‘VARIOUS ARTISTS’ – ‘BRIGHTON & HOVE PRIDE’, PRESTON PARK, BRIGHTON 3.8.24 (DAY TWO)
‘Brighton & Hove Pride’ 2025 kicks in for the second of the two day bonanza. If you missed yesterday’s reviews, then they can be located HERE.
Sunday 4th August
Today we arrived to hear the tail end of Lyvia’s set on the Main Stage as we approached the entrance to the park. Given the sheer number of people who arrived for the main stage headliner from the night before, the park appeared worn around the edges, but it remained clean, with a few stray feather boa remnants and food and drink implements scattered about.
Sunday never feels particularly busy at Preston Park until mid to late afternoon, due to Saturday night’s revelries, but this does not mean visitors should miss it. While most of Saturday’s performers favoured disco, electronic, and dance, Sunday would prove to be a much more traditional affair.
Today’s reviewing duties are shared by Jess Kemp and Sophie Tebb, and photographs are again being taken by Sara-Louise Bowrey and Mike Burnell.
NXDIA (Main Stage 14:40 – 15:10)
Our first review of the day started with a refreshing change in delivery for a Pride stage, a full live band. Nxdia (pronounced Nadia), aka Nadia Ahmed and her band, have been doing the rounds of festivals delivering what they refer to as Alt pop.
Their set for Pride featured their queer-centric tracks, which have become beloved by the community, including ‘She Likes A Boy’, ‘More!’ and ‘Boy Clothes’. They also indulged in the second of the day’s heavier and more successful cover of Katy Perry’s ‘I Kissed A Girl’. Their standout tracks, ‘Body On Me’ and ‘More’ strayed into Wet Leg territory, before making their mark with catchy as hell choruses and upbeat pop/rock riffs and punch. On the day, their pop punk, emo, and alternative rock influences imbued their sound and delivery. ‘Feel Anything’ followed a heartfelt speech about mental health, supporting each other and specifically the Trans community. Starting slow and appearing to be a ballad, the track slammed into a much heavier sound, which caught our attention and got the audience going.
Thanking the audience for “…a beautiful half hour”, Nxdia and her formidable band have what it takes to go far. Finishing on ‘She Likes A Boy’, the band gave the sizeable fanbase they brought with them what they wanted, through the set and no doubt caught a few more new fans in the audience.
(Jess Kemp)
NATALIE IMBRUGLIA (Main Stage 15:40 – 16:30)
The actor and singer, star of ‘Neighbours’, needs little introduction. Ubiquitous on UK TV screens and radio channels in the ‘90s with tracks like the earworm that is ‘Torn’ (a cover of the 1990s US band Ednaswap’s song, first recorded by Danish artist Lis Sorensen), which earned her an international music breakthrough, Imbruglia has since recorded six studio albums. It is easy to forget exactly how successful she has been and how many songs you might know.
The singer herself appeared on the main stage only after a significant build-up from her band to applause and screams from the audience that had been slowly making their way to the main stage in the twenty-minute break between acts. Coming out to her track ‘What It Feels Like’ from 2021’s ‘Firebird’, before her band segued straight into the far more memorable ‘Wishing I Was There’ from her debut album ‘Left Of The Middle’. It was with the second track that Imbruglia grasped the punters and took control of the park. Checking in with the audience, she confided that she was a Brighton Pride virgin.
She whipped up the audience, telling them that she and her band were thrilled to be there and would warm them up for the rest of the day. They continued with ‘Shiver’ from 2005’s ‘Counting Down The Days’. Introducing the next track, ‘Maybe It’s Great’, which she wrote with Albert Hammond Jr. from one of her favourite bands, The Strokes, Imbruglia kept the pace up throughout as she enthusiastically traversed the stage. Pausing briefly afterwards to jokingly complain about her band not giving her enough time to allow “Momma to catch a breath”.
Next up was a surprising move, a cover of Chappell Roan’s ‘Red Wine Supernova’, especially for the Pride audience. Imbruglia has a strong voice, but Roan’s notes are hard to reach. Cleverly playing to her strengths, she hit the beats, much to the crowd’s clear delight, as everyone sang along to the current favourite of the moment. Following with a yet to be released track as a treat for the Pride audience, she was clever enough to follow up with ‘Torn’. So well loved and known has the track become that several members of the audience ran towards the stage to sing along. Rounding off her set with the far rockier ‘Big Mistake’, again from ‘Left Of Centre’, she took her leave, having thoroughly set the tone for the rest of the day.
