Thursday 9th January: the first gig at The Green Door Store of the new decade. Four bands who’ve I’ve seen over the last year playing around Brighton. Has 2020 gig going got off to a flyer or is it diminishing returns?
With frontman Jobi, Glitter Piss is as much a visceral visual experience as they are a muscular cacophony.
Abandoning the stage with his microphone for company as soon as he could, he stalks the floor with mischief in his bones. He careens around the crowd whilst giving a paint stripping vocal workout. The rest of the band abuse their instruments in service to evil spirits. Sheets of feedback-heavy sound emanate from them, blasting through the venue.
Having followed them from their early days via demos and sets at The Richmond and The Pipeline to their headlining set tonight they’ve earned this and I’m sure many venues will shake and roll in their presence. New stars of the Brighton Alternative scene.
No longer solo, Young Francis has joined forces with the band formerly known as Rotten Foxes to become Young Francis Hi-Fi. Whilst we’ve lost tambourines and audience participation we’ve more than gained with a reinvigorated Young Francis.
Some tunes have made their way to this new band from the solo days and we have new tunes too. Punk meets Powerpop is what’s being served up here, hot and heavy. I’ll be very surprised and disappointed if we don’t hear more from Young Francis Hi-Fi soon.
DY-NA-MITE! Keeping the audience interaction to next to nothing, the Hoodniks was a surf rock-filled Jukebox made flesh. Grooving from beginning to end, the trio were locked and loaded. Instrumental music can get monotonous at times but not here.
Seeing Joanna play here a little over a year ago as part of a two-piece with a drum machine and comparing this to what is now Joanna And The Dropouts, a swinging four-piece, the difference is pronounced. It’s now a fully fleshed-out sound.
Ethereal keyboard sounds pitch and wail whilst a tight rhythm section keep it driving and to top it off Joanna adds hot licks to this heady moonshine. Fifties B movie vibes abound. Where’s the Cadillac? I wanna go on a murder spree!
So, 2020 gig going got off to a resounding flyer. A* all round. This may well be the Roaring Twenties for gigs in this city.
Plugged In Brighton 