton Mix-Up
The Black Lion, Brighton
May 9 - 11 2019
Reporting team: Linn Branson, Steve Willcox, Izzy Butler
Pictures: As author, except where stated
With the great and the good descending on the south coast resort of Brighton for the annual Great Escape, if you were out of luck in sourcing a wristband, or just simply too skint to afford it, then the three-day Brighton Mix-Up taking place at the city's Black Lion venue at the same time, would have been a (free) godsend.
Organised by Kick Out The Jams, End Of The Trail Creative and Benumu, and sponsored by Rotor Videos and Blackstar Amplification, the inaugural Mix-Up - described as 'three days of rock n roll madness beside the sea' - boasted a pretty decent line-up of 45 acts, from the more newly fledged to those more established, and all.of which was going to cost you zero bucks.
DAY ONE
The first day sees a wet Brighton and punters only too pleased to get in out of the rain. And first act for us is Polar States, whose frontman Paul keeps his hoodie up for the duration of the set perhaps wanting to avoid any roof leaks over his blond barnet. From Liverpool, the four-piece have been going for a few years now, have a healthy catalogue of rock tunes, and have graced the airwaves of Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music. It may have been the earlyish time of day, or just the lack of atmosphere, but I found them hard to get into and nothing that gripped me enough. I don't do rock, really! (LB)
Much more my thing are JEPH, who in the time Little Indie has known them, have really come together, honed their sound, and this way too short set (cut, I think, due to the inevitable late running times festivals are beset by) was just right on the money, and you really wanted to shout 'more! more!' Much to like here, from last year's 'Hey, Baby' single to the just released 'Lola'. Still unsigned: note, please, labels... (LB)
Welsh lovelies Al Moses, turned up the decibels so they still somehow managed to shred the aural cavities even when wearing ear plugs! Introduced to an English audience by Little Indie at their curated gig in London last October, the Cardiff four-piece played a solid set, including the throbbing big hitter ‘Taxidermy’. (LB)
DAY TWO
The Novus are an early act on, and perhaps with many still suffering hangovers from the previous night-into-dawn partying, the punters are sparse, but those imbibing of the hair of the dog seem to appreciate the set by the alt-punks from the Midlands, with their confident rocky vibe. And talking of hair, frontman Tom Rhodes' - a latterday Robert Smith hair-alike - mop seemed to have quite remarkable gravity-defying tendencies! Early set standout - 'Frosty'. (LB)
Arriving late for Elephant Radio, it was obvious that those who had got there before me were loving these indie pop Eastbourne lads. With a reasonable amount of revellers inside the party’s in full swing. They seem to have an ability to coin a great song with lyrics that actually mean something and ‘Our Raining’ was something else. Crowd pleaser ‘Say Nothing’ and last song ‘Anybody Out There’ their current release, was well received in what was a great set. (SW)
Credit: Paul Cartwright
Playing an early evening slot, Saint Agnes transpired to be the unannounced 'special guests'. Making for a busy few days (they also played two gigs as part of The Great Escape), the London rockers gave it plenty of psychy rock and plenty of garage rolls to their raucous set, with front duo Kitty Arabella Austen and Jon James Tufnell, working perfectly in tandem. (IB)
Credit: Paul Cartwright
SONS never seem to stop gigging and you will probably have seen their name on plenty of local and London festival bills too. From Brighton, the two brothers can always be relied upon to deliver a raunchy, rocker of a set, and their half-hour here provided the chance to get mosh-ready and really into the rest of the night. (IB)
DAY THREE
Essex boys Cavalcade are delivering us some loud indie rock as one of the early starters on the final day of the Mix-Up. Singer Connor Duggan's vocals are clear and precise. and new song ‘Blueness Is A Heavy Stone’ - judging by crowd reaction - could be a new favourite. ‘Katmandu Kid’ gets the crowded room dancing along with its hypnotic melody that ends the set on a high. (SW)
Credit: Paul Cartwright
With Irish band Just Mustard now out and gigging, I got a little confused on band names and thought Dutch Mustard were one and the same. Either way, with no expectations, I was left pleasantly surprised by this musical condiment from London led by vocalist and guitarist Sarah-Jayne Riedel. A grungey-rock style that went down well - even if you didn't know any of the songs! (IB)
A lot has been said about West Bromwich funksters The Pagans S.O.H, who melding a Midlands rap/rock with funk. ‘Banananah’ has vocalist Marco free-styling and spitting out the lyrics like a machine gun, and ‘Pagan Pilgrimage’ (which is out in July) hits the right notes as the crowd start to dance to its funky, rock-laden sound. Watching these guys perform makes you feel like you’ve had a 30 minute sprint - leaving you exhausted by the end of it. (SW)
One of my favourite punk acts,
Sisteray, show The Black Lion how to party, pulling out their explosive vocals and loud grinding guitars for one of the last sets of the Mix-Up. With a full room watching on, ‘Wannabes’ grabbed the crowd’s attention as they started singing the chorus back to the band. New song ‘All Boys Club’ went down well as did ‘Fast Food’, and they encored with ‘Queens English’ to thunderous applause. (SW)
Although we sadly weren't able to catch more of The Brighton Mix-Up's sets, considering that this was a totally free event, the calibre of artists was first class. Put on your list for next year.
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