‘VARIOUS ARTISTS’ ‘BHS FEST: BEACH HOUSE SESSIONS ALLDAYER’ – WATERBEAR VENUE & WATERBEAR MUSIC BAR, BRIGHTON 25.10.25
Since launching a year ago in 2024, The Beach House Sessions has quickly grown into one of Brighton’s most talked-about platforms for new music, showcasing intimate live performances filmed by the sea and giving a spotlight to the next wave of talent.
In celebration of their first birthday milestone, Brighton’s leading new music discovery platform (The Beach House Sessions) celebrated via an all-dayer dual-venue festival in collaboration with WaterBear. The event, named ‘BHS Fest’ offered music lovers a packed day of performances from 16 selected local exciting, emerging artists from our city, with 8 acts appearing at the WaterBear Venue located on Brighton Beach at 169-170 Kings Road Arches, and the other 8 playing at WaterBear Music Bar at 14-17 Manchester Street (formerly known at the Latest Music Bar). Each act is allocated a taster of 30 minute sessions, just like The Great Escape, and so punters had the opportunity to cover as much of the 8 hours of live music as they wished. The set times were slightly staggered to partly assist with this. In essence this anniversary all-dayer is the natural next step in bringing that same spirit of discovery and connection as an actual Beach House Session into a live music venue setting, with the community at its heart. Ten of the 16 acts have already played their own ‘Beach House Session’ and so we have added those links as part of our review, in order that you can watch the videos.
There were quite a number of live music options available to the good folk of Brighton today, including the 12 acts at ‘LollapaGOOza 3’ up at The Hope & Ruin which we have also covered. This has left us a little thin on the ground, but we still managed to witness 10 of the 16 ‘BHS Fest’ acts on offer today. We also managed to grab some photos of a few that we missed, plus called on a few favours.
The 16 acts that appeared at ‘BHS Fest’ are: Dutch Criminal Record, Bex, Nature TV, Bones Ate Arfa, Dirtsharks, Fever Rouge, Orchards, Frances Mistry, Joe Little, Coco And The Lost, Bighead Tea Drinkers, Moon Idle, Lynnie Snow, Matisse Moretti, Tia Ice, and Maximilian. So without further ado, here are the reviews in performance order, as well as information on others that we missed:
MAXIMILIAN (WaterBear Venue – 1:45pm)
The WaterBear Venue is today the perfect place for the Beach House Sessions as the rear of the stage has a beach hut look to it. The first artist of the day to perform here is Maximilian, who has previously recorded a Beach House Session and a person whom I have seen before performing with a band, but this afternoon he is flying solo for his 7-tune set, armed with only his Fender Telecaster on his lap, a stool to sit on, and a new deerstalker hat on his head. We are told that he usually performs with a band and that there’s blood on his guitar fretboard to prove it. To begin with, the punters are scarce, but inevitably a number make their way in and get rewarded with a relaxing collection of ballads, which he delivers with his eyes shut, and raised right hand side of his mouth as he offloads the lyrics. You could literally hear a pin drop during the tunes, so much was the punters concentration. We learned that ‘Hackberry Emperor’ is a butterfly (from North America) and that he usually saves his happy song until the end. Interestingly Jacob from Welly was watching the performance, no doubt repaying the favour from when Maximilian stepped in and played with Welly for their gig at ‘Latitude’ festival on 26th July last year.
Maximilian:
Maximilian – vocals, guitar
Maximilian setlist:
‘If Only’
‘Just Like Me’
‘Hackberry Emperor’
‘Rest Your Head’
‘Ant On A Hill’
‘Soft Song’
‘I Know You’
Maximilian Beach House Session HERE.
(Nick Linazasoro)
TIA ICE (WaterBear Music Bar – 2:00pm)
Opening up the inaugural Beach House Festival at the WaterBear Bar (formerly The Latest Music Bar) in Manchester Street is WaterBear student Tia Ice, who interestingly was the very first act to perform on the opening night of the WaterBear Bar on 16th July this year – Review HERE. According to her Soundcloud page she sings about her experiences and provides a soul-lift. This afternoon we are invited to ‘Let’s Ride’ as Tia is joined by five talented band-members who jointly offered up a fabulous seven tune set – blending an amalgam of four personal poems which segued into smooth neo soul-funk riffs and songs which were vocalised with emotive energy. This was a captivating performance from someone who I hadn’t seen live before and I have a distinct feeling that Tia could make a real impression in this genre – she’s definitely one to watch!
Tia Ice:
Tia Ice – lead vocals, lyricist
Jack Patrick – guitar, backing vocals
Imani Ruiz – backing vocals
Chantelle Bartrup – bass
Max Valencia – drums
David Swenzen – saxophone
Tia Ice setlist:
‘Let’s Ride’
POEM
‘Stay Tru’
POEM
‘Summah Nights’
‘Go Gettah’
POEM
‘Red Wine’
‘To Tell You’
POEM
‘Lady Starlight’
(Martin J Fuller)
MATISSE MORETTI (WaterBear Venue – 2:45pm)
The second act of the day at the WaterBear Venue is half English, half French, Brighton-based dream pop artist Matisse Moretti, who is on vocals as well as switching from Fender electric and Epiphone acoustic guitars. He is joined by a trio of chums on second guitar, bass, and drums. He has recorded a Beach House Session and his debut single, ‘Zooming’, was released in July 2024 and was followed this year by ‘Delicate Guys’, both of which get an airing this afternoon as part of the 8-tune jangly indie guitar-led poppy earworms. The sound quality is crisp and clear, as in fact it is all day long. It’s not all jangly guitars, as we also get meaty bass-lines and solid drumming, along with some notable foot-pedal action to boot. ‘Riddle’ is a noteworthy tune which grows in its intensity and the drumming reminds me of Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’. We learn that ‘Say No More’ will be out early next year and this reminds me of Embrace. Also dropping next year will be set closer ‘Better Than Ever’, which Matisse delivers in a higher-pitched vocal than all of the other songs. It was a solid set and an act I would like to see more of.
Matisse Moretti:
Matisse – vocals, guitar
Mickey – guitar
Tom – bass
Noah – drums
Matisse Moretti setlist:
‘Intro’
‘Heavy Petting’
‘Zooming’
‘Delicate Guys’
‘Riddle’
‘Say No More’
‘The Client’
‘Better Than Ever’
Matisse Moretti Beach House Session HERE.
(Nick Linazasoro)
LYNNIE SNOW (WaterBear Music Bar – 3:00pm)
Second up at the WaterBear Music Bar was Lynnie Snow, together with her four accompanying bandmates Liv, Oscar, Mit and Matt, who delivered a stunning set of indie alt pop-rock tunes, her mesmeric vocals floating across each song, the tempo being dialled up and down throughout the set. Hitherto, I can only find one release, a 2023 EP called ‘Painting Of A Meadow’ which is worth checking out. However, many of the tracks we heard today are currently unreleased and her Instagram bio promises “new music soon” – let’s hope we don’t have to wait too long for this fabulous music to be released to the wider world.
Lynnie Snow:
Lynnie – vocals, guitar
Liv – keyboards
Oscar – guitar
Mit – bass
Matt – drums
Lynnie Snow setlist:
‘Medal’
‘Crumpled Foxes’
‘Machine Learning’
‘Streetlight, Save Me’
‘Bloodsport’
(Martin J Fuller)
MOON IDLE (WaterBear Venue – 3:45pm)
Now here’s a rarity, a review of Moon Idle that hasn’t been written by our colleague Peter Greenfield! Worry not, as he’s here in the now rammed venue in order to absorb everything that Quilla, Jasper and two Felix’s have to offer. The quartet recorded their Beach House Session back in October, and in 2023 released their 5-track ‘Kindly’ EP, followed by their ‘Godzilla’ single this year, which gets an airing this afternoon as part of their half-dozen sedate dreamy sounds with jazzy trip-hop vibes. Quilla multitasks rather well on occasion by not only singing and playing her Nord Electro 6D keyboard but also grabs a few notes in between keys on her Sphere guitar. Also of note is on opener ‘Seed’ where Jasper continually does an unusual flick on his guitar which makes a double click sound, plus for ‘Godzilla’ he utilizes an EBow (electronic bow) across the guitar strings which gives the tune a menacing feel atop the longing vocal delivery. ‘Girl In Blue’ is their most immediate tune for me with its haunting keys intro before exploding into action. Penultimate tune ‘Oranges’ witnesses an urgency in Quilla’s voice which she delivers eyes-shut, and the punters’ heads bob along. They sign off with ‘Delay Me’ which sees some guitar foot pedal action before melting into a lazy Sunday afternoon vibe with tickle-bass action before exploding at the end with more foot pedals on the go. The crowd seriously lapped it up!
Moon Idle:
Quilla Robinson – vocals, keyboard, guitar
Felix Essex – bass, backing vocals
Jasper Fergus – guitar, backing vocals
Felix Burton – drums
Moon Idle setlist:
‘Seed’
‘Godzilla’
‘Makeup’
‘Girl In Blue’
‘Oranges’
‘Delay Me’
Moon Idle Beach House Session HERE.
(Nick Linazasoro)
BIGHEAD TEA DRINKERS (WaterBear Music Bar – 4:00pm)
Bighead Tea Drinkers are a young Indie rock band originally from Essex, who relocated to Brighton to study at BIMM Institute. They were the first of the six acts that we weren’t able to see live in action today, although our photographer did attend to grab some photos. We have however reviewed the quartet on at least four previous occasions since February 2023. They currently have a couple of EP’s to their name, last year’s 4-track ‘Travel Far, Get Away’ and this year’s 6-track ‘Submerged’. They have also recorded a Beach House Session video which was uploaded 7 months ago. This afternoon’s WaterBear Bar set signalled the end of an era for Freddie, Ellie, Marshall and Kian as the moment they finished their half-dozen songs, the band’s name changed. They are now simply called Bighead which is stylized in capitals.
BIGHEAD:
Freddie – vocals, guitar
Ellie – guitar
Marshall – drums
Kian – bass
BIGHEAD setlist:
‘Medola Yard’
‘Virulent Beast’
‘Just Say When’
‘Model’
‘Silver Tongue’
‘Oh Lover’
Bighead Tea Drinkers Beach House Session HERE.
COCO AND THE LOST (WaterBear Venue – 4:45pm)
Brighton & Hove News are certainly no strangers to Ella Flannery and her Coco And The Lost project, having reviewed them a number of times since March 2023, with arguably the most memorable for yours truly being at Patterns in February 2024 when supporting Haiku Hands. Notable releases have been the ‘I’ve Got Nothing John’ and ‘Moonbird’ EP’s from 2023 and ‘Communicator’ EP from last year. As Ella takes to the stage, it appears that it’s just her today without her two chums from previous gigs, but what is new is an Orchid ORC-1 chord-generating digital synthesizer made by Telepathic Instruments, which looks like a tiny typewriter. I’ve not seen one of these before, crikey what a sound it gives out! This new Coco sound is very electronic and it’s dance-synthpop all the way and us three reviewers watching can’t quite believe our ears. Opener ‘Icon’ is dedicated to Liza Minnelli and Ella is more animated than I’ve ever seen her before. ‘Sweet Lullabies’ is a Eurobanger, ‘I Could Go On’ is about losing your mind and features some wonderful deep bass-notes, ‘The End’ is about betrayal and is very dramatic with a classic 1980’s synth sound. The latest single ‘Um And Ah’ sounds like Battery Operated Orchestra and is about the music industry, which is followed by the debut performance of ‘Drum Machine’ which reminded me of Georgia and Confidence Man. ‘Modern Lover Girl’ has the feel of Kinobe’s ‘Slip Into Something More Comfortable’, ‘One Last Thing’ ups the tempo again with its banging beat, and final tune ‘The End Pt:2’ was composed whilst watching a film of Greta Garbo running down a street. Every tune was delivered with sensual feeling and aplomb, we even had lazers used for the first time today. This was a very, very, very good performance and I look forward to hearing the newly finished album.
Coco And The Lost:
Ella Flannery – vocals, synth
Coco And The Lost setlist:
‘Icon’
‘Sweet Lullabies’
‘I Could Go On’
‘The End’
‘Um And Ah’
‘Drum Machine’
‘Modern Lover Girl’
‘One Last Thing’
‘The End Pt:2’
(Nick Linazasoro)
JOE LITTLE (WaterBear Music Bar – 5:00pm)
The second act that we weren’t able to review was Joe Little and his handful of chums over at the WaterBear Bar, although our photographer did grab some photos of the performance for us. The gang have already recorded their Beach House Session which was uploaded in March and as they say, Joe was “bringing his unique blend of heartfelt songwriting and rich melodies to life”. According to his social media, Joe offers “soundtracks for dreamers and the wide awake” and there’s certainly been a whole host of releases in that vein including his debut 12-tune album of the same name, as well as this year’s ‘Zero: Love-Inspired Ambient Works’ 5-track EP, last year’s ‘Soul Fire’ EP and 2023’s ‘Anyway’ EP. Not surprisingly Joe is planning more gigs and releases and so there is much to look forward to.
Joe Little:
Joe Little – vocals, guitar
Molly Elizabeth – backing vocals
King Tear – guitar
Ben Douglas – guitar
Noah Fox – bass
Tim Spencer – drums
Joe Little setlist:
‘Always’
‘Green Fields’
‘Notice Me’
‘Forever’
‘Ordinary’
‘Loving For The First Time’
‘Heartache’
‘Kiss’
Joe Little Beach House Session HERE.
FRANCES MISTRY (WaterBear Venue 5:45pm)
The teatime slot at the WaterBear Venue fell to singer-songwriter Frances Mistry with her Epiphone acoustic guitar along with her trio of chums, who we last reviewed at the end of August as part of the Hidden Herd Presents nights. Frances has been continually dropping singles and EP’s since 2018, with the latest release being her ‘Conversations With Those I Love’ EP. Today we are presented with 8 compositions, beginning with the strumming style Fleetwood Mac sounding ‘Something Has To Give’, followed by the brief ‘Letters’ which was penned about her nan. The Radio 2 friendly ‘New Hands’ followed and is about finding new friends. Two tunes reminded me of The Sundays, with the first being ‘In The Rain’ and penultimate tune ‘Flower In The Garden’, and both being set highlights for me. I suspect these tunes would sound great in a church setting, especially a candlelit St Pancras Old Church. ‘When I Look In Her Eyes’ would go down very well in America. ‘Snake Pit’ was about friends Frances has lost due to conspiracy theories. They signed off their music to sway to performance with ‘Shock To My System’.
Frances Mistry:
Frances – vocals, acoustic guitar
Eve – bass
Valli – guitar
Oscar – drums
Frances Mistry setlist:
‘Something Has To Give’
‘Letters’
‘New Hands’
‘In The Rain’
‘When I Look In Her Eyes’
‘Snake Pit’
‘Flower In The Garden’
‘Shock To My System’
(Nick Linazasoro)
ORCHARDS (WaterBear Music Bar – 6:00pm)
The third act that we weren’t able to review were Brighton’s indie math-pop outfit Orchards over at the WaterBear Bar, although our photographer did grab some photos of the performance for us. We last reviewed their lively set at ‘Victorious Festival’ in Hampshire back in August. Their ‘Bicker’ album came out this March which followed on from their debut album ‘Lovecore’ from 2020. Their Beach House Sessions video has been live for 6 months. Orchards are headlining The Hope & Ruin on Friday 31st October and will be ably assisted by Really Big Really Clever, and Slung.
Orchards:
Dan – bass
Sam – guitar
Lucy – vocals
Ed – drums
Orchards setlist:
‘Say It’
‘Sweetie Pie’
‘Good For You Good For Me’
‘Mug Song’
‘I Feel Terrible’
‘Groan’
‘Luv You 2’
‘Bicker’
Orchards Beach House Session HERE.
FEVER ROUGE (WaterBear Venue – 6:45pm)
Next up at WaterBear Venue are indie rockers Fever Rouge, who have as yet not played a Beach House Session yet, although we understand that they wish to be invited. Their latest release is titled ‘Feed The Villain’ and comprises 7 cuts, three of which are given an outing today as part of their 7 song set, which we are immediately informed will feature some unreleased material. The lads begin with their ‘Intro’ call to arms, which segues into their forthcoming ‘Ghosts’ single, which will drop on 6th November. It’s got some meaty bass-lines in it, and is followed by the rockin’ Beatles-esque ‘Weatherman’. After which we get easily the most boisterous song of the day thus far with the arrival of the drumming introed and swirling guitar frenzied ‘Shplang’ (a made up word I’m told by vocalist Ollie). The lighting adds to the atmosphere of the performance and they launch into the speedy ‘Tell Me’, followed by newbie ‘Boys Will Be Boys’. They sign off with ‘The Buzz’ as they don’t have time to play ‘Feed The Villain’. ‘The Buzz’ commences with a slow echoey considered start, thus the crowd join in with handclaps, but then the track explodes into life with much bravado. Fever Rogue – a tight band who are clearly heading towards playing for larger crowds!
Fever Rouge:
Ollie Hughes – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Kieran King – lead guitar
Alain De Gouveia – bass, backing vocals
Oli Mooney – drums
Fever Rouge setlist:
‘Intro’
‘Ghosts’
‘Weatherman’
‘Shplang’
‘Tell Me’
‘Boys Will Be Boys’
‘The Buzz’
(Nick Linazasoro)
DIRTSHARKS (WaterBear Music Bar – 7:00pm)
The next act that we weren’t able to review were the princes of Brighton’s indie rock scene, Dirtsharks, who take their name from ‘The Detectorists’ and are originally from Cornwall. We did catch them performing on the opening night of the WaterBear Bar on 16th July this year (Review HERE) as well as witnessing their set a month ago at the Green Door Store’s ‘234 Fest’ (Review HERE) as well as on a number of previous occasions. They have a trio of EP’s to their name with the latest being ‘Stay Lucent’ which came out last year. They have recorded a Beach House Session and this was uploaded two months ago. Today they performed a 9-song set, see below.
Dirtsharks:
Aidan Moran – lead vocals, guitar, violin
Brendan Moran – lead guitar, vocals, violin
Matt Edwards – bass, vocals
James Stevenson – drums, vocals
Dirksharks setlist:
‘Intro’
‘Sleep’
‘Hawks’
‘Violinstrumental’
‘Wasted Time’
‘Nosebleed’
‘Foxglove’
‘Tides’
‘Retina’
Dirtsharks Beach House Session HERE.
BONES ATE ARFA (WaterBear Venue – 7:45pm)
The penultimate act performing at the WaterBear Venue today are “psychedelic street punk/desert rock three piece” Bones Ate Arfa, who let’s face it, are a band with more energy than a pack of Duracell. Don’t believe me? Then go check out their headlining set at The Hope & Ruin on Saturday 13th December (Tickets HERE). The young trio already have a Beach House Session, a number of singles and recent ‘Just Bananas’ EP under their belt. This evening they have gone for the guyliner look and we are given an energetic 7-tune head-jerking set, commencing with the raspy Cobain-esque ‘Vinyard’, followed by the quicker, more immediate EP title track, for which drummer Herbie goes on a walkabout around the venue with his large cymbal, whilst bassist Arthur perches atop an amp. Newbie ‘Soda’ follows with its joint shared vocal delivery, surely it’s gotta be a future single! Another new one follows, ‘Not All Wings Are For Flying’, and they signed off with a trio of truly solid tunes ‘Mary Molotov’, ‘Akimbo People’ and ‘It’s All Good’. And indeed “It’s All Good” for them as they went down a storm. They are a band that Brighton needs to hold onto as long as we can!
Bones Ate Arfa:
Sonny Whittington aka ‘Bones’ – lead guitar, vocals
Herbie Wilson aka ‘8’ – drums
Arthur Wilson aka ‘Arfa’ – lead vocals, bass guitar
Bones Ate Arfa setlist:
‘Vineyard’
‘Just Bananas’
‘Soda’
‘Not All Wings Are For Flying’
‘Mary Molotov’
‘Akimbo People’
‘It’s All Good’
Bones Ate Arfa Beach House Session HERE.
(Nick Linazasoro)
NATURE TV (WaterBear Music Bar 8:00pm)
Sadly we missed Brighton indie-pop specialists Nature TV set at WaterBear Venue today, but I did catch them on 16th August at the charming ‘Dedfest’ which was held near Uckfield. They were then performing at the Woodland Stage and according to their social media they are “Door-to-door heartbreak salesmen”. They were one of the first acts to record a Beach House Session, and their video was uploaded 11 months ago. Here is a band that certainly does love releasing EP’s, it seems as though they are nearly in double figures. They have finally, after 7 years, got together 13 songs and released their ‘Unlucky For Some’ debut album this year. Strangely only one of these gets an outing today during their 7-song set.
Nature TV:
Guy Bangham – vocals, guitar
Josh Erişkin – bass
James Peter Hunt – lead guitar, backing vocals
Callum Allner – drums
Nature TV setlist:
‘Lay Low’
‘Side Eye’
‘Words’
‘Frida’
‘Mike Fake’
‘Hometown’
‘Illusions’
Nature TV Beach House Session HERE.
BEX (WaterBear Venue 8:45pm)
The final act of this year’s inaugural ‘BHS Fest’ at the WaterBear Venue is vocalist and Gibson bassist BEX, who is accompanied by Josh Paine on another bass, plus laptop, and Evan Mansell on drums for their 9-tune set. BEX is very animated and clearly knows how to hold fort. She has a quirky vocal delivery akin to a modern day Lene Lovich. Clearly there’s a punk mentality here, with many tunes containing copious amounts of rapid fire lyrics, although being guitarless isn’t very punk. Opener ‘Taste Better’ offers chunky bass and drums combination, whereas ‘Filfy’ has a rockin’ beat with higher vocals. BEX adds her bass to the catchy standout ‘Politix’, after which we are asked whether we are ready to jump to ‘Sum Kinda Syko’, with a “1-2-3-4” they are away. BEX utilizes a different bass guitar on ‘Crybaby’ and there’s more bass action on ‘We’ll Never B Like U’. It feels as though every tune has a story to tell, and with the arrival of ‘Silence’ which is about not being silent, I guess that this is very much the case. BEX briefly sits atop a front speaker and delivers ‘Slave To The Grind’, which is followed by the set ending ‘Spyd4 K1ng’ where we all had to sit on the floor and then do 10 star-jumps. BEX reminds me of Girli in attitude and vocal delivery but not musically. The crowd had fun dancing to the tunes as well as singing along to some of them. BEX then left the stage and the fans had to follow her in a conga around the building, whilst Josh and Evan held fort. BEX even clambered atop the bar!
Bex:
Bex – vocals, bass
Josh Paine – bass, laptop
Evan Mansell – drums
Bex setlist:
‘Taste Better’
‘Filfy’
‘Politix’
‘Sum Kinda Syko’
‘Crybaby’
‘We’ll Never B Like U’
‘Silence’
‘Slave To The Grind’
‘Spyd4 K1ng’
(Nick Linazasoro)
DUTCH CRIMINAL RECORD (WaterBear Music Bar – 9:00pm)
Closing the first ever ‘BHS Fest’ are unforgettable surf indie band Dutch Criminal Record who recorded the fourth ever Beach House Session, which has been online for a whole year. According to the post the band stunned the organisers with tunes from their debut album ‘Novium’, and they added that “DCR are energetic, nostalgic, guitar-driven and boast sweet vocals and blooming harmonies inspired by 60’s pop giants”. In February this year they toured the album including a date at Komedia Studio on Thursday 27th. Unfortunately we were unable to cover today’s 10-tune set which included just one cut from the album, as well as a mixture of previous numbers and forthcoming gems. I shall keep my eyes peeled for any forthcoming local concerts as they sound an interesting proposition to me with a jangly guitar pop vibe also going on.
Dutch Criminal Record:
Joe Delaney-Stone – vocals, guitar
Sam Thrussell – vocals, guitar
Joe Frampton – drums
Mitchell Rippon – bass
Sam Ruthen – keys, guitar, backing vocals
Dutch Criminal Record setlist:
‘Baby Blue’
‘00’s Nostalgia’
‘Wasted Time’
‘Oat Milk’
‘Summers Past’
‘Summertime’
‘Stuck Between’
‘Outside’
‘Socks And Sandals’
(encore)
‘Painted Gold’
Dutch Criminal Record Beach House Session HERE.
www.instagram.com/dutchcriminalrecord
