2020
January |
February
Thursday, January 23rd, 2020
Wellsbourne Society Special: Brighton Performers
Brighton has a long, glorious tradition of stage performance, from the good old days of the end of pier shows and music hall to the myriad events at Brighton Fringe each year. This evening is dedicated to a handful of the town’s more eccentric, cherished outlandish and forgotten heroes of performance, including Pete McCarthy, Drako Zarzahar, Lulu Adams (the first international female clown), escapologist The Great Omani and conjoined twins, the Hilton Sisters.
Guest speakers for the night include magician Paul Zenon, performer Marisa Carnesky and Gavin Henderson, former director of Brighton Festival.
Your host for the night is Dr David Bramwell
Doors 7.30pm
Friday, January 24th, 2020
Lout Promotions presents
The Vegan Leather
plus guests
Formed in the historic textile town of Paisley in 2014, The Vegan Leather – Gianluca, Marie, Matt and Duncan – have been building their own legacy from a young age. At 14, Marie was already sending Phoenix tracks to co-vocalist Gian, who was sufficiently enamoured to invest in an embroidered denim jacket bearing their name. It transpired to be a significant bonding point for a band who would be drawn together from a shared love of bright melodies and dark dancefloors, a visual and musical aesthetic that defines their own art-pop style today.
Beyond the rich Scottish tradition of post-punk and angular pop that threads from Orange Juice through to Franz Ferdinand, The Vegan Leather wear their more electronic influences on their sleeves. Soulwax, Metronomy, LCD Soundsystem have been listed as sources of inspiration by the band, as have acts as diverse as Kraftwerk, Nine Inch Nails and Chaka Khan. Regardless of personal heroes, the Paisley band have forged their own path to creating infectious pop melodies that retain razor-sharp cultural insight.
Following a string of successful early singles and festival appearances, in 2018 the band went on to record their debut LP ‘Poor Girls / Broken Boys’ in the legendary Chem19 studios in Glasgow. The album attracted wide critical acclaim and enthusiastic support from the likes of Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos and Radio One’s Jack Saunders. Shortly after the album release and the band’s BBC Radio One Maida Vale session in October 2019, The Vegan Leather won Best Live Act at the Scottish Alternative Music Awards and were named by The List magazine among the year’s Hot 100 most influential cultural figures in Scotland.
“This is the band to watch out for guys, I can’t urge you enough.” –
Jack Saunders, BBC Radio One
“With Poor Girls / Broken Boys, The Vegan Leather inject a splash of much-needed art-pop pleasure into the Scottish indie scene.”- The Skinny
“Brimming with ambition and unassailable drive, ‘Poor Girls / Broken Boys’ is as much a thrilling statement of intent as it is a victory lap from one of Scotland’s brightest prospects.” – Tenement TV
“Paisley four-piece The Vegan Leather flaunt unapologetic pop credentials fuelled with character, confidence and cavalier glam swagger on debut album Poor Girls / Broken Boys.” – The Scotsman
“Poor Girls / Broken Boys is a truly impressive beginning for a band that seems destined to get a whole lot bigger” – Under The Radar
“The Vegan Leather’s sound channels a certain nostalgia and classic feel whilst also offering their own distinctive, playful edge.” – London in Stereo
“The Vegan Leather tap into that precocious Scottish art-pop lineage while adding something new.” – Clash
Doors 7:30pm
Over 16’s only
Monday, January 27th, 2020
One Inch Badge presents
Daughter of Swords
Daughter of Swords is American folk musician Alexandra Sauser-Monnig – one of the three singers in the North Carolina folk trio Mountain Man.
This year saw the release of her Sauser-Monnig’s stunning solo debut, Dawnbreaker, revealing her effortless skill as a songwriter as she delivers a homage to the betwixt and between of a relationship in its twilight.
www.facebook.com/events/85974481109048
Doors 7.30pm
Thursday, January 30th, 2020
Together Co Charity Gig Night
The best of Brighton’s indie scene live! Featuring Yellow Bellies, World News, The Mos Capri Experiment & Samuel J Lawrence plus late bar, pop quiz & DJ’s. All profits go to Together Co, Brighton’s Loneliness Charity that creates connections to change lives.
www.facebook.com/events/2737097349837174
Doors 7pm
Friday, January 31st, 2020
Neat Neat Neat Presents
Italia 90
+ Support
London-based quartet Italia 90 return with their first release of 2019, ‘An Episode’, a new digital single jointly released by Fierce Panda and Permanent Creeps. Following a pair of digital singles in 2018 with the experimental Newcastle-based imprint Box Records, and two sold out self-released cassettes, the band’s return marks an evolution of the energetic, dissonant and angular sound they established on those releases.
‘An Episode’ is a post-punk post-mortem of a troubling late night encounter, and finds lyricist Les Miserable exploring more personal, but no less politicised subject matter than on the band’s previous releases. Les Miserable’s distinctive vocal is paired with frenzied and textured guitar work, and with propulsive, layered percussion and a distorted and dogged bassline. At its climax, all elements snap into place following the punctuated chant: “RIGHT. THROUGH. ME!” ‘An Episode’, which has been a popular staple of the band’s cacophonous live shows for the past year, is Italia 90’s most concise and idiosyncratic statement to date.
‘An Episode’ is the first single from their upcoming EP ‘Italia 90 III’ to be released later this year and is now available on all major platforms.
www.facebook.com/events/459081421401411
Doors 7pm
16+
