Check out and download the photos from this night here.
Described by the promoters as “a festival in a club”, Playgroup packs its tent with an eclectic mix of genres, from drum’n’bass to house, reggae to hip hop, with a few more squeezed in between. The Concorde is the perfect venue with its raucous atmosphere, bouncing clubbers and slopped about pints. However, our collective shirts already had beer stains from a party last week, so we were prepared for the odd involuntary top-up.
Despite being supported by the more than capable Lego Cut DJs, Dad Disko DJs and Two Spot Gobi, tonight was all about The Bays – a truly eclectic dance act who don’t rehearse and only ever play improvised music on stage, having never released a record. Yet from a crowd perspective you wouldn’t know that the set list was made up on the hop, and for two hours these guys had the place rocking. Tuned the music the DJ ends with, tonight their set is laced with thumping d’n’b.
Although in Brighton we’ve know the Bays for playing at Audio, they’re more than happy on big stages like the Concorde, and crank things up accordingly. When the bass bins finally cease their warranty-threatening rumble. fans of their deep house sets in more intimate venues might not have recognised the same band.
After a dance-off in the middle of the floor, we grabbed one merry clubber and asked him what he enjoyed the most about the night. Unfortunately, we couldn’t understand what he said, so we then sought the views of a less inebriated girl who thought the Bays were “fucking awesome”. Concise, it generally sums up Playgroup pretty well we think.