(Jess Kemp)
WILL YOUNG (Main Stage 17:00 – 17:50)
The next artist took me by surprise from the start of their set. Now a seasoned performer of over twenty years, Will Young has recently released a new album of remixes, ‘85% Proof’. Like Imbruglia, Young has become a constant of the UK entertainment scene.
Making his first appearance by jumping straight into the apt ‘Love Revolution’, Will Young arrived on stage looking more mature, but also somehow still the same as his first appearance on ‘Pop Idol’. What followed was a lesson in performance and stagecraft matched with a singular voice that needed no effects to soar across the park. Even less well-known songs like 2015’s ‘Joy’ felt familiar and yet somehow fresh. Finishing the second track of the set, he apologised for only having a fifty-minute set, adding that he was “…so old he had so many songs to get through”. Moving into ‘Light My Fire’, the delivery is more Jose Feliciano, the audience giving it more of a The Doors edge as they sang along. Young managed to make it entirely his own while delivering a knowing nod to earlier performers.
It is this generosity that sets him apart as a performer. Constantly thanking the audience for their presence, every member of his band and the backing singers were thanked and embraced in his smooth and assured performance. Towards the end of the set, he made a point of descending from the stage into the audience to shake hands with as many of them as he could reach. Few performers engender such warmth from everyone present, not just the fans but fellow musicians and crew. Interspersing well-known tracks like ‘Changes’, ‘Leave Right Now’, and his cover of the Westlife song, ‘Evergreen’, with other covers including a masterful and beautiful rendition of Bat For Lashes ‘Daniel’ which hit all the right beats for the event and the audience. It was a joy to watch Young win absolutely everyone in the park with his performance, with an effortless and genuine charm.
Before the last two songs, Young made a point of referring to the next artist, Andy Bell, as a “Legend”. It was a set without visible glitz or glamour, which felt full to the brim with it, and was delivered by a performer who is a class act in every sense.
(Jess Kemp)
PALMS TRAX (False Idols Stage 18:00 – 19:30)
With attendees taking a slow start to the day, many clearly recovering from what was universally a big Saturday night of Brighton Pride celebrations, those brave enough filtered into the False Idols tent at Pride On The Park ready to put their dancing shoes back on. Berlin based DJ Palms Trax had no trouble shifting the mood, delivering a euphoric set of house and dancefloor grooves that built perfectly to transform the crowd. What began with gentle bouncing shoulders and head bops, by the end was in full rave swing. Fingers in air and many dancers getting into the abstract ecstasy of it all. There was something for everyone: old-school house beats allowed older crowd members to re-enter their halcyon days, underground UK sounds underscored the darker elements, and the Hardgrove whistles encouraged festival spirits to triumph.
The lightshow and graphic design were one to remember, bold neons lit up the stage, at points obscuring Jay Donaldson (Palms Trax’s real name). This proved unimportant, as his energy was transfigured through his fantastic track selection and enigmatic silhouette. Camp, cheeky Pride slogans lit up the visuals, from the heartwarming “A Day Without Lesbians Is A Day Without Sunshine” and “Drink Water And Date Someone Who Deserves You”, to the unapologetically crude “When In Rome Eat P*ssy”. Meanwhile, on the screen behind, a montage of random objects: toasties, sunglasses, gummy bears, fish and lollipops danced in sync with the BPM and tone of the set, becoming increasingly erratic as the set intensified. In good form, Donaldson brought down the energy before leaving the stage, allowing for Fatboy Slim to create his own atmosphere, whilst rolling off the euphoria created by Palms Trax.
(Sophie Tebb)
ANDY BELL OF ERASURE (Main Stage 18:20 – 19:00)
Few acts cross and unite generations in the LGBTQIA+ community like Erasure.
A staple of almost everyone’s coming out story in the UK, if not their dancefloor experience. Founding member of the band Andy Bell is, as Will Young pointed out, an “Icon” after forty years in the business. Acknowledging this, Pride had chosen to place Bell in the second ‘Icon’ act of the weekend after Kathy Sledge on the Saturday.
