Brighton is hardly lacking in opportunities to spend a whole day listening to bands. Indeed some might say we are spoilt for choice, with big festivals like The Great Escape, Mutations and On The Beach, as well as loads of local promoters pulling off all dayers such as Acid Box, Hidden Herd, Home Grown and 2,3,4 Fest. Those of us who obsess over music magazines though will have noticed the growing brand of festivals called Psych Fest, starting with Liverpool, and spreading to Manchester and Edinburgh. Over the years these events have put together some mouthwatering line ups.
It is therefore with some excitement that Team Source heads to the Unitarian Church to dive into the excited crowd full of familiar faces as they get their all important ticket to ride. As one we all head to the Beach for the first band, but this being Brighton, arguably the greatest town in the known universe, it has laid on a special treat for Psych Fans. We all crowd into the Hippodrome open day for a brief look inside the splendour of this stunning old venue before it is finally renovated. We leave dreaming of the day that Innerstrings Projections will turn that ceiling into a ripple of undulating colour as Goat headline the 2026 Psych Fest.
Juniore – The Arch
The bar is already worryingly dry as we ram into the packed seafront nightclub; the Arch, which actually could become a strong replacement for the (much missed by this writer anyway) Haunt, which was a cracking venue for the upcoming hungry bands.
Juniore take to the stage and launch straight into a super funky bass driven ‘Bizzare’. It’s a note perfect rip through the Nancy Sinatra playbook with a healthy dose of Serge. A Brighton gig has been a long time coming as their date bounced its way through lockdown so we are delighted to be in a room with them and their name has been dropped by many an expectant punter, as the thing they are most excited about seeing.
The new bass player adds an edge of ‘Moon Safari’ era Air to the songs. The set bodes well for a new release; ‘Trois, Desx, Un’, which will be their first since 2020. A new track from that, which we are told is about topless women on French beaches is super tight with vocal harmonies and a monster riff. ‘Ah Bah, D’ Accord’ gets the rapturous response it deserves and team Source is leaping in the air with pure joy. (NM)
A Savage – The Arch
A Savage stripped of Parquet Courts is a much quieter affair. Just him and acoustic guitar under a single spotlight. Not quite the ‘Disco Pavement’ party we were after but compelling nonetheless. His is an arresting and deeply familiar voice, that fits our ears like a glove. He does however have to fight with the darkness and the background noise as his playing is surprisingly delicate. Ultimately these songs would sound great if the rest of the aforementioned band were there in this dark room or if we were sat outdoors, perhaps on the beach itself listening to him play surrounded by beauty and able to lay back. Then the lightness of touch would be perfect, and his bonhomie would carry the audience with him. (NM)
Secluded Bronte – Komedia Basement
It’s never too early for a bit of experimental soundscaping and down at the Komedia SOURCE are already very open to having our minds sonically altered. Comedian and committed audiophile Stewart Lee has curated the Basement lineup and we start with a band that sounds like the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band helping the Fall move house. Introduced by Lee, Secluded Bronte are a revered improv proposition and the stage is littered with an assortment of guitars, keys, toys, pipes, tubes and glasses, all of which are gainfully and randomly employed. It is wonderfully weird, like a broken cuckoo clock put through a giant phase pedal, and we’re off to a cracking start. (JW)
Bug Club – The Arches
With a high NRG raw and ready garage band sound and a set containing (maybe) the hit song of the festival “A Bit Like James Bond”, The Bug Club bounce joyfully along and put a great big smile on everyone’s face (insert cheap psychedelic drug joke here). (JW)
Geordie Creeps – Concorde 2
A belly full of delicious Yeastie Boys pizza and we fly across town to the Concorde as Geordie Creeps is dishing out his heavy Zappaesque jazz rock. Little has changed from the black midi mould, although the cello is a welcome melodic addition. Combined with the keys the lounge jazz element comes to the fore. The fretless bass player prowls the stage like Wilko Johnson. Much like his previous band, Black Midi, the music is a challenging affair. A Christmas song shorn of the angular guitar theatrics is the most magical moment. Just keys bass cello and Geordie’s best Sinatra croon with lyrics involving snow. (NM)
Hutch – The Hope and Ruin
Either Hutch have a very big family or they have a genuine fanbase that know all the songs. Whatever the case these Brighton boys set to work with a jingle and a jangle and some well placed harmony singing. It’s like The Byrds but a little bit louder. Lovely. (JW)
La Luz – Green Door Store
The Green Door is unfeasibly packed for La Luz. The queue stretches so far back from the small main room door that it envelopes the bar, providing a genuine buzz moment. Their retro fifties doo wop and rock’n’roll is served with lashings of slow surf rolls, as it glides through the gap and keeps us interested enough to stay. Our patience is rewarded, as slowly some people escape the sweaty crush, and we slowly squeeze our way in. After some entertaining banter about satin tote bags the slamming drums and riff of ‘Strange World’ quickly morph into a synth pop beast with echoes of ‘Billie Jean’, while the urgent stabby key part of ‘Cicada’ leads a Balkan waltz. The set is brought to a fantastic finale as ‘California Finally’ stampedes in like a fifties cover of Stereolab’s French Disco. Perfect. (NM)
Daiistar – Green Door Store
