Homegrown Festival, thanks to the support of the Arts Council and the dedication of the amazing people behind Brighton’s beautiful small venue scene, Homegrown is truly blossoming into a very special event, that showcases just how many wonderful bands live within our fair city.

Daniel Wakeford – Green Door Store
The band are ready, the crowd are ready, the festival is ready, but there’s no sign of Wakeford…then out of nowhere he bounds onto the stage and we’re off! Backed by the heavy rock sound of his squalling, well drilled band, Daniel Wakeford is the sonic equivalent of Meatloaf’s little brother. He has a unique writer’s eye and his songs about DVD collections, Star Trek and Alton Towers put a smile on the collective festival face. He is a fearless performer and the sizeable early doors crowd are loving it. And as Wakeford reels off a list of his favourite theme parks to joyous cheers we already have our festival call-and-response winner. And it’s only 3pm. (JW)

Stanford Family Band – The Hope & Ruin
“Didn’t want to Daniel Wakefield? Yes! Well wrong place. We’re the Stanford Family Band.” A piano starts to play a slow high note refrain and the that ushers in a slow rolling song. Elliot Stanford the leave the keys and the stripped back band hit a skiffle stride reminiscent of early velvet underground, before the rest of the set turns to an early Mersey beat harmonic strum. (NM)

Really Big Really Clever – The Prince Albert
These guitar totin’ boys have balls and they have got them hard against the wall. They don’t stray too far from the balls/wall rock formula and it’s big and it’s heavvvy and it’s shouty and it’s just the way we like it. (JW)

Arjan Nala – Rossi Bar
We squeeze into a packed Rossi bar as Nala’s unleashes some jazzy funk. It is a tight performance undepinned by some great drumming. One second the vocals are somewhere between skat and Indian vocal tabla rhythms; the next they soar over the bass and guitars as Arjan waves his arms like wings. The packed crowd responds with a roar. He closes with a dreamy epic blues. (NM)

LLSN – Folklore Rooms
Lots of roads seem to lead to Oral Habit, who sound great but the queue is down the pipeline stairs almost to Quadrophenia Alley so we rush back up the hill to the Folklore where LLSN is playing a dreamy sixties psychedelic folk. It is a sound reminiscent of Donovan’s ‘Season of the Witch’. It feels desperate for a film to soundtrack. Elliot closes with ‘Motel Unloaded’ which is gorgeous. (NM)

Our Girl – Hope and Ruin
Our girl take a while to set up but the second those chords of ‘What You Tell Me’ hit it’s like a beautiful musical womb. These really are good songs. ‘Something About Me Being A Woman’ with Marika Hackman guesting is an epic sing along with its heavier chorus. (NM)

Le Lamb – Daltons
A band very much on the rise, Le Lamb grow more intriguing every time we see them. Leader of the flock Mia is a hypnotic performer with an epic voice and the band create a fusion inspired sound that swirls around her. Comparisons to Kate Bush are easy and lazy but we’re going to make them anyway. At times their show borders on a performance art experiment that is never less than compelling and we’re betting this band will be big. (JW)

The Leaning – Folklore Rooms
Stripped back to the original two piece will the Leaning fill the space? It turns out the answer is yes as Ez and Sam are more than enough. New song ‘Challice’ has everything that you might need from this band we have fallen in love with. The songs are stripped back to the beauty of early Fleet Foxes. What could have been a step back simply fizzes with the promise of the new. ‘Angle of the Moon’ with just Ez on Strat and Sam on vocals is a spectacular close to a wonderful set. (NM)

Slag – Revenge
Three bands in and we’ve hit a rhythm (timing is everything in these all-dayers. Along with coffee tequila). The vocals soar and it’s a seemingly endless set of bangers from these absolute teenage dirtbags . Slag crank out a sound that would not have displeased Dolores O’Riordan and we reckon she’d have loved the glittery boots too. (JW)

