STELLA ROSE + BANDE A PART – DALTONS, BRIGHTON 11.2.26
15,899 days ago I was having the pleasure of watching Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher, Vince Clarke, and a certain Dave Gahan live in action at a small club in Brighton called Jenkinsons, which was sandwiched between the Top Rank Suite (now PRYZM) and the Brighton Centre. These were my very first encounters with Depeche Mode! I say “encounters” as there were two gigs by them that day, a matinee for under 17’s and an evening gig for over 17’s. I went to both and they were very memorable as well. I’m not saying I was keen or anything, but being near the head of the queue for the matinee certainly had its benefits as on entry, as I turned the corner with the bar over my right shoulder, I spotted a group of young souls sitting in a circle on the far table. I immediately knew who they were! It was a trio of the Mode lads with their other halves! Thinking quickly on my feet I asked the barman for a pen and got out my half ticket stub and hovered behind them. I was behind Dave Gahan and his then girlfriend spied me and she tapped Dave’s upper arm and he turned around and said “Oh sorry” to me as he hadn’t noticed me! Crikey! He said sorry to me! The stub was signed by him, Vince and Andy and I was overjoyed. I’ve no idea where Martin Gore was, but he wasn’t sitting with them. The two performances were also memorable on account that they played two tunes that they never released, the opener ‘Television Set’ and the closing cover of ‘The Price Of Love’.
Wind the clocks forward to this evening and I’m still gigging around Brighton, and this evening’s small venue event is taking place to the east of where Jenkinsons was, but tonight I’m on the other side of the pier. I’m on the beach in fact, at arguably the fastest growing grassroots music venue in town, namely Daltons, which now seems to have a gig on every night of the year so far! “What brings you here?” I hear you ask! Well, I’m in attendance to catch a rising star by the name of Stella Rose, whose full name is Stella Rose Gahan! Yes folks, it’s Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan’s daughter!
Stella clearly wants to build her career under her own steam, rather than trading off her famous surname, which is very honourable! Not that the opening paragraph above has actually helped that, but it does link in very nicely with the artist and the music history of Brighton. I did this evening get a chance to talk to Stella after her performance and recounted the above tale. Sadly, I don’t have a physical ticket for Stella to sign, in order to carry on the tradition. I must confess that I was slightly taken aback as Stella has an American (New York) accent and not an Essex one like her dad who was born in the market town of Epping. Stella’s mother is Greek-American actress and filmmaker Jennifer Sklias, so clearly talent runs in the family! Stella reminded me of Gary Numan’s daughter, Raven Numan, who now, like her sisters, has an American accent, despite growing up in Waldron in East Sussex. And whilst I’m here, musically I must point out that Stella would be the perfect support artist for a future Gary Numan tour! She certainly has that neo-goth sound and image going on! A perfect match I’d say!
This evening Stella is, as you would expect, on vocal duties, as well as offering some guitar action. She is accompanied by two chums, who are Adam Sosnicki on bass and Attila Lee Anrather on drums and presets. We are in their company for 45 minutes from 9:25pm to 10:10pm, and we are rewarded with 10 compositions, but that shouldn’t have been the case! More on that shortly….
At 9:25pm Daltons suddenly becomes awash with copious amounts of dry ice, and I really mean massive smoke machine proportions. We are located central front, but the trio are merely shadows moving through the darkness! It’s very cinematic! Talk about setting the scene or what! When I do manage to catch a glimpse of Stella, courtesy of the four double strip lights at the rear of the stage, she reminds me of a modern day Chrissie Hynde of Pretenders fame, as well as Josephine Orme aka Heartworms. It’s a cool sultry look that works very well. There’s a screechy style intro that announces to all present that something’s going to happen, and then after this brief number, the trio launch into ‘Pray’ which is from Stella’s sole album thus far, this being titled ‘Eyes Of Glass’ which dropped in 2023. This has a faster beat than the opening intro and I note that there’s additional backing vocals, no doubt emanating from the keys to the rear. This too sounds like Stella, so I guess it’s Stella multi-tracked! It’s a solid start!
The title tune from Stella’s ‘Hollybaby’ EP from 2024 is the next selection and I note the powerful vocals coming at us out of the darkness. This is followed by another tune from the EP, this time it’s ‘MS.45’ which is a more intense number and the rear stage lights flashing red and then white plus the other two circular lights either side of the stage certainly adds to the atmosphere. The drums and bass combination works well here and overall I get the feel of American rock band Evanescence. ‘Faithful’ from her ‘Eyes Of Glass’ album is the next choice and the American sounding vocals are certainly to the fore here. Next up are a couple of unreleased tunes, the first of which is announced as a “new song” by Stella, the setlist on the floor that I manage to see states that it’s called ‘Cruel’ and the following number is ‘Miss America’. The drumming is solid at this part of the night and Stella knows how to let loose on her guitar as the sounds reverberate around the room!
