Category: Live Music

Meryl Streek at The Hope & Ruin, Brighton, 4th February 2026

The lights go down, a news reel begins, the content is a bleak reflection of poverty and injustice in Ireland, and Meryl Streek makes an understated entrance onto the stage. The understatement however lasts for approximately 5 seconds before he begins the incessant pacing of the floorspace, only interrupted by forays into the crowd, all the better to get his message across at close quarters. While the songs are full of crucially bleak messages, there is none the less a sense of hope that emanates from them, a reminiscence of early punk days where the bands were often considered some kind of threat to society when for the most part they were simply challenging the oppression and inequalities of the world. Fittingly, Meryl is wearing a UK Subs T-shirt (subs an abbreviation of subversives rather than substitutes), the graphic providing the only hint of colour on stage save his signature bunch of red roses.

Swinging a hand held strobe to light his way, there is a clear and close bond between musician and audience, with a solid amount of time spent in the crowd and one of the happiest mosh pits you could wish to see, notably during Death To The Landlord. It’s a full-on, no-frills, frenetic performance and it’s impossible not to be caught up in the energy. Defiant, demanding and vitally important to the integrity of today’s music scene, we need artists right now who are prepared to stand up and shout about the craziness of the current political landscape; thankfully it appears that Meryl Streek still has plenty to say.

Pending tour dates here

Review and photos © Siobhan O’Driscoll 16beasleystphotography.com | Instagram: 16beasleyst

Published 5th February 2026

Madness & Squeeze at Brighton Centre, 14th December 2025

If ever there was a gig that made the ideal pre-Christmas party, this was it. A stalwart of the British music scene since the late 70s, Madness brought their Hit Parade tour to Brighton Centre last night, and with it a sold out venue and a matinee performance added to help meet demand. As if that wasn’t enough, support came from creators of so many lyrically sublime songs, Squeeze. 

With a more than impressive back catalogue of their own, Squeeze took the reins first and bought right into bringing hit after hit to the party. Amongst the most revered songwriters of our time, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook have a knack for mixing humour with melancholy, and classic tracks like Up The Junction and Another Nail In My Heart stand up as great songs as much now as they did when they were first released. Alongside tracks from their pending new album Trixies, the latest line-up gave it their all with old favourites Cool For Cats and debut single Take Me I’m Yours.

The band have a busy 2026 planned with the album set for release in March and a headline tour later in the year.

Squeeze

And so to the return of the Camden 7 (plus extras). Celebrating their biggest hits, and there is an enormous pile of them, Madness played a setlist of gigantic proportions, kicking off with the building anticipation of One Step Beyond – no need to wait for the crowd to warm up when you have an intro like that – then heading straight into Embarrassment and The Prince.

The tunes just kept on coming; lovely to hear the likes of Grey Day and Bed and Breakfast Man, then entering into what Suggs declared to be ‘showtime’ a ridiculously good four-in-a-row consisting of House of Fun, Baggy Trousers, Our House and It Must Be Love. The last of these received the biggest sing back from the audience, who were rewarded with an immense confetti downpour.

There are few bands who can put a smile on people’s faces quite so quickly and easily; Madness have somehow managed to retain their early energy and mischievousness while becoming a household name for multiple generations.

Finishing with a giant balloon filled encore consisting of a ska-fuelled version of Wizzard’s I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day, Madness and Night Boat To Cairo, it’s fair to say the crowd sang their hearts out to every single note of the evening. A brilliant night from the Nutty Boys, turning Brighton Centre into a House of Fun for all – an array of red hats making this a truly fez-tive event.

Madness

Review by Callum
Photos © Siobhan 16beasleystphotography.com | Instagram: 16beasleyst

Published 15th December 2025

Winter Gardens, Big Fear, GIFTHORSE & Snowy Mountain at the Hope & Ruin, Brighton, 10th December 2025

It’s been a year of consistently high quality new music showcases from local promoter Hidden Herd, and this week’s offering was no exception.

A gentle start to proceedings with flurries of dream pop from Snowy Mountain. Dressed in space attire ready for take off, the songs were fittingly other-worldly – notes of Portishead with a slightly more positive vibe if you will. And always good to see the room busy from the off; it seemed people were keen to see all four acts – a good decision as it turned out.

Snowy Mountain

GIFTHORSE

Maintaining the momentum, alt-pop outfit GIFTHORSE provided flowers and a refreshing burst of nostalgia without feeling like a carbon copy of any of the multitude of influences that seem to bring their sound together. There’s an impossible to ignore Blondie comparison to be made both in their sound and in Charlie and Naomi’s resemblance to a fresh-faced Chris and Debbie – lots more layers to unravel too though, with elements of 60s’ Spector bands and pure pop acts like Eighth Wonder each springing to mind. A sleek performance, would like to see again.

Big Fear

Taking a more indie-rock approach, Big Fear were up next, bringing loads of energy to the table. Recent single Mildew was a stand-out and is a good introduction to anyone not familiar with their music. We discovered it was keyboard player Ben’s birthday and the crowd were clearly impressed enough to offer up their own rendition of Happy Birthday  between tracks. To be fair, their set felt like a bit of a party – always nice to see a band enjoying themselves and it’s inevitably infectious.

Winter Gardens

I’ve seen headliners Winter Gardens numerous times over the years and, I have to say, I think their current output is the best it’s ever been. They manage to give shoegaze a strong injection of the guitar/synth bands of yesteryear topped with some phenomenal drumming that takes things to an altogether more urgent level. Shades of light and dark keep the music and performance dynamic and absorbing, Ananda and Jasmine’s vocals blending beautifully together. I have a sense that the crowd would have been happy for them to play for twice as long but, for now, this was the perfect ending to a great evening.

Words and photos © Siobhan 16beasleystphotography.com | Instagram: 16beasleyst

Published 14th December 2025

Solid Pleasure & Death Drive at Daltons, Brighton, 9th December 2025

A meeting of minds as Tenebris Presents bring swathes of darkwave beats to the jet black walls and kitsch of Daltons on a suitably stormy night by the sea. From electro-pop through house and EBM, the prevalence of music-making duos has been a constant, and tonight sees two on the line-up.

First up, London-based Death Drive waste no time in warming up the crowd, layering driving sequence patterns with piercingly intense vocals. With a multitude of sub-genres categorising music now, there maybe isn’t an obvious one for their sound, but industrial goth feels like a reasonable fit. Relentlessly pulsing latest single Don’t Hide is one of the stand outs of the set, fundamentally memorable and danceable. A strong performance on their debut trip to Brighton.

Death Drive

Having caught Solid Pleasure supporting Amsterdam’s indie-royalty collab Long Fling recently, it’s great to see them take the headline slot this time – to be honest and with no deference to the other party, they stole the show last time. A fusion of techno-synth and reverb-heavy vocality, the two-piece provide a slice of Twin Peaks’ Red Room ambience lightened by the inclusion of some updated 80s’ classics – to say cover versions ironically doesn’t really cover it; but there are insertions of Blue Monday and Sweet and Tender Hooligan that reflect rather than repeat the originals. Probably their most accessible track Lux Interior is an easy singalong homage to The Cramps’ frontman, while recent single New York takes an avant-garde trip to the local disco noir. A skilfully executed set, and a chance for more next week as they play at Green Door with Francis Pig and U Men on 18th December – be there or be regretfully missing out.

Solid Pleasure

Words and photos © Siobhan 16beasleystphotography.com | Instagram: 16beasleyst

Published 11th December 2025

Tungz, Kate Peaches, Internet Cafe & Sock Drawer at The Hope & Ruin, Brighton, 26th November 2025

Last week’s Hidden Herd showcase at The Hope & Ruin paid homage to the joys of the synth, and that can be no bad thing. All four acts took a different approach and it made for an eclectic evening’s entertainment. Two duos to start with – first up, the excellently named Sock Drawer brought echoes of Peter, Bjorn and John with some soft electro-pop and spot on harmonies. Following on, Internet Cafe added in a mix of laptop dance beats and indie guitar riffs, their set makes a big impression with its genre-hopping layers with the vocal sitting whimsically on top.

The third artist for the night was Kate Peaches, very popular in Brighton and it’s easy to see why. Kitsch and quirky is very much the local go-to and she has this all figured out. Not to say that it’s all leopard print and curls though, as her voice stands up in its own right, an amalgam of a couple of her namesakes in Kate Bush and Kate Pierson, and some strong tunes to boot. Last up, headliners Tungz were paying their first visit to Brighton and they received a very warm welcome. Bringing fun and funk to the party, their double vocals and tight knit tunes had the crowd digging out their dancing shoes for a great finish to proceedings.

Hosted by Hidden Herd

Sock Drawer

Internet Cafe

Kate Peaches

Tungz

Words and photos © Siobhan 16beasleystphotography.com | Instagram: 16beasleyst

Published 1st December 2025

The Horrors at Chalk, Brighton, 23rd November 2025

When The Horrors released their debut album Strange House back in 2007, many took them to be a bit of a novelty goth band, albeit one that could write and play with some skill. The idea that they would still be regarded as a respected musical outfit close to 20 years later was probably an unlikely one but, none the less, here they are in 2025 pulling in crowds across Europe and with album number 7 under their cloaks. Night Life maintains the dark, dystopian flavour of their previous work whilst welcoming an underlying electro industrial feel.

It’s the latest step in their journey towards being something more than the sum of its organically changing parts. Of the original line-up, Faris, Joshua and Rhys remain part of the making of the record, and recent announcement that Joshua has moved on leaves just two of the starting line-up in place. An interesting mix of new recruits is clearly helping to shape their sound going forward. Telegram’s Jordan Cook on drums and Amelia Kidd on keys (ex The Ninth Wave) have been permanently joined in the last few weeks by guitarist John Victor, best known previously as one quarter of indie faves Gengahr. They all come from bands we’ve seen multiple times and would perhaps never have thought to put together, but it somehow seems to make sense and the new version of the five piece sound as though they have been playing together as a unit for far longer than is the case. 

Their performance at Chalk was impressive sonically if a touch evasive visually. Appreciating that their aesthetic has long been to play with minimal lighting and seemingly unlimited fog, this show felt particularly difficult to watch. Swathes of deep pink, red and blue covered the stage, with only fleeting glimpses of the band members as they appeared for a second or two through swirling strobes and lasers. Atmospheric? Absolutely. Orwellian soundscape? Sure. But just maybe it would have been nice to be able to actually see the band, sometimes it’s what makes the connection between artist and audience. Still, the new tracks blended well with the old, The Silence That Remains opening the set strongly and recent single Silent Sister proving popular with the crowd. Lotus Eater made it to the encore followed by an unexpected Berlin-era Bowie cover of Heroes with a dash of Weeping Wall by way of intro. Their usual closer Something To Remember Me By finished the evening on a high. The changing line-up has done nothing to dispel the talent of The Horrors; they remain fiercely good at what they do and the quality of their material has never really dipped. Still would have liked to see them rather than just hear them though; limited photos for obvious reasons.

Night Life is available to purchase here

Review by Callum
Photos © Siobhan 16beasleystphotography.com | Instagram: 16beasleyst

Published 25th November 2025