Jim Jones has appeared in Brighton with many incarnations and line ups including Thee Hypnotics, Jim Jones Revue, The Righteous Mind and now he brings us The Jim Jones All Stars.

It was a tight squeeze to fit all eight members on to the small Prince Albert stage and they were straightaway blasting out raw rock ‘n’ roll energy as tenor sax player and MC Stuart Dace whipped up the already hyped crowd. It was all guns blazing as Dace and baritone sax player Tom Hodges went head to head with Elliott Mortimer’s classic rock ‘n’ roll piano riffs.

Frontman Jones prowled and screamed like a mad-eyed snake oil salesman jacked on moonshine on The Righteous Mind’s ‘Satan’s Got His Heart Set on You’, with its prison chain gang rhythm pounding out, sounding like a demonic Tom Waits. We’re only three songs on but Hodges was already in the crowd and got a helping hand to get back on stage in time to introduce ‘Gimme The Grease’. There’s heavy, groovy bass and screeching guitar with space for Dace’s tenor sax to step up for a solo.

There’s a faithful interpretation of Horace Silver’s classic piano intro from Mortimer on ‘Song For My Father’ before the band went full on Glitter Band glam rock stomping with an edge on ‘Cement Mixer’. Jones wailed out “Here we go, nice and slow“ and encouraged the crow to clap along before returning to the dirty sounding chorus. The rock n roll sound ws so powerful it felt like there was two of everyone playing.

Drummer Aidan Sinclair’s snare broke but the band ploughed on with an extended jam while a spare was sought. One was rustled up from somewhere, and a test sounded fine, so they continued with Jim stomping and the horns synched and stepping in time.

There was an inconclusive poll, before ‘Born 2 Ride’, as to whether we were a scooter or motorbike crowd in Brighton and the song was appropriate for both as it turned into a 60s head trip with a nah nah nah singalong. ‘Make It Rain’ followed with Mortimer hammering out Jerry Lee piano chords augmented by dirty sax honks – it was an inescapable groove.

Mose Allison’s ‘Parchman Farm’ followed with a few lyrics given the Jones touch to spice it up a little. The band clapped along as Dace took a tenor solo before the band join in for a madly powerful jam until they calmed as Jim sang “I’m gonna be here for the rest of my life and all I did was fuck your wife”.

‘Lovers Prayer’, the nearest they came to a ballad, gave everyone a chance to catch their breath briefly before Sincalir’s drums introduced ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Psychosis’, which fully lived up to its name with everyone wailing and the piano boogie woogieing. The energy continued on ‘Cat Fight’ with both saxes kicking off on a creeping spy TV show theme vibe.

For the final number, ‘Princess And The Frog’, Mortimer was pounding out a rock n roll boogie as everyone went full- throttle, sounding as fresh as when they began the show. A Jim Jones show is always an all consuming experience and it must be said that Jones and the All Stars certainly knew how to work the room and delivered a truly memorable evening.

Opening the show was Seafoam Green, an Irish duo made up of singer/guitarist Dave O’ Grady and singer Muireann McDermott Long. They sang together beautifully throughout a rocky Americana set that included Laurel Canyon folk sensibilities.

‘Honey’ featured softly shaken maracas and gentle harmonies over O’Grady’s picked Gibson SG with powerful stabby chords, while ‘I Saw You Were A Demon’ gave us voices in perfect unison with a bluesy Southern Gothic guitar sound and great holy roller chorus. ‘Better For You’ saw them produce a big sound for just two people and they had just enough attitude and groove to be a great opener for what they described as “a great rock n roll show”. Their seven song set ended with ‘Hiss’, a culmination of their music and vocals coming together with a big Stones-like guitar finish. Judging by the queue at the merch table afterwards, they made a lot of new fans tonight.

Prince Albert, Friday 24th October 2025