Bell arrived on stage to rapturous applause. Opening with the thumping 2025 track ‘Breaking Through The Interstellar’ from his new album ‘Ten Crowns’, sounding just as good as he ever has. His appearance on stage focused on what had been building towards a real feeling of what Pride should be, a real feeling of community and a mix of the whole LGBTQIA+ community throughout the crowd enjoying the best that the community brings. There was a tangible joy in the audience.
Bell told the audience that it was a real joy to be performing, and that he meant that genuinely. He went on to say that it was his third time at Brighton Pride, two times performing (once in the dance tent) and once as a “punter”. Continuing with the set, the next track up was the start of a run of Erasure tracks, including ‘Blue Savannah’, ‘Stop!’, ‘Chains Of Love’, ‘Love To Hate You’, and ‘Victim Of Love’.
After the second track, Bell told the audience he got more nervous playing in front of his home crowd before belting out the opening bars of ‘Stop!’. Everyone in the audience was up and dancing and mostly singing along for the whole set. Even the cover of the high camp classic Olivia Newton-John song ‘Xanadu’ kept everyone singing. After ‘Chains Of Love’, Bell introduced his backing band, who had all flown in from Nashville the day before. Backing singer Hayley Steele, who is also in a duo with his guitarist Jerry Fuentes (Steele Fountain), who he went on to say was the yodelling champion of South Dakota, and the niece of Cheryl Ladd from ‘Charles Angels’. He continued to get her to do a demo of her yodelling skills, something that no one in the audience was expecting.
He went on to introduce drummer ‘Sarah ‘Atomic’ Hawk’ as “this sexy mutha” and finally on keyboards and co-writer of Ten Crowns, Bell’s new album, Dave Aude. Jumping into ‘Love To Hate You’, the rest of the set felt like a big LGBTQIA+ family affair. There is just something infectiously joyous about Erasure’s back catalogue. Both pure nostalgia and high camp, Bell delivered a set that revelled in classic tunes, but also future hits.
(Jess Kemp)
FALSE IDOLS CEREMONY FEATURING SONIQUE, BETH DITTO & ULTRA NATE (Main Stage 19:20 – 20:00)
There was one thing that was a little different for the Main Stage before the final act of the day. While Fatboy Slim delivered a DJ set in the False Idols Tent, club nights main DJ and dancers delivered a celebration of stand-out dancefloor hits, inviting three incredible and renowned singers to the main stage to deliver their best-known hits.
Throughout the weekend, the dancers from the alternative queer club night had strutted the stage in the tent with everyone performing, and now was their chance to shine on the main stage in all their glory. Acts including Romy, Jodie Harsh, Bimini, Katy B and more benefited from the queer raunch the dancers brought.
Kicking off with a montage of queer acts on the main stage screens playing over a track from the Fools Gold space (who had also contributed dancers), which eventually called for the dancers to take the stage as it segued into the club classic ‘Loneliness’, and the dancers appeared. They strutted, preened, and threw shapes in a celebration of club culture, in between the arrival of three incredible vocalists.
First up was singer, musician and DJ Sonique singing her classic, ‘Feels So Good’ live, with a voice as powerful as ever. Wishing the audience “Happy Pride”, she took her leave. The dancers returned this time to Armand van Helden’s ‘You Don’t Know Me’ before moving into some classic beats.
Next up, a Pride surprise, Beth Ditto, lead singer of the band ‘Gossip’, walked out to the beat of their hit, ‘Heavy Cross’. Again, singing live, her formidable voice ringing out across the field, offering up the track “This is for the Trans People!”
As always happens with music festivals, there are times where you (and other punters) wish that they could witness both acts which seem to be performing at the same time at different stages. The programming of Brighton Pride’s was no different, with many folk now decamping to witness the perennial antics of Fatboy Slim, whereas they could have stayed here at the Main Stage and seen these artists who they are unlikely to get the opportunity to see perform live again.
Beth Ditto gave the performance her all, keeping the dancers on stage with her and at one point rightly calling out those closest (in an area which was close to empty for the majority of the weekend), in the ‘Gold VIP’ ticket area directly in front of the stage saying, “I thought this was a queer crowd, where’s your rhythm, where’s your spirit? where’s your pride?!”. As that was not enough, she then powered into the worldwide hit ‘Standing In The Way Of Control’, which somehow continues to feel increasingly relevant even though nineteen years old. She paid tribute to the passing of Ozzy Osbourne, sneaking in a few bars of Black Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’ in.
