Brighton Psych Fest 2024

There’s not many better places on the planet than Brighton on a festival day. Music is one of the things this city does best, and today proved no exception. Brighton Psych Fest, an offshoot from the already running Edinburgh and Manchester editions, utilised many of the city’s venues with a singular wristband granting entry to genre-spanning gigs throughout the evening.

After a quick and efficient stop to pick up my wristband, the day started at 5pm with Brixton Windmill favourites The Orchestra (For Now)at Green Door Store. The band attracted a good crowd, which is impressive for an outfit with no released music and no radio play - but the buzz around these genre-hopping upstarts ensured that they were one of the day’s must-see acts. Their set was great, combining post rock, jazz, and electronic sounds accompanied with frontman Joe’s maniacal vocal tonation, resembling a crazed villain in a David Lynch film. This was particularly noticeable in one song where he repeatedly yelps “I did not kill that man, I did not kill that man.”

The rest of the band were impressively well drilled while maintaining an aspect of organised chaos, making the set feel like a runaway train - extremely exciting with the danger of it falling off the track at any minute, guaranteeing the audience’s full attention throughout. Some in South London circles dismiss The Orchestra (For Now) as being too similar to fellow windmill-regulars Black Country, New Road. However, I feel this is a lazy comparison made by those who haven’t had the pleasure of seeing their live show. They are definitely a band to look out for, especially with the rumours of an impending EP release permeating through the scene.

Following this, I went to see Hull shoegazers Bdrmm at The Arch. This was by far the loudest gig I’ve ever been to in my life, and earplugs were definitely needed. The band sounded absolutely huge and extremely tight despite stating that they ‘just got out of the tour bus’. Bdrmm opened with ‘It’s Just A Bit Of Blood’, the lead single from their newest album ‘I Don’t Know’, with its hazy vocals easing the crowd into the set, which grew in energy throughout - peaking with the anthemic ‘If…’, evoking the large crowd into synchronised head bobbing. The closer ‘Port’ was my favourite song of the set, with a brooding drumbeat effortless weaving between dreamy yet haunting vocals, backed by a gorgeous soundscape of distorted guitars.

The large crowd was even more notable considering the festival had scheduled Newdad, another band championing the shoegaze revival, to clash and play on the other side of town at the same time. This was odd scheduling by the festival - potentially splitting two fanbases with a significant overlap, however, it did not have a noticeable impact on Bdrmm as they packed out The Arch with fans who were more than happy to respond to the band’s request of clapping in time with the pounding drums. I’m really excited to see what this band does next, and will definitely be catching them at their own gig when I get the chance.

After Bdrmm, I walked over to the Prince Albert (the best boozer in Brighton) to catch Girl and Girl, an Australian band. I went to see them on the recommendation of a friend, and left so impressed that I was extremely close to buying a T-Shirt after their set. They opened with a spoken word piece titled ‘INTRO’ which directly led into ‘Call a Doctor’, both of which really reminded me of Will Toledo’s lyricism and sonically would have fit on Car Seat Headrest’s ‘Twin Fantasy’. The band clearly had some die-hard fans in the house, with a small pocket at the front bouncing and singing along to every word. The lead singer Kai James then converted the rest of the room into fans when he stated that Brighton was the band’s favourite city, which prompted big cheers.

Their sound is a happy marriage of early 2000s jangly indie guitars, vocals that could be from a band signed to Speedy Wunderground, and Talking Head’s inspired funky bass lines. This was pretty much a perfect combination for me, being a big fan of these genres. The song ‘Dance Now’, the band’s most popular track, went off with the whole room seemingly taking the title literally. I’m very glad I went to see this band on a whim, as I have since dug into their discography - such is the magic of seeing new bands at a festival and supporting live music.

For the final performance of the night, I braved the long walk down the seafront to Concorde2 for Scaler. The crowd here was a bit thin, perhaps as it was after midnight, however, everyone in attendance was clearly up for a jump around to some industrial live techno/rock. Scaler aren’t totally my thing however I can appreciate the musicianship needed to deliver their live show, which was relentless and impressive. The visuals on the screen behind the band, which weren’t far off from something you’d see in an arena production, also greatly added to the atmosphere and perfectly fit with the vibe of the music that Scaler were producing.

I had a great day at Brighton Psych Fest seeing some great up-and-coming bands, however, the set times and scheduling were disappointing, with the late start time of 5pm leading to a lot of clashes - particularly at headliner time with The Horrors, Girl and Girl, Karma Sheen, Pigsx7, and The Bevis Frond all playing at the same time. Despite this, every band I saw delivered a great set with none of the technical issues or delayed set times that multi-venue day festivals typically suffer from. The festival has already confirmed that it will be returning next year, and I hope it is expanded into an all-day affair. I’d recommend Brighton Psych Fest to people interested in new music - or simply anyone after a day out soundtracked by some amazing bands in a great city.