Gaffa Tape Sandy – Green Door Store
Special mention should go to Garda Tape Sandy. We miss most of their set dilly dallying but we arrive to find a tea time GDS going off like it’s a headline set at Brixton Academy. People are climbing up the walls, moshing and having a banger. It is smiles everywhere and serious good times being had. ‘Split’ with its chorus of ‘Find Out What They Want Then’ slams the set to a glorious close. (NM)

Marika Hackman – Hope and Ruin
We snoozed and, erm, loozed. The fabulous Marika Hackman was announced this morning as one of several secret sets but it’s a full house and there’s no way in. We decide to let serendipity take hold and head next door and find ourselves hanging out with Arcadia Residential at the Rossi Bar and we fall in love with the heavy surf-rock harmony and some beautiful beards. (JW)

School Disco – The Prince Albert
Rush across the road, grab a quick Arise and School Disco are already cooking a heady brew of riffage as we dive into the Albert. Where does one song start and another finish? Who cares. This is delicious classic heavy rock done perfectly. Mighty swells of drums roll and crash over psych pop, prog rock and jazz stylings, with singer Rory Lethbridge frequently keeping his head down and eyes shut, the better to concentrate on reminding the unfamiliar what a hugely satisfying spectacle his three-piece are to watch. It should also be noted that Source hearby presents Harry with drummer of the tournament. The living embodiment of Animal from the muppets. New tune ‘Happen’ is a monster. So very very good the Source team reviewed this gig twice. (NM & BM)

Nina Kohout – Folklore Rooms
With our timings all shot by what we’re now calling the The Hackman Incident (except not “that one”) we stumble into the Folklore Rooms and catch the end of Kohout’s set and boy what a treat it is. She is Palocheck and Del Rey via the avant-garde synth-pop route and we stagger up to the bar feeling a little robbed at what we have missed. Let us never speak of the Hackman Incident again. (JW)

ĠENN – Green Door Store
Genn are used to entertaining a densely-packed Green Door Store with their fists-up charm, applying effervescent levels of showmanship to a sound channelling elements of psychedelia, alt, punk and garage rock. Leona Farrugia, guitarist Janelle Borg, bassist Leanne Zammit and drummer Sofia Rosa Cooper are on typically hyperactive form, partly inspired by memories of an early show in Brighton in 2018 when the band “instantly felt like magic”. This was, it transpired, also Farrugia’s first gig since endometriosis surgery – and a joyful, occasionally acrobatic performance might have felt like the best kind of catharsis for the firebrand lead singer. (BM)

A Basic Fault – The Pipeline
Homegrown seems to get the capacity levels just right, with The Pipeline brimming for A Basic Fault, who have their audience tiptoeing at the back and thrashing at the front. The trio appear to specialise in stirring post-rock, and their emphasis on experimentation makes them a treat to watch, the challenge to second-guess lead vocalist Davey Pentecost, bassist and backing vocalist Benjamin Varnes and drummer David Ballard’s combinations. Released last November, their self-titled record was intended to distil the sound of their gigs – a wise approach, if this demonstration of their ambition in live settings is anything to go by. (BM)

Rea – Folklore Rooms
A big decision (to stay put at the Folklore Rooms and rethink the schedule) yields even bigger results as Rea is a perfect oasis of calm. Coming on to the sound of recorded raindrops she soothes the soul with her gentle folk-pop sounds. Her debut EP lands imminently, we urge you to seek it out. (JW)

Arxx – Revenge
Drummer/guitar duos seem to be ten-a-penny these days but Hanni and Clara are different in so many ways. They are purveyors of pure pop perfection and God Knows is a bona fide hit that should play on every dance floor on this planet and every other planet too. The set is a silky smooth celebration and the Cher cover mash-up at the finale sends Revenge over the edge. (JW)

Jed – Hope and Ruin
Rapper and poet Jed Wright writes about growing pains and the perils of pursuing creative ambitions, his subject matters ranging from everyday romantic irritations to composing songs in offices before biting your tongue in front of your boss. Tonight he is accompanied by a band including jazzy vocalist Poppy Townsend and instrumentalists Sam Webster, Felix Harris and Alex Lyster, with a new single, Tonight, the last to be released before his full album lands. There are shades of Dizraeli to the performance; were Homegrown to introduce an award for earnestness among its participants, Wright would be the undisputed winner. (BM)

KLSR – Hope and Ruin
With no shade on the wonderful Hope and Ruin, the hallowed upstairs space is not one that has been visited by many artists with almost 200,000 social media followers. KLSR once wanted to be in a rock band, but the producer’s intergalactic, techno-ish audiovisual show is somewhat singular on the schedule, which is weirder and richer for his involvement. “I hope you enjoy this – whatever this is,” he says, hunching over his console in front of a screen featuring a reel that may have been dreamed up at a planetarium. Turns out composers’ art installations can work in pubs. (BM)

Hotwax – Green Door Store
A pyrotechnic punk rock performance for the ages! It’s the last night of their UK tour and only a band that’s played a major run of dates can sound and look this good. GDS goes off and Hotwax are undoubtedly heading for the big leagues. (JW)

Jopy – Prince Albert
“How long have we got left?” asks Jo Parnell, thinking out loud in characteristically droll style as part of a continuing to-and-fro with the Albert crowd. “Nine minutes. Ages.” The titular ringleader of Jopy is right, both in the context of a trio dealing in pop-punk sugar rushes and a festival full of taut sets. Together with bassist Clown Baby and Louis Relf – one of the most frenetic drummers of the day – their turn clips by briskly, with Head Hunters Pub & Grub, from last year’s Planet Zombie EP, among the highlights. Those Cramps comparisons they embrace are justified and complimentary. (BM)

Bleach Lab – Hope and Ruin
A sense of aura permeates Bleach Lab’s dark, dreamy shoegaze, evidenced by Jenna Kyle’s smoky voice transfixing the room in the company of guitarist Frank Wates, bassist Josh Longman and drummer Kieran Weston. Single Feel Something, which has just been released as part of their Close to the Flame EP, comes midway through their set with additional vocals from Weston, and the pay-off line in the chorus – in which a lover is informed they have ruined a life – lands to suitably hard-hitting effect. With a full tour seven months away, there is also a certain exclusivity to hearing the new tracks live at Homegrown. (BM)

Van Zon – The Prince Albert
“We’re ready”. The lovely bunch that is Van Zon switch on a dime from set up to performance. Acoustic guitar over light cymbals and clarinet. It’s a gentle start for a packed room full of the notably young and hip crowd as Mina Alexander struggles to get through the song without laughing. New song ‘Men in Black’ takes the folk rock of Fairport Convention and spices it up and feeds it to the post Slint generation. (NM)

Snayx – Daltons
(Quick shout out to Daltons, what a brilliant beachfront venue!). Just when the long festival day really kicks your beehind and you’re starting to regret the coffee tequila run Snayx crash the party hard with electrifying energy. And whilst we can use all manner of aggressive punk superlatives to describe their searing supertight sound, this band are actually sweethearts who really care about where they form, what they do and who is watching them. The perfect Brighton spirit. Homegrown indeed. (JW)

The New Eves – The Prince Albert
Newly signed to Transgressive Records, The New Eves, fresh from supporting YHWH Nailgun on a UK tour, are a supremely confident live act now as they whoop and holler their way through their gothic folk. The Brighton debut of a new song ‘Red Brick’, sees Violet take centre stage; over Nina playing fierce guitar. New single ‘Highwayman’ brings the set to a thrilling close with its Teenage Fly riff. (NM)

Homegrown Festival – April 10th 2025
Various Venues:

Words: Nick McAllister, Ben Miller & Jason Warner
Photos: Stan O’Shea & Jason Warner