Festival – Brighton Psych Fest 24 – Breaking Glass Magazine

Brighton Psych Fest, multi-venue across Brighton, 30th August 2024

It feels like Brighton is set up for city festivals, with so many great venues clustered throughout its streets, and a bundle of places to eat and drink along the way. The latest addition from Brighton Psych Fest made a serious impression on the circuit, its inaugural outing a big success and its footprint firmly imprinted in the walkway of local calendar events. The array of artists playing seemed to work really well, as different groups of ticket holders headed in different directions to catch the more obscure or established names, depending on their leaning. It also provided another opportunity to support local independent venues, with participation from The Arch, Green Door Store, Komedia (basement and studio), The Prince Albert, The Hope & Ruin and Concorde 2.

Amongst those playing, some French psych-pop from Juniore, and a walk into the experimental world of Secluded Bronte where they simply dismissed tech issues by carrying on without the backing track at points, gave an early indication of the diverse line-up. All the way from Vermont, it was a pleasure to catch Lutalo playing their understated but impactful collection of hazy indie tunes – discovering new artists is always one of the benefits of line-ups like this, and we’ll be looking out for more from Lutalo for sure.

Over at the biggest of the stages at Concorde 2, we took in an eclectic mix of acts across the evening, starting with Geordie Greep. Taking his solo material on a field trip far away from black midi days, Greep has introduced hints of jazz and blues and plays with confidence in his new-found fusion of dark dance music. Next up, NewDad brought edgy shoegaze to the the table, songs from their album MADRA sitting comfortably alongside their sweetly sprinkled version of The Cure’s Just Like Heaven.

top left and bottom row: NewDad, top right: Geordie Greep

A big draw for Psych Fest, The Horrors came out to play like they’d never been away – so many tracks to choose from and sadly only time for a dozen. Still, the appreciation from the audience was palpable with the first three tracks immediately delving into their revered catalogue in Whiplash (Lout), then Three Decades and Mirror’s Image (Primary Colours). A band who have consistently produced quality music since their inception nearly twenty years ago, this was a great booking, and closing with Who Can Say and Something To Remember Me By left the crowd in a very happy place.

The Horrors

Last up for us, Scaler brought the psych in bucketloads with loud and proud electronic instrumentals lashing against a backdrop of distorted visuals, Concorde momentarily transformed into a late night industrial Euro night club as the crowd donned their 3D glasses and danced the night away.