We stick around the Green Door for Daiistar from Austin Texas, largely on the basis they were complete and utter gents in the Yeastie Boys pizza queue earlier in the evening. We are rewarded in a pitch perfect take on the 90s Creation Records sound. This is frankly a foundation block of all these ears love about music. Various members of the audience enjoy the fact its not quite as squashed as for La Luz and engage in some gloriously fun dancing. In a week famous for a certain Manchester reunion this is much more like it. A Baggy variety of shoegaze done very well. When they slow down they go the Mary Chain fuzz. Its possible the recordings may sound a tad derivative, but the live set was fun, and we make a note to check out the aptly titled debut album ‘Good Time’. (NM)
The Horrors – Concorde 2
There’s only really one word to describe what Faris Badwan and his band of journeypeople are forging down on the seafront: Huge. Actually two words: Huge and glowering. OK that’s three but Badwan is worth skipping the brevity. The Horrors were young once. Angular and sleek. Now they are old and monolithic and stadium ready and it is great. The adoring crowd lap up every screech and howl and and it’s almost as though the band have come of age. Which is an absurd statement because they’re well past their 5th album. So not the most obvious choice to headline a psychedelic music festival, but still a banging booking. (JW)
The Bevis Frond – Komedia Basement
Coming on somewhere between a classic pub rock band and an OG psych-rock odyssey, The Bevis Frond are bona fide cult heroes. Stewart Lee ventures back onto the stage and is clearly in awe of guitarist and founding member Nick Saloman, a musician born out of the 60s who can genuinely claim to be the Real Deal. The booking is a master stroke from stage curator Lee and The Bevis Frond lay down some freakin’ big freak-out riffs as any good psychedelic festival headline band should. (NM)
Girl and Girl – The Prince Albert
Tough choices have to be made and despite our love of the mighty Pigs, we opt for Antipodean art punks Girl and Girl, whose 2023 Mutations set was a delight. They start with a psychiatrist’s couch confessional into, which is called ‘Intro’ off new album ‘Call the Doctor’. The song almost drags, and fuels the fire of our FOMO nerves, based on that tough choice. Thankfully, just as it does on the album, the tone turns on dime, with title track ‘Call the Doctor’ and both band and audience erupt in joyful dancing. FOMO nerves, what nerves!?!
Suffocate is beautiful. By now the happiest crowd of the night is lapping it up. It’s just so effortless and natural and that’s what makes it so deliciously fun. The band then hit us with ‘Dance Now’ which is more infectious than a nasty STD. It is the most perfect sunshine pop punk you can imagine.
Frontman; Kai James, pushes his way into a special zone reserved in my heart for the songwriting style of David Gedge and adds some pop sass.
‘All I See’ hits a perfect rockabilly stride, while ‘Strangers’ with its chorus of “I Will Go Out With Strangers” brings the set to a sing along finish as the band accept high fives and fist bumps from the sweaty grinning masses. (NM)
Genn – Komedia
Intensity levels are cranked even higher and with debut album “Unum” well and truly out, Brighton-based Maltese falcons Genn swoop in and assault the stage with a fusion sound that’s hard to place. Nu-metal-psychout-swamp-thing-glamour-blues is as close as SOURCE can get but then it is very late and we’re amazed we made it this far. Genn are the dose we need and singer Leona Farrugia, a star already made, convinces us to stay up just a little longer. (JW)
Dad Koolies – The Arch
Das Koolies seemingly win the prize for the worst stage set up ever, as they hide behind a wall of white tarp and scaffolding, that separates them from their audience and gets in the way of that all important sense of connection. Despite this, the first song is a banger. There is an element of their old band Super Furry Animals but music is much harder and is clearly influenced by old school free party techno in all the right ways and hints and time spent raving out in the quarries of Wales. ‘Best Mindfuck Yet’ with its rolling breakbeat is cracking example.
We speak to a sound engineer working in the venue and it turns out the white wall is meant to be full of projections. The projectors have gone all computer says no, and this is a festival, so you only get so much time to line check. This writer has been there. Sometimes technical stuff does not work, with no time to reboot. We therefore leave with a sense of respect that despite the technical difficulties, the band just got on with it. The music really was fun, and it is a shame we did not get the intended full psychedelic experience. (NM)
Ebbb – Concorde 2
Over to Concorde for the last act of the festival; Ninja Tune signed Ebbb. It is a starting experience. Pre-event you tube research suggested they were a touch ambient and bit Bon Ivorish, but live these drums touch the hard heavy sounds of Dutch Gabba. This runs underneath heavily vocoder twisted vocals and keyboard parts that sound like high pitch eighties power ballads. The band are fully silhouetted against lazer beams. On its own the effect is heavy and disorientatingly bonkers. We turn to a stranger next to us and borrow a pair of the rainbow fractal specs given away in Psych fest bags. With these on the impact is mind blowing, even to a writer who remembers what it felt like to be on Purple Microdots in the nineties. We leave delighted, unsure if we like the performance, but ecstatic to have had the chance to see a performance that is so truly psychedelic. (NM)
The first Psych Fest has been spectacular. We wend our weary way to bed, grinning and chatting. Brighton may not need another one day festival, but we love our music and we are greedy and we say “Hell yeah. Bring it on baby!” We awake the next morning and try and buy our tickets for Psych Fest 2025 only to discover some neanderthal brothers from Manchester have broken the ticketing industries world wide web. They can keep their tickets. This is where the real music is.
Brighton Psych Fest – 30th August
Multiple Venues
Words: Nick McAllister and Jason Warner
Pictures: Stan O’Shea and Jason Warner
