VARIOUS ARTISTS ‘BRIGHTON PSYCH FEST’ – VARIOUS VENUES, BRIGHTON 4.9.26
After the roaring success of its debut in August 2024, the one-day ‘Brighton Psych Fest’ returned for third year running with a solid lineup of acts! Brighton’s leading independent concert promoter and events organiser, JOY. Concerts, along with the team behind the UK’s renowned psychedelic music and arts festival, Manchester Psych Fest, are again the event organisers.
This year witnessed 40 acts performing across 7 Brighton grassroots concert venues, these being the Corn Exchange, Concorde 2, Komedia, Patterns, The Hope & Ruin, Alphabet and Volks – the festival transformed Brighton into a city-wide celebration of immersive live music across multiple rooms, stages and atmospheres. The performers certainly were spread right across the psychedelic music spectrum and arguably well beyond, and as a result, there was something for everyone!
As usual we endeavoured to catch as many bands as possible, but with so many clashes, some acts were not able to be reviewed. But we wanted to flag up all 40 acts taking part at this year’s Brighton Psych Fest, so we have added them all in performance order, so that you can click on the links and find out more. So without further ado let’s get to it:
KARMA SHEEN – Concorde 2 (15:30 – 16:15)
The first act to play this year’s Brighton Psych Fest was London-based quintet Karma Sheen at Concorde 2 in Madeira Drive. They included original members Sameer Khan (lead vocals, guitar, Indian bansuri), Rod Bourganos (sitar, synth, and theremin), and Grisha Grebennikov (bass guitar). They released their debut self-titled album in 2023 and have played a sold-out show at London’s 100 Club.
A good-sized crowd had gathered by the time the band took to the stage. Their opening track was mostly instrumental, with a slow build-up featuring a mix of drums, guitar, and sitar throughout. The second track was much more up-tempo, with Hindustani vocals adding to some frantically paced psychedelic guitar sounds. ‘Alap Bageshree’ followed. This one was very short and featured distinctive spiritual vocals from Sameer. The stand-out song of the set was next. This was ‘Bagashree’. For this one, the bass drums kicked in, then there was a “Good afternoon Brighton, you alright? It’s an absolute pleasure to be here. We are Karma Sheen, back in Brighton, our second home.” from Sameer, and the song continued.
The fifth song was a slow starter with a good early rhythm. This one had a 70s prog rock feel to it. This was the pace-changing ‘Sameer’s Sunflowers’. Sameer then asked, “Are we in the mood to dance?” They performed the funky, fast groove of ‘Mian Ki Jive’. The flow continued with the next two songs featuring a mix of prog, psychedelia, and the sounds of traditional Hindustani classical music. Prior to the last song of the set, ‘Homecoming (Raag Malkauns)’, Sameer told us it’s not the first time they’ve played at the festival. Grisha added, “It won’t be the last”. There is variation with this last song as it included the use of an Indian bansuri (a bamboo flute). There was warm applause for Karma Sheen between songs and at the end of their set.
(Ian Holman)
FLORAL IMAGE – Alphabet (16:15 – 17:00)
Floral Image are a new band on me, their bio reads “East Coast Psychedelia from Norwich, UK’”. I’m not sure why, but I thought they were American at first, they have the look and vibe as if they have just stepped out of the 70’s, the long hair and the moustaches. Jack Warner who is on keys with his Korg and Electro4 was wearing a yellow ‘I Shot the Moon in Oostburg’ T-shirt which I believe was part of their merch at one point, but it had real 70s vibes about it. The rest of the band are Fergus Nolan (vocals, guitars), Matt Kennedy (bass guitar), Mitch Forsyth (drums), Phil Whitton (guitars, visuals) and together they were about to kick off Psych Fest proceedings at Alphabet in style with a golden forty five minute, 8 song set.
Most songs bar a couple of unreleased tracks all came from their 2025 debut album ‘Gone Down Meadowland’. The set kicked off with the magnificent ‘Who Turned Off The Sun?’ channelling soft cool 70s vibes, a perfect intro. We are all asked to take one step forward as the packed out room couldn’t get any more people in at the very back. Fergus’s vocals had a more psych effect on ‘Thieves’, a much calmer stompy affair. “It’s great to be back in Brighton” called Fergus, as we moved into ‘Burning 305’. This took things up another level, great guitar rhythms, bass player Matt started getting very theatrical with his guitar movements, spinning round, up in the air, this one had a real air of prog rock to it.
