YOUNG BANDS NIGHT •Dome Weds 1st Dec
Brighton is the place to be for young musical talent, and this is celebrated at the iconic Dome theatre with performances from various local bands. The music stylings range from indie sextet Alice (one to watch), the punk alternative Blank Revolution and the bluesy When Monsters Walk. This event is perfect if you want to watch some bands trying something a bit different or if you just want to celebrate the variety of music Brighton offers. (HM)
DERRIERE • Brunswick Weds 1st Dec
Rockabilly quintet Derriere return to their Brighton roots for an intimate set in the Brunswick’s back room, combining rich, dusty vocals with dub grooves. Definitely on the more accessible side of rockabilly, the band evokes candlelit and smoky American jazz clubs, seedy moustaches and lipstick-ed cigarettes. And, if only for telling your mates afterwards, can you turn down the opportunity to spend the evening in the company of Gloria Stitts (…y’know, the vocalist)? (JMM)
VAMPIRE WEEKEND Brighton Centre Weds 1st Dec
How to fill a venue normally the preserve of Premier League darts, Dancing On Ice, A Question Of Sport or Alexandra Burke? For starters – the ability to retain an intimate charm, melodic wit and Big Apple flair while conquering huge crowds has been the mark of Vampire Weekend’s recent triumph. How much will tonight’s crowd care about Oxford commas, Congolese dance rhythms or rebel forces during the Nicaraguan civil war? When the tunes are this good, intellectualising fades away. Take note, Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor! (BG)
PULLED APART BY HORSES & GAY FOR JOHNNY DEPP Audio Weds 1st Dec
Leeds-based Pulled Apart By Horses return to Brighton after their Great Escape performance, and will most likely trash the place again. The band’s eponymous first LP on Trangressive was only released a few months ago and they’ve certainly given it a riotous road testing. Known for intense and injury-strewn gigs, they’re joined by New York’s Gay For Johnny Depp – hardcore vocalist Arty Shepherd screams of homoerotic love for Mr Depp whilst dressed as a vicar. It’ll be a good ‘un. (KK)
THE CORRESPONDENTS Concorde 2 Thurs 2nd Dec
The Correspondents mix drum’n’bass, jazz and electro swing like a fine cocktail, and they’re bringing their heady mixture of styles to the Concorde 2. With performances at Glastonbury and Bestival under their belts, Mr Bruce and Mr Chuckles know how to put on a show – expect toe-tapping tunes and irresistible musings on love, loss and letting yourself go. If you want some upbeat, jazzy hip hop this is the place to be, so grab your martini and don’t be late. (SJ)
INTRODUCING PLAY ‘ENdTRODUCING’Concorde 2 Fri 3rd Dec
Do what?! A thirst for nostalgia has taken us from Dave Rubbish assailing the greats with a karaoke machete, to our idols rebooting a vague classic for one more mortgage fix. Now this. Tonight, a 10-piece band will apparently put DJ Shadow’s landmark 1996 masterpiece back together, playing it completely live, note-for-note, in what appears to be a turntablist X Factor. What’s next? Support from the SOURCE editorial husband and wife dream team, singing the Top Gun soundtrack? It could happen. (BG)
WE HAVE BAND Audio Sat 4th Dec
This fantastic London trio arrive in Brighton as part of The Recommender blog’s next showcase, bringing with them their brand of banging electronic pop tunes. With lead vocalist Darren’s special ability to drum whilst standing up and singing, you always get an eyeful as well as an earful from their consistently strong set. Support this time around has Brighton’s purveyors of pop noir, Mirrors, who are all set to blossom in 2011, alongside Bright Light Bright Light, neatly completing a night of electronic heaven. (MB)
BLOOD RED SHOES •Concorde 2 Weds 8th Dec
The poet James Agee once said that when you leave home you can never go back. Fortunately this doesn’t apply to Blood Red Shoes, making a welcome return to Brighton this December. Their debut album ‘Box Of Secrets’ and follow-up ‘Fire Like This’ mixed vulnerable lyrics with high-energy punk influences; managing to be poignant, angry and upbeat all at once. Next up is a break, a rest, and a third album, so get them while they’re hot. (SJ)
DELOREAN Jam Weds 8th Dec
Opinions vary about the true godfathers of chillwave, the scene which has gushed so much warped, psychedelic electronica upon a whacked-out world in 2010. Neon Indian, Toro Y Moi and Washed Out have led the sunburnt charge but Spanish dance act Delorean’s credentials, from their Back To The Future-referencing name and Balearic backdrop, remain compelling. This is a playful, lush sound that, fittingly, looks the most capable of commercial lift-off, if they can raise their catatonic heads above sea level. (BG)
PETER ANDRE • Brighton Centre Fri 10th Dec
It’s perhaps difficult to see why Harvey’s stepdad is selling tickets to his 38-date UK tour hand over fist, and to whom exactly. But Andre is a man many will feel they know intimately, what with eager TV cameras beaming his every move and vapid opinion into our homes as he stares over the precipice of obscurity. Parting with your hard-earned cash just to be in the same cavernous room as some bloke off the telly might seem a bit dim in these troubled times, but one suspects that’s the primary motive for most. It can’t be the music, really, can it? (NC)
NINJA TUNE XX Concorde 2 Fri 10th Dec
Ninja Tune, one of the most innovative music labels in the UK, has turned 20. And to celebrate its birthday, it’s throwing a party for us. There may not be cake, but there’s trip hop hero Bonobo with Brighton-based soul singer Andreya Triana and a full live band, and support from the one and only Roots Manuva amongst others, so this night can’t fail to be a very special birthday party indeed – don’t let Ninja Tune finish its teenage years without a mighty celebration. (JMM)
SCISSOR SISTERS Brighton Centre Sun 12th Dec
Despite somewhat diminishing national record sales – their debut was the UK’s best-selling album of 2004 yet subsequent releases have seen less universal clamour – the Scissor Sisters are still packing them in here in Brighton. The biggest venue in town could usually do with an atmosphere implant, and it’s certain to be in evidence tonight with an evening of camp dress-up and disco. Don’t feel like dancin’? You will. (NC)
DAVID LOWERY &JOHNNY HICKMAN Prince Albert Sun 12th Dec
David Lowery is best known for fronting 80s alt.rock institution Camper Van Beethoven, the eclectic Californians who gave us the satirical classic ‘Take The Skinheads Bowling’. When CVB split for a decade, Lowery teamed up with guitarist Johnny Hickman in the more MTV-friendly Cracker, scoring a bit 90s hit with ‘Low’, as well as the Chicks On Speed-covered ‘Eurotrash Girl’. This low-key Sunday afternoon show sees the pair performing songs by both Cracker and the reformed CVB. (SH)
SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR Concorde 2 Sun 12th Dec
She’s the daughter of a Blue Peter presenter but Sophie is known for much more than having a famous mum. She’s also got a famous husband, a strange-shaped head and was once in an indie band before realising she’d gone through the wrong door at stage school and should have been making air-headed dance music instead. Expect to hear plenty of that tonight, in the shape of new album ‘Straight To The Heart’, for which the phrase “here’s one we made earlier” was surely invented. (BG)
ELECTRIC SIX Concorde 2 Tues 14th Dec
Jack White has been responsible for some strange decisions. He got married to his sister, then tied the knot with a supermodel while floating down the Amazon in a canoe. Worst of all, he sang on ‘Danger! High Voltage’, the 2003 smash from Electric Six, officially Earth’s most irritating group thanks principally to singer Dick Valentine, whose wacky frontman skills generally reach their zenith when he produces a baguette. Don’t expect any special guest stars tonight. Do expect a power cut. (BG)
OK PILOT & PACER Cowley Club Sat 18th Dec
A treat for the punk rock crowd on the last Saturday before half of Brighton’s population leave for families around the country. Headliners are Exeter’s OK Pilot who have been making a name for themselves around Europe and the US with their Hot Snakes-meets-The Bronx style punk’n’roll. Pacer are a new UK punk rock band making waves having released their first record through The Bouncing Souls label. Support comes from three more Brighton DIY punk rock/hardcore bands. (DB)
JAMES BLAKE Life Fri 14th Jan
The terms ‘boundary-breaking’ and ‘electronic exploration’ are bandied around too much for our liking, but this is an artist who it’s difficult to describe without referring to his unique and, we said it, exploratory methods of creating tunes. Mercifully free from the usual trappings of the pretentious, Mount Kimbie’s pal released his debut this year and is much beloved by Radio 1. Catching him in a small-ish venue will undoubtedly prove rewarding. (JMM)
THE WALKMEN Concorde 2 Weds 26th Jan
You could have been forgiven for not realising The Walkmen have been around for just over 10 years. Formed in 2000 in New York by former members of Jonathan Fire*Eater, they’ll be bringing their sixth – yes sixth! – album ‘Lisbon’ to the Concorde 2 on the last night of their UK tour. Hamilton Leithauser’s gravelly vocal and Matt Barrick’s precision drumming on anthemic, soaring singles such as ‘The Rat’ and ‘Angela Surf City’ will have you no less than transfixed. (KK)
WORDS BY DAN BOWDEN, MIKE BRADFORD, NICK COQUET, BEN GILBERT, SEAN JORDAN, KERI KENNEDY, HELEN MURDOCH, JESSICA MARSHALL MCHATTIE