Last to take the stage from the dancers was Ultra Nate with her version of Gordon Lightfoot’s ‘If You Could Read My Mind’, followed by her club classic ‘Free (Do What You Want).
Elated to have seen Ditto perform again in any format, it left me feeling that an opportunity was missed to make this year’s Pride a weekend to remember.
FATBOY SLIM (False Idols Stage 19:30 – 21:00)
The audience and atmosphere were perfectly primed by the preceding DJ, Palms Trax, setting the stage for the energetic, disconcerting and iconic set from Fatboy Slim AKA local legend Norman Cook. The False Idols tent was packed, with the crowd eagerly anticipating his arrival on stage. Groups of teenagers staked out their spots front and centre; Cook certainly gave them a story to share at school on Monday. Others pushed forward enthusiastically, hoping for a better view, while those around held tightly to their space to rave for the next hour and a half. Most seemed to have shaken yesterday’s hangover and were fully ready to party. Cook opened with the instantly recognisable and iconic keys of ‘Praise You’ before making a quick switch up into Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ which quickly escalated into an eccentric remix that could be expected at a Fatboy Slim show.
The set was defined by its iconic nature, Fatboy Slim, a defining figure in electronic music, surrounded in an air of icon, cultivated a feeling of unmissable greatness. Repetitive visuals of the acid house smiley face, a symbol etched into the roots of rave culture, looped across the screen, paying homage to the era for those old enough to remember, while the intense, distorted depictions gave the set a compelling contemporary edge. Alongside this iconography, musical greats were honoured throughout. Whether this through deepfake visuals of Bowie, David Bryne, Prince or John Lenon singing along to the dance tracks or through Cook’s spinning remixes of classics like Groove Armada’s ‘I See You Baby’ and Deee-Lite’s ‘Groove Is In The Heart’, the latter accompanied by the music video on the screen behind. There was an ambiguity surrounding Cook’s use of AI for the deepfakes, and one might wonder how the icons themselves would’ve felt about their cameos.
Cook’s energy was completely infectious. Often leaving the decks to take centre stage, his crowd interaction was on point, commanding the audience to get down before the beat drops, consistently leading overhead clapping and turning the tent into a celebratory rave.
(Sophie Tebb)
SUGARBABES (Main Stage 20:40 – 22:00)
The Sugababes took to the main stage on Sunday night of Brighton’s Pride On The Park, performing members consisting of the original Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhan Donaghy, delivering a refined performance of slick choreography and tight harmonies. Opening with ‘Overload’, captivating the eager crowd from the offset, with mass singalongs maintained throughout. The trio’s dance moves were synched and uniform, and with years of experience being popstars, you’d expect nothing less.
Their performance made clever use of chairs, both to sit on for the slower numbers, (providing breathing room around the powerhouse of chart toppers on their setlist) but also as part of their dance choreography, adding a fresh layer into the stage dynamics. Between the singers’ tight choreography and impressive vocals, their band shone through. Unexpectedly, the guitarist took centre stage for shredding solos, and the drummer’s full-bodied performance gave a punchy edge, an incongruous but entertaining stand out over catchy pop tunes.
The group took a heartfelt moment to celebrate their devoted fanbase, acknowledging the core of this being the LGBTQ+ community, a sentiment warmly received by a crowd who did not seem to miss a lyric or beat. The giant disco ball that hung above the stage added to the celebratory atmosphere, scattering twinkling light across a sea of fans.
Their setlist was stacked with crowd-pleasers, all the major songs were performed, ‘Push The Button’, ‘About You Now’ and ‘Too Lost in You’. Towards the end of ‘Round Round’ showcased the groups’ rich and complex vocal harmonies, although slightly offset by the audience giving their best shot at these too. They also slipped in unexpected covers including Lorde’s ‘What Was That’ and Sweet Female Attitude’s ‘Flowers’. The latter saw the band drop the (at points prevailing) backing track to highlight their vocal chemistry with one another, each having taken their spotlight to display their solo strengths at points earlier in the set. It was a wonderful culmination to a fun-filled day, taking a moment to nod to and celebrate the community that gathered.
(Sophie Tebb)
SPECIAL BONUS PHOTOS:
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