It’s back to Stella’s EP with ‘Beautiful Twentysomethings’ which is the most intense number of the set, but then goes mellow and back on to form again. PJ Harvey springs to mind here and Stella certainly gives us her self expression. The drumming here is immense and handclaps are offered as well. The more melancholy ‘Maid’ from ‘Eyes Of Glass’ is the next offering and for yours truly it’s the song of the set. It’s wonderfully hypnotic! The trio then reward us with ‘Muddled Man’ which is also on the album and Stella kicks this off with a guitar strum and the backing vocals added to the feel of the tune. After this it’s suddenly clear that it’s the end of the main set, we weren’t primed beforehand, as in “This is the last tune” and so it took the punters quite by surprise! Then to my amazement the crowd then pissed off! What the hell! I’m looking down at the setlist and the trio have still got to give us ‘Death Rattle’ and ‘Angel’ both from ‘Eyes Of Glass’ and ‘Drugstore Romeo’ from the ‘Hollybaby’ EP. It’s only 10:10pm and buses and trains are still running! This left me feeling short-changed as I wanted to hear the trio of other tunes, but it wasn’t Stella’s fault. The fans obviously accepted that that was the end of the night and it clearly wasn’t meant to be! Hmmm annoyed!
Stella Rose:
Stella Rose Gahan – vocals, guitar, preset keys
Adam Sosnicki – bass
Attila Lee Anrather – drums
Stella Rose setlist:
‘Intro’ (unreleased)
‘Pray’ (from 2023 ‘Eyes Of Glass’ album)
‘Hollybaby’ (from 2024 ‘Hollybaby’ EP)
‘MS.45’ (from 2024 ‘Hollybaby’ EP)
‘Faithful’ (from 2023 ‘Eyes Of Glass’ album)
‘Cruel’ (unreleased)
‘Miss America’ (unreleased)
‘Beautiful Twentysomethings’ (from 2024 ‘Hollybaby’ EP)
‘Maid’ (from 2023 ‘Eyes Of Glass’ album)
‘Muddled Man’ (from 2023 ‘Eyes Of Glass’ album)
Support this evening comes from Bande Á Part which is a London-based rock band led by musician and writer Sabina Hellstrom. We last encountered the band at The Old Blue Last in Shoreditch, London last month when they were sharing the bill with Dog Race, Y, and Jeanie And The White Boys. Bande Á Part have one EP to their name thus far, this being ‘Grit’ which dropped in 2024. It’s obvious that they have been honing their craft since the EP’s release and they are already a solid act. They being Sabina Hellstrom (vocals, guitar, keys), Mary Elizabeth (guitar), Miles Lavelle-Golding (Nord Stage 2 EX & other keys, percussion i.e. a cymbal), Gennaro Romano (bass) and Craig Whyte Do Porto (drums, shaker). Tonight is their debut Brighton gig and we are in their company for two minutes longer than Stella Rose, which is 47 minutes, and runs from 8:12pm to 8:59pm. In that time they reward us with 8 tunes, three of which are found on their EP, three are currently unreleased, and the other two are covers.
Bande Á Part commence with a trio of tracks from their ‘Grit’ EP, the first of these being ‘How To Feel’ which is a rock solid starter with skippy drums style, and some notable keyboard knob twiddling going on. Sabina looks the part in her shades, feather boa, and knee length boots. Offering two is ‘Swan Song’ which has a slower beat than the opener, and it’s a lengthy post punk style number. As well as playing two keyboards, Miles also utilizes a drumstick and a cymbal for added depth of sound. The final tune from the EP is ‘Teething’ which is another slowie, but this has a Patti Smith New York druggy vibe to it. It’s a solid sound which sees the quintet in perfect harmony.
Next up are a couple of yet to be released tracks, the first of these being ‘Eye’ which sees Sabina offering slow drawn out vocals above a slow hypnotically engrossing chugging beat that increases in intensity. The second unreleased song is ‘Eileen’ and there’s a Jefferson Airplane vibe coming through at the beginning via the unusual drum pattern and synth notes. It’s here that I decide that Bande Á Part would fit right in on the bill of Brighton Psych Fest and Lewes Psych Fest.
Sabina then informs us that as it’s nearly Valentine’s Day, that they would like to perform a couple of covers for us. The first of these being “a Portishead tune in the style of Love”, which I took to mean the band Love instead of Valentine’s love, based on what my ears were telling me. The tune in question is ‘Sour Times’ and it’s a powerful delivery and my notes that I made during the number included one word that sums this rendition up, the word in question being “Crikey!”. Things got even better with the arrival of their take on Spacemen 3’s ‘Revolution’. This commenced with a guitar strum and then the drums kicked in and they were away as though they were possessed by Hawkwind meets Suicide meets The Plasmatics. It’s their fastest tune of the set and it certainly did it for me! They bid us farewell with the unreleased ‘Reeling’. A synth drone kicks off the tune and the slow drums come to the party followed by Sabina’s Siouxsie Sioux style vocal delivery. The track grows in intensity and it’s been a powerfully absorbing performance and the first of many in Brighton I hope.
Bande á Part:
Sabina Hellstrom – vocals, guitar, keys
Mary Elizabeth Roberts – guitar
Miles Lavelle-Golding – keys, percussion
Gennaro Romano – bass
Craig Whyte Do Porto – drums, shaker
Bande á Part setlist:
‘How To Feel’ (from 2024 ‘Grit’ EP)
‘Swan Song’ (from 2024 ‘Grit’ EP)
‘Teething’ (from 2024 ‘Grit’ EP)
‘Eye’ (unreleased)
‘Eileen’ (unreleased)
‘Sour Times’ (Portishead cover)
‘Revolution’ (Spacemen 3 cover)
‘Reeling’ (unreleased)