Calm was restored temporarily with ‘The Score’, with it’s real gentle mellow vocals, but soon that psych sound took over once more. A new one was next with ‘Lift Off’ featuring a lovely organ intro and keys throughout, steady bass and drums, this was a journey song, spacey and cool, the crowd by this point were all dancing and grooving along. The groovy sound continued as the band morphed straight into ‘Tiergarten’ a full-on instrumental, a melee of sound, all of the band rocking out, guitars swinging in the air and ending with the bass player on the floor. The set closed out with the insane rager ‘Howling Dog Song’, whoa mama, now this was mega. Then came the final song ‘Sun For Hire’ which took us back to earth with more soft chilled vibes initially, before the inevitable guitar madness rushed us to a far more speedy climax. I’ve got to say Floral Image blew me away. I had enjoyed listening to their album on Bandcamp, but the live experience is a whole other level. They were so tight musically, I 100% want to see them again and am going to be buying that album.
(Ben ‘Jerry’ Robinson)
GWENNO – Corn Exchange (16:15 – 17:15)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
HUDSON FREEMAN – Patterns (16:15 – 16:45)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
SLAG – Komedia (16:15 – 16:55)
Despite having seen Brighton’s very own SLAG a number of times locally before, they still went straight on my ‘must see’ list when the lineup was announced, so I was slightly surprised that there were not more people in to witness this one given the traction the band seem to be gaining away from the local scene.
No matter, they duly provided an early burst of energy as the Komedia filled up, melding together their trademark math-rock complexity, art-punk attitude and indie-pop hooks with now-familiar songs songs like ‘Heaven’ and ‘Ripped’ standing out as well as offerings from their debut EP ‘Losing’ one or two new songs, capturing the balance between jagged energy and hooky melodies. Amelie Gibson has a captivating yet playful stage presence as the charismatic front-person of the five-piece, whilst the band demonstrate serious musicianship on guitars, bass, keys and drums with abrupt changes of pace, angular riffs with a grunge edge. Their UK tour continues until the end of November, catch them at a small venue while you still can.
(Martin J Fuller)
KNIVES – Volks (16:30 – 17:10)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
LONNIE GUNN – The Hope & Ruin (16:30 – 17:00)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
BLEECH 9:3 – Concorde 2 (16:50 – 17:35)
With Concorde 2’s second set of the day, Ireland’s Bleech 9:3 turn a delayed arrival into uneasy anticipation. Formed out of AA meetings, their sound is a vicious grunge revival. Opening with the visceral scrubbing of ‘Jacky’, frontman Barry Quinlan fidgets through lyrics of utter despair, refusing to interact with the audience, weaponising desperation and turmoil into excess energy. While the atmospheric chug of ‘No Surprise’ drops the tempo, ‘Cannonball’ swells into a theatrical scream for a small sense of release.
As the venue fills up, Quinlan jumps into the audience for ‘MySystem’, stoking mania without ever asking for it: he simply stands in the eye of the storm. Despite only interacting with the audience to give a quick thank you, the circle pit grows in anticipation of ‘Ceiling.’ A distillation of doom, ‘Ceiling’ thrashes like a punk song, with an arpeggiated rhythmic line adding to loud-quiet dynamics; its lyrics of “I wanna touch the ceiling/I wanna kill the feeling” are screamed back with meaning felt by everyone in the room. Getting an early audience on board with such heavy subject matter is no easy task, yet Bleech 9:3 are evidence of the healing power of art, creating a communal release that can only come from the survival of unspeakable demons.
bleech93.fanmail.app/b9-forms/SIGNUP
(Keir Shields)
ELLIS D – Patterns (17:15 – 17:45)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
CORDELIA GARTSIDE – The Hope & Ruin (17:30 – 18:00)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
HIGHDRIVE – Alphabet (17:30 – 18:00)
I caught Highdrive last October at the Green Door Store for the inaugural Gnarwhal Fest. I really enjoyed their set that day, so made sure I put them on my hitlist for today, once again they did not disappoint. We were treated to blistering a six song, twenty five minute set by the Brighton based five piece formed up with; Lucas Leitch (lead vocals/guitar), Eva Jaksi (vocals/bass), Bella Palanques (guitar) Felix Cleeve (guitar), Billy Houghton (drums).
The set kicked off with ‘Cherry’, utterly raging guitar on this, full throttle, I couldn’t really hear Lucas soft vocals though, I don’t think I did myself any favours standing right next to the guitar amp, but I do remember last time I saw them the vocals started more quietly and rose throughout the set, maybe it will be the same today. Next up was ‘Something I Said’, Lucas strapped on his guitar, so now we had four in the mix, real shoegazy, 90s vibes, Eva with her 5 string bass added backing vocals, god what a song, loved it. Following some guitar swap arounds and some pedal knob twisting from Bella, Felix then played an interesting scrapping backing sound on his guitar during the rather mellow start and first half of ‘Swan’, before the sheer guitar explosion erupted from all four.
The set continued with a yet ‘Untitled’ song, a bit different from the others for, fits and starts, some full on mad drumming from Billy. Next we had ‘Tie Me Down’, this one taking a more eerie, moody vibe, a fine pulsing bass line, despite being back to just 3 guitars, Felix and Bella didn’t half bring the volume. The final song was ‘Emetophobia’, utterly awesomely loud, Lucas’s vocals more loud and shouting, but f*ck me what a closer, for me so much magic was coming from Felix Cleeve’s guitar, good god the sounds he was extracting from that were insane, shaking it, banging it, wavering that whammy bar. Hell, I really liked them last October, but I utterly love them a year on, I want an album on CD damn it!
(Ben ‘Jerry’ Robinson)
THE KVB – Komedia (17:30 – 18:20)
I must confess that when the Brighton Psych Fest line-up was announced, the act that I put atop of my must see list was The KVB, which comprises Nicholas Wood on lead vocals and guitar, and his partner Kat Day on vocals and synths. My music collection proudly boasts at least 8 of their albums, so I guess I’m a fan. The KVB sound combines electronic, psychedelic, post-punk and shoegaze elements into an overall sound that is very much their own. The KVB has been in action for around 15 years now and was originally a solo project by Nicholas.
This evening is my third live encounter with the duo. Both of my previous encounters are memorable. The first was on 21st November 2017 on the first floor of the lost Brighton venue known as The Joker which was at Preston Circus. I can remember being blown away by their sound in such a compact venue and the backing films adding to the enjoyment. The second was at the Green Door Store on 30th October 2018. I can recall sitting with Nicholas and Kat prior to them going on stage and telling them that I had forgone my ticket that evening to see Talking Heads guru David Byrne at the Brighton Centre; they thought I was mad! Bless them! Although I have still yet to see Mr Byrne in action I don’t regret it one bit.
It’s been a whole 8 years since that gig and tonight they are back in Brighton and they are also new parents for the first time! The tools of the trade this evening are Sequential Take 5 keys and other electronic knobs to twiddle as well as a laptop, plus the Fender guitar. As per my previous encounters they are still both clad in black, and to be honest haven’t really aged at all. The backing videos are still present and feature some interesting modernist architecture; the Komedia Basement is nice and busy. Their slow intro leads to booming electronic beats and just like my previous encounters I get a warm dose of The Cure meets Clan Of Xymox via The KVB sound. It’s a large dose of Goth, especially with the electronic drum machine backing, that is very much like Sisters Of Mercy. Nicholas is on lead vocals throughout the performance but Kat takes the lead on ‘Unité with its catchy repeated “Modular factory living” lyrics, and it’s the choice cut of the set for me. The drum machine sound prevails for the rest of the performance, as well as the guitar sounds of very early New Order. They sign off with a cover, but sadly I didn’t catch its title. Once again, I’ve absolutely loved my live experience with The KVB, let’s hope a swift return to these parts!
(Nick Linazasoro)
ANNABELLE CHAIRLEGS – Volks (17:45 – 18:30)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF – Corn Exchange (18:00 – 19:00)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
AUTOMATIC – Concorde 2 (18:15 – 19:05)
Next to play Concorde 2 were Automatic. A minimalist post-punk and new wave trio from Los Angeles, California, that provided sharp songs featuring a mix of synths, bass, drums, and vocals. They formed in 2017 in the beating heart of LA’s DIY scene and feature original members Izzy Glaudini (synths, lead vocals) and Halle Saxon (bass, occasional vocals) along with touring drummer Troy Woodhall. They’ve played Brighton at least a couple of times previously. These were at The Hope & Ruin in early 2020 and a sold-out show at Daltons last November. This evening’s performance is their tenth date of a busy European tour that included shows in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and France in the past couple of weeks.
A good-sized crowd turned out to watch what was an impressive 13-track set. The bass and drums thumped along from the off with opening track ‘Calling It’. Second track ‘Venus Hour’ sounded like it had a connection to The Velvet Underground’s ‘Venus In Furs’ and featured tambourine from Izzy. The third song, ‘NRG’, was an early standout. It’s faster paced and, as with much of the set, felt like it wouldn’t have looked out of place if you had been transported back to the late 70s or early 80s. The backing track for ‘Country Song’ started by announcing you have now reached your destination. It felt eerie and had a Gary Numan style to it. The pace of ‘Turn Away’ was slow and trance-like with deadpan vocals.
‘mq9’ had an infectious, sharp, danceable bass sound to it. This one recently featured in the end credits to one of the episodes from Apple TV crime drama ‘Lucky’. ’Signal’ follows, then it was another couple of standout tracks. The uplifting ‘Is It Now?’ is the first of these. It featured a couple of clapping segments from Izzy. The other was the hypnotic ‘Black Box’ that featured spacey trip-hop beats, some spoken-singing, and silky harmonies. After a quick sales pitch from Izzy, they moved on with ‘New Beginning’ with its heavy opening baselines. There are some high-pitched vocals on ‘Lucy’ and shared vocals from Izzy and Halle on ‘Too Much Money’. When Izzy announces that the next one will be their last song, there are a few boos heard from the crowd. Izzy said, “It will be good, so shoosh”. They close with ‘Mercury’. This one is a dark, slow burner with a funked-up groove and dreamy vocals. As the song ended, Izzy said, “Thank you so much, we are Automatic band. Have a very good evening.”
(Ian Holman)
LAEL NEALE – Patterns (18:15 – 19:00)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
BONES ATE ARFA – Alphabet (18:30 – 19:00)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
THE HEAVENLY BODES – The Hope & Ruin (18:30 – 19:15)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
HOLY WAVE – Komedia (19:00 – 19:50)
I made my way over to the Komedia in order to camp out for the rest of the day and the first band on my stay is Holy Wave; a psychedelic rock band from Austin, Texas, USA. I’m really happy I am able to catch these guys, whilst I love supporting the local scene, with events like this you really need to pull out the stops to catch bands from overseas, hear new sounds, quite frankly there are a lot of bands I love who are Texas based such as Sparta, Blushing, Ringo Deathstarr etc, so let’s see if Holy Wave can join my love list.
The band consists of Ryan Fuson (vocals/guitar), Joey Cook (guitar), Julian Ruiz (drums), Kyle Hager (keys/guitar/vocals), they are also joined by a touring bass player whose name I do not know. They played a good varied set, pulling in a selection of songs from 4 of their 8 albums, including a decent number from their most recent 2026 album ‘I’m DADA’. The set started off with bird tweeting background sounds, lots of blue light and smoke, chilled calm vocals, a great start, I’m unsure of the song’s name as the band opted to move one song in the order at the last second. Next up was ‘s33.u.in/HAL’, “which goes out to AI” we were told, translated that is “See You in Hell”, we had four guitars in the mix on this one, I noticed Ryan had taken off his shoes as he padded about in his odd socks. Joey also got down on his knees creating some crazy pedal effects, a great song. The band were joined for ‘Happier’ by a lady in a Mortal Kombat t-shirt to sing the 2nd verse and sway and dance. On the album this part is sung by Estrella Du Sol, the song was really pushing into psych land now.
We had lots of jangly guitar for ‘First DAE’ a nice cool journey song before the way more chilled out ‘Chaparral’, Kyle sang this one whilst playing his keys, it had a different vibe, pushing further down the prog rock route, really mellow, I loved it. Continuing on, we had ‘I’m Not Living In The Past Anymore’. This had all of the band on vocals signing the title of the song in unison, it had a heavier feel too, moving into krautrock territory, getting louder with building guitars. The crowd starting to jump around and dance, it got a big cheer at the end, I very much liked this. ‘i’m DADA’ was next, a very steady continuous and building number, slowly more and more layers being added, more pedal effects from the floor. The next song according to the setlist was to be the last, the mega chilled ‘Western Playland’, but the real final number ‘Buddhist Pete’ came after and had all 4 back on guitars, the drumming more drum machine like, really progressive, pedal board effects, lovely bass line, a brilliant end to a fantastic set. A band I was very happy to catch and add to my love letter to Texas.
(Ben ‘Jerry’ Robinson)
PISS – Volks (19:00 – 19:45)
Widely acclaimed Canadian band PISS take the stage at Volks’ club for its third set of the day. Capturing attention with a dissonant onslaught, frontwoman Taylor Zantingh hands out earplugs and issues a trigger warning before the set begins. The following thirty minutes are gutturally uncomfortable, at times feeling like an insight into the mind of someone trying to survive themselves after trauma; describing it as harrowing is an understatement. No track truly settles into a time signature, creating a disconcerting sense of wrongness.
Over thirty minutes of what truly is performance art, Zantingh’s vocals display unpolished power, weaponising heavy breaths to heighten an intense sense of panic. From the furious ‘Time Loop At Hot Slit’ to the self-interrupting, intrusive thoughts of ‘Blocking A Scene You Can’t Remember’, PISS are the sound of living with bones that refuse to heal. It elicits feelings of discomfort, shame, and disgust through metallic riot grrl fury set to Midwestern emo rhythms. By its conclusion, the majority of the room is silent or in tears. Offering little catharsis, PISS make the audience witnesses to something so profoundly intense and essential, it’s hard to imagine anyone wanting to subject themselves to it a second time.
(Keir Shields)
LITTLE GRANDAD – Alphabet (19:30 – 20:10)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
THE BELAIR LIP BOMBS – Patterns (19:30 – 20:20)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
ALLAH-LAS – Corn Exchange (19:45 – 20:45)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
MARY IN THE JUNKYARD – Concorde 2 (19:45 – 20:35)
When the full line-up for Brighton Psych Fest was announced, I had Mary In The Junkyard high on my list of acts to see, as I was so impressed when I saw them headline the Tunbridge Wells Forum in July last year. They are a London-based indie rock trio with a DIY ethos, and their debut album ‘Role Model Hermit’, released in early July this year, made it to number 30 on the Official UK Album Chart. Tonight they play a ten-song set that includes five songs from the album as well as four unreleased ones. The trio are Clari Freeman-Taylor (vocals, guitar, Squeeze box), Saya Babrbaglia (viola, bass, vocals), and David Addison (drums).
For tonight’s show, David was wearing a Goodbye (Brighton band) t-shirt. They opened with album track ‘Blood’. The guitars on this one reminded me of Slag (who played earlier in the day at Komedia Basement). The vocals felt fragile, while the rhythm of the song felt both raw but carefully arranged. There was more fragility and rawness in the next song, their debut single ‘Tuesday’, before it exploded into a loud and chaotic finale. Clari then started eating a cucumber, telling us it’s 90% water and then asked if this was correct. Saya then told us they went shopping earlier in The Lanes and Clari bought a guitar. Clari followed up with “I got it from Magpie. A really amazing guitar shop if you’re looking for a guitar”. They then played a couple of unreleased songs. I believe the first of these was ‘Bear Hunt’, although I don’t have a copy of a setlist so can’t be 100% certain. The vocals on this one reminded me of English Teacher. The other song was catchy and had a good rhythm to it. The penultimate song from the debut album ‘Thou Shalt Sprout’ was performed next. This one was well received both at the start with a few screams from a section of the audience, and at the end with a loud round of applause. This was the first song of the set to feature Saya playing viola, giving it a folkier sound.
There was more of that on the next one. It was another unreleased song that featured soft vocals, and we were told it will be available to stream soon. ‘Shall We Dance’ was next. That’s another unreleased song that received plenty of applause and whistles. Clari then said, “I don’t know if you can tell, but David’s very sick. This song is about when he was well and is about his muscles.” The lead vocalist continued, “In his former glory.” It’s no surprise when they performed the excellent ‘New Muscles’. David started this by shaking a tambourine with one hand and playing drums with the other. The song featured some amazing harmonising on the chorus from Clari and Saya. There was also some great viola work from Saya, and it received huge applause. Following this, it was the wonderful ‘Crash Landing’ featuring Clari playing a squeeze box. There are some beautiful vocals on this along with some splendid heavy drumming. Clari then announced, “This is our last song. Thanks for coming. It’s a story of an old fisherman and a mouse. The fisherman is me in another life.” The song is the album closer ‘Mouse’ and another to feature viola.
(Ian Holman)
RINGLETS – The Hope & Ruin (19:45 – 20:30)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
THE DHARMA CHAIN – Volks (20:15 – 21:00)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
NIGHT TAPES – Komedia (20:30 – 21:20)
Appearing as a four-piece, Night Tapes’ set was one of the dreamiest of the evening, built around ethereal synths, guitars, keys and drums, with vocalist Iiris Vesik alternating between guitar and synth. Her voice could be beautifully soft one moment and almost piercing the next, with shades of Kate Bush and Grimes floating through a sound that at times also brought to mind Purity Ring and the widescreen electronica of Chicane. Drummer Will was on home turf too, giving the Brighton appearance a little extra connection.
There was a wonderfully loose vibe in the room, with the atmosphere generated by the band doing a lot of the heavy lifting in making this a truly immersive experience, the crowd increasingly surrendering to the band’s hypnotic pulse. A number of the songs were culled from their latest album ‘portals//polarities’ released in July and the band demonstrated how effortlessly they can move between dreamy pop and more dancefloor-minded electronics – music that feels hazy and delicate on the surface, but with enough rhythm underneath to get the whole room moving. They’ve been around since 2019, but they were a new discovery for me and a band I’d love to see again.
(Martin J Fuller)
MARTIAL ARTS – Alphabet (20:40 – 21:15)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
drop.cobrand.com/d/MartialArts
LES BIG BYRD – The Hope & Ruin (21:00 – 22:00)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
THISTLE. – Patterns (21:00 – 21:45)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
https://linktr.ee/thistle.thistle.thistle
WHITE DENIM – Concorde 2 (21:15 – 22:15)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
SEX MASK – Volks (21:45 – 22:30)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
STEREOLAB – Corn Exchange (21:45 – 23:00)
I’ve been a fan of the Psych Fest headliners Stereolab for 32 years, since witnessing them perform the brilliant ‘French Disko’ on iconic music show ‘The Word’ (see the performance HERE) with the late Mary Hansen performing with the band on their earliest compositions. Having seen them as recently as last December when they played tonight’s venue, it was good to see them back again so soon.
Opening with ‘Percolator’, they immediately locked into the repetitive, motorik pulse that made them such a natural fit for Brighton Psych Fest. ‘Aerial Troubles’ and ‘Vermona F Transistor’ followed, with the Corn Exchange sound giving plenty of space to the keyboards, clipped guitar lines and Laetitia Sadier’s cool, understated vocals. Sadier remained seated throughout the performance, adding to the set’s unusually restrained stage presence while the music itself did the work. Their psychedelia has never relied on obvious excess; instead it comes through repetition, texture and the strange, slightly disorientating way the songs seem to keep unfolding.
The strongest stretch came through ‘The Flower Called Nowhere’, ‘Melodie Is A Wound’ and the two-part ‘If You Remember I Forgot How to Dream’, before ‘Miss Modular’ brought one of the clearest recognitions from the crowd. At a festival built around different interpretations of psychedelic music, Stereolab showed just how broad that definition can be, moving between krautrock rhythms, dreamlike pop, analogue electronics and moments that felt almost trance-like.
The final run pushed furthest into that hypnotic territory, with the brilliant ‘Electrified Teenybop!’ and ‘Esemplastic Creeping Eruption’ becoming increasingly dense and immersive. It felt particularly appropriate for Psych Fest: music based less on conventional rock dynamics and more on repetition, atmosphere and gradual immersion. Stereolab may have influenced generations of bands working around the edges of psych, art-rock and experimental pop, but live they still sound unmistakably like themselves.
(Martin J Fuller)
MANDY, INDIANA – Komedia (22:00 – 23:00)
French-English noise rock outfit Mandy, Indiana came together in 2018 and are apparently based between Manchester and Berlin. They comprise vocalist and lyricist Valentine Caulfield, guitarist and producer Scott Fair, synth player Simon Catling, and drummer Alex Macdougall. Valentine hails from Paris and sings almost entirely in French. They dropped their debut album, ‘I’ve Seen A Way’ three years ago and followed this up with ‘Urgh’ which came out this February.
Although we have reviewed them before, this evening is my debut encounter with the band, who offload nine sounds within their 50 minute set. The instruments on offer are guitar, keys, drumkit, and a separate drum. They have quite a pull as the Komedia Basement appears to be full. They kick off with ‘Pinking Shears’ from their first album. Valentine’s vocals are in a talky style which sits atop jagged screechy guitar, solid drums and synth notes. Track two is ‘Drag (Crashed)’ from the same record, this has a tribal feel with Simon switching to single drum to accompany Alex, and Valentine’s vocals are delivered with gusto. After this she highlights figures of men raping their partners, and then they play ‘I’ll Ask Her’ which is sung in English, and has a heavy bass synth sound and the Scott ditches his guitar in favour of operating his foot pedals. There’s more heavy bass action on the jaunty dance laden and infectious ‘Dodecahedron’.
At the midway point they offer up the slower drumming led ‘ist halt so’, which again features Scott on his knees producing distortion from his foot-pedals. Valentine then blasts out a political tirade which Crass would have been proud of, and then we get ‘Bottle Episode’ which benefits from double drumming and distortion and has the feel of The Prodigy. They keep in a similar vein for ‘Magazine’ with its kick drum action which really gets the room vibrating, imagine 1980 Adam & The Ants vs The Prodigy ‘Breathe’-era.
Valentine disappears into the crowd for the duration of the dance beat, heavy drummed ‘Alien 3’. It feels as though my bones are rattling, because of the intensity of the sound and volume. The floorboards carry on shaking throughout ‘Cursive’ and until the end of the set. Mandy, Indiana are far more intense than I had anticipated and are clearly ploughing their own furrow, which certainly is no bad thing. For sufferers of compact earwax these are a must hear!
(Nick Linazasoro)
FORMAL SPPEEDWEAR – The Hope & Ruin (23:00 – 23:45)
Having arrived slightly late to the party to catch hotly-tipped Stoke-on-Trent trio ‘Formal Sppeedwear’ in action, I was glad I made the effort. Their late night set at The Hope & Ruin was gloriously eccentric: taut bass, clipped guitars, electronics and machine-like rhythms wrapped around singer/bassist Beck Clewlow’s distinctive vocals. There are obvious echoes of Talking Heads, DEVO and the more eccentric end of early-80s new wave, but the trio have enough ideas of their own to prevent those reference points becoming outright imitation.
Most impressive was just how much sound three people could generate. Their tightly wound art-funk is rhythmically complex but also extremely danceable, switching direction without warning before locking straight back into another irresistible groove. Quirky, clever and formidable live, they felt like one of the festival’s discoveries. I didn’t see the full set, but what I did see made me want to see them again soon. Check out their single ‘Wait (Hatchet Gets A New Hide)’ as a great introduction to their music.
(Martin J Fuller)
MAQUINA. – Komedia (23:00 – 00:15)
OK folks, so let’s not get confused here, this bunch is NOT a reformed version of Spanish prog and psychedelic rockers “Màquina!”, but are in fact the Lisbon (Portugal) trio of Halison Peres (vocals and drums), João Cavalheiro (guitar and fