THE PRIMITIVES + KEELEY – KOMEDIA, BRIGHTON 19.11.25
I climbed aboard the premier power jangle noise poppers train nice ‘n’ early and thus was a fan of The Primitives quite a time before the majority. With the original version of ‘Thru the Flowers’, plus follow up ‘Really Stupid’ and best ever song ‘Stop Killing Me’ (all on their own Lazy Records imprint) proudly sitting in my collection before their first ever Brighton gig. This was at Brighton Polytechnic on 7th March 1987 and I was there and can recall staring up at Tracy Louise Cattell aka Tracy Tracy in wonderment.
Tracy had spotted a hand-written note in Coventry library which had been penned by vocalist/guitarist Paul Jonathan Court aka PJ Court stating “male singer wanted”. Clearly she wasn’t put off by that and immediately responded that very afternoon, and the rest as they say is history! The Primitives had actually been an all male outfit that got it together in the summer of 1984, which then featured PJ Court along with a couple of ex–Nocturnal Babies band members, vocalist Keiron McDermott and bassist Steve Dullaghan; as well as drummer Peter Tweedie, who was replaced behind the kit by Tig Williams in October 1987. Keiron departed and Tracy was in, and bassist Paul Sampton came along in 1989. Thus today The Primitives lineup still features PJ Court, Tracy Tracy, Tig Williams and Paul Sampton.
It seems that The Primitives had arrived at just the right point in time as the mid to late 1980’s indie music scene here in the UK was buzzing and littered with like-minded souls, including the similar sounding The Darling Buds plus The Cocteau Twins, The Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, The Wedding Present, and Primal Scream to name just a few.
The Primitives singles were making dents into the UK Indie Charts, but by the time the quartet released their debut long player, ‘Lovely’, on 28th March 1988, their importance was dutifully noted and it charted at the very impressive No.6 in the Official Charts, with their ‘Crash’ single going one better at No.5 on the UK Singles Chart with ‘Top Of The Pops’ beckoning. Not only that, but they broke The States as well with it peaking at No.3 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. It was also No.2 on the Swedish Singles Chart. The tune was also eventually picked up in 1994 when it appeared on the ‘Dumb & Dumber’ film soundtrack as ‘Crash (The ’95 Mix)’. This tweaked rendition added extra bits that did not feature any of the band as they had already (initially) called it a day back in 1991. Thankfully the quartet reconvened back in 2009 and have been straddling power pop, new wave and post-punk ever since.
I can recall having a ticket to see the band a few years ago in Brighton, but sadly that got cancelled and I remember the band posting on social media that Brighton didn’t like them, obviously as ticket sales for our gig were poor, but other dates elsewhere did go ahead. Then thankfully, The Wedding Present called on The Primitives services for their ‘At The Edge Of The Sea’ bash at the Concorde 2 on 13th August 2022 – Review HERE. As luck would have it, I caught them the previous week at the Rebellion Punk Festival in Blackpool – Review HERE.
Wind the clock forward and The Primitives are celebrating their 40th anniversary here in Brighton with a concert at the Komedia in the heart of North Laine which has been organised by The Pad Presents and Spider Touring. We are in their company for 81 minutes, from 8:57pm to 10:18pm, and during this time, the quartet rattle off 26 tunes. The fans are of all ages this evening which is rather pleasing.
They kick off with the title track of their 2014 ‘Spin-O-Rama’ album which swings along rather nicely. Big hitters ‘Thru The Flowers’ and ‘Stop Killing Me’, both found on 1988’s ‘Lovely’ album, are delivered next, with the latter still giving me the tingles! Their 2022 single ‘Don’t Know Where To Start’ came next and was followed by Tracy’s first address to the crowd “Hello Brighton! Thank you for being here for our 25th anniversary” she said in jest! Two more choice tracks from ‘Lovely’ followed: the rockabilly-esque ‘Buzz Buzz Buzz’ and the three-minute poppy ‘I’ll Stick With You’. After ‘Petals’ from ‘Spin-O-Rama’, Paul takes the lead vocals for ‘Carry Me Home’ from 1988 ‘Lovely’, which he points out is his only one!
A trio of cuts from 1989’s ‘Pure’ album are up next. These being ‘Way Behind Me’, followed by a great rendition of ‘Sick Of It’ and ‘Summer Rain’. We are then informed by Paul that the next track is about a lost cat which has been missing since 1986, and he adds for us to keep an eye out for it! The song in question is ‘Where The Wind Blows’ which is found on the 1986 ‘Really Stupid’ single: “So when you gonna come back; The trees are singing your name”. ‘You Are The Way’ from 1991’s ‘Galore’ record is their next choice and this has a different vibe from everything before. This is followed by the latter tune, ‘Rattle My Cage’ which is on their ‘Never Kill A Secret’ EP from 2011. It’s time again for some more big hitters with the arrival of ‘Out Of Reach’ from ‘Lovely’, 1986 ‘Really Stupid’ single, and then ‘Nothing Left’ also from 1988 ‘Lovely’.
The almost Christmas-esque pop ditty ‘Empathise’ from ‘Galore’ is next. It’s a slower paced tambourine friendly tune which I think made use of the Roland drumpad presets. The most recent song of the set was next, this being ‘Sweet Sister Sorrow’ which is found on their new ‘Let’s Go Round Again • Second Wave Singles & Rarities 2011-2025’ compilation album, and a “first version” of this pops up on the latest ‘Thru The Flowers (85/2’)’ / ‘Sweet Sister Sorrow’ single. It blends in perfectly with the older material. It’s time for another trio from their debut album. This time it’s the turn of ‘Dreamwalk Baby’ (which has a couple of false starts), followed by The Jesus And Mary Chain-esque “Singing sha la la la la” ‘Spacehead’ which features some exceptional drumming, and closing with the one and only crowd favourite, ‘Crash’.
The quartet then disappeared behind the black curtain and us punters bellowed and clapped, for quite some time I add, but eventually they returned and Tracy informed us that they would be performing some covers which they have recorded. The first of these was ‘The Little Black Egg’ by Florida (Daytona Beach) garage band The Nightcrawlers which comes from 1965. Up next was their rendition of American girl group Reparata & The Delrons ‘Panic’ which is the B-side of their 1968 ‘Saturday Night Didn’t Happen’ tune. The final cover we were told by Tracy was a homage to sadly departed Blondie drummer Clem Burke, this being ‘(I’m Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear’ which was a single culled from their 1978 ‘Plastic Letters’ album. Interestingly, this was a rare song penned by bassist Gary Valentine, who had actually left the band by then, but Clem Burke encouraged Blondie to record it. I’ve met Gary on a couple of occasions and he is an interesting chap to converse with. He also performed with Bootleg Blondie as very special guest at the Jordan Mooney Memorial Concert at the Concorde 2 on 29th May 2022 which featured Captain Sensible (The Damned), Neal X (Sigue Sigue Sputnik) and a whole host of other artists – Review HERE. We also caught Clem Burke with Blondie and his other projects a few times, one of these memorable nights was at The Prince Albert on 1st December 2023 – Review HERE.
The Primitives this evening signed off with the slower grungy ‘(We’ve) Found A Way (To The Sun)’ from their 1986 ‘Really Stupid’ single. After which Tracy uttered “Thank you so much. It’s been amazing! The best so far!”. And thus the quartet discovered that we in Brighton DO love The Primitives after all.
The Primitives:
Tracy Tracy – vocals, tambourine
Paul Court – guitars, vocals
Tig Williams – drums
Paul Sampson – bass
The Primitives setlist:
‘Spin-O-Rama’ (from 2014 ‘Spin-O-Rama’ album)
‘Thru The Flowers’ (from 1988 ‘Lovely’ album)
‘Stop Killing Me’ (from 1988 ‘Lovely’ album)
‘Don’t Know Where To Start’ (a 2022 single)
‘Buzz Buzz Buzz’ (from 1988 ‘Lovely’ album)
‘I’ll Stick With You’ (from 1988 ‘Lovely’ album)
‘Petals’ (from 2014 ‘Spin-O-Rama’ album)
‘Carry Me Home’ (from 1988 ‘Lovely’ album)
‘Way Behind Me’ (from 1989 ‘Pure’ album)
‘Sick Of It’ (from 1989 ‘Pure’ album)
‘Summer Rain’ (from 1989 ‘Pure’ album)
‘Where The Wind Blows’ (from 1986 ‘Really Stupid’ single)
‘You Are The Way’ (from 1991 ‘Galore’ album)
‘Rattle My Cage’ (from 2011 ‘Never Kill A Secret’ EP)
‘Out Of Reach’ (from 1988 ‘Lovely’ album)
‘Really Stupid’ (a 1986 single)
‘Nothing Left’ (from 1988 ‘Lovely’ album)
‘Empathise’ (from 1991 ‘Galore’ album)
‘Sweet Sister Sorrow’ (from 2025 ‘Let’s Go Round Again • Second Wave Singles & Rarities 2011-2025’ compilation album & 2025 ‘Thru The Flowers (85/2’)’ / ‘Sweet Sister Sorrow (First Version)’ single)
‘Dreamwalk Baby’ (from 1988 ‘Lovely’ album)
‘Spacehead’ (from 1988 ‘Lovely’ album)
‘Crash’ (from 1988 ‘Lovely’ album)
‘I’ll Trust The Wind’ (from 2017 ‘New Thrills’ EP)
(encore)
‘The Little Black Egg’ (The Nightcrawlers cover)
‘Panic’ (Reparata & The Delrons cover)
‘(I’m Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear’ (Blondie cover)
‘(We’ve) Found A Way (To The Sun)’ (from 1986 ‘Really Stupid’ single)
Support this evening came from Anglo-Irish dreamrock trio Keeley, which is stylized in capitals and is the brainchild of Dublin-born singer-guitarist-composer Keeley Moss, and she is joined by Lukey Foxtrot on Fender bass, and former Morrissey drummer Andrew Paresi. It’s quite a big day today for them as not only are they supporting The Primitives but they have also released their ‘Who Wants To See The World’ single which is the first fruits from this actual lineup and a taster for their forthcoming third album ‘Girl On The Edge Of The World’, which is set drop drop on 20th February and will be the latest production from Dublin-based sonic maestro Alan Maguire. They are clearly getting on the ‘those in the know’ radar as they will also be opening for Babyshambles at Bristol 02 Arena on 9th December.
This evening is Keeley’s second concert in Brighton with the first as support to Fall supergroup House Of All, which took place at the Green Door Store back on 27th March. Lukey is proudly wearing his House Of All t-shirt this evening, probably as a reminder of previous happy times in Brighton. In the middle of this evening’s performance he states “We feel you Brighton blissing out with us” and then went on to add that they totally applaud Brighton as an all-inclusive and safe space for one and all.
Time is tight this evening and they are only able to squeeze in 7 selected tracks during their 42 minute set, which ran from 7:55pm to 8:37pm. If they hadn’t bothered to bond with the punters via between tune banter, then they could have easily sneaked in another number. But then I reckon folk wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get to know them better, so all’s well in the world.
They kick off with a couple of unreleased tunes, these being ‘Hungry For The Prize’ and ‘Crossing Lands’ which has an abrupt ending. Judging by these two offerings it’s obvious to see why they have been selected to join The Primitives as their sound isn’t actually that far away. I wish that the night had been longer and then maybe they could have added the Scottish female teen duo of The Cords to the bill as well. But maybe because they are only mid-teens that they currently aren’t able to travel too far from home due to their schooling. But to me The Cords are musically a young carbon copy of The Primitives.
I noted quite a number of novel things this evening. The first being the square concrete slab laying on the stage floor and butted up to the front of the drumkit in order to stop the kit from moving forward as the drummer plays. I’ve seen this happen before (without the slab) and the poor drummer that time almost had to make his arms grow longer. Another novel thing I noticed was that three of the four drums of the drumkit were wrapped with what looks like early 1970s wallpaper, the type you don’t want to return home from after a few too many pints at the pub. I later note that The Primitives also use the same kit, so it’s likely to be theirs. Another novel thing is the way Andrew holds his drumsticks, which is upside down with the thicker end hitting the skins, and not only that, but his grip is actually a third of the way down both of them as well. The final novel thing is that when they announce that they have merchandise at the rear of the room, that one of the items they have for sale are tank tops! They weren’t joking!
Tune three is their brand new ‘Who Wants To See The World’ single which is rather well received. We are then informed by Lukey that they are going to play us “another newie”, this being their foot-tapping ‘Railway Stations’.
They sign off with a trio of cuts from last year’s ‘Beautiful Mysterious’ album, with the first of these being ‘Inga Hauser’, which is a sad tale about 18 year old Inga Maria Hauser, who took an ill-fated trip from Stranraer in Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland in April 1988 and was never seen alive again. Her body was found in Ballypatrick Forest, Ballycastle and I believe that this crime currently remains unsolved. This has clearly deeply moved Keeley Moss who has a blog dedicated to this – find it HERE.
Keeley’s indie vibes continued with ‘Forever Froze’ and closing number and set highlight ‘Trans-Europe 18’ with its recorded keys backing, motorik drums, and psychedelic bass and guitar combination.
Keeley will be returning to Brighton early next year as part of their 12-date UK headline tour. They will be rockin’ on up at The Rossi Bar on Wednesday 25th February. Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased HERE. For the full list of dates and tickets visit HERE.
Keeley:
Keeley Moss – lead and rhythm guitar, vocals
Lukey Foxtrot – bass
Andrew Paresi – drums and laptop
Keeley setlist:
‘Hungry For The Prize’ (unreleased)
‘Crossing Lands’ (unreleased)
‘Who Wants To See The World’ (a 2025 single)
‘Railway Stations’ (unreleased)
‘Inga Hauser’ (from 2024 ‘Beautiful Mysterious’ album)
‘Forever Froze’ (from 2024 ‘Beautiful Mysterious’ album)
‘Trans-Europe 18’ (from 2024 ‘Beautiful Mysterious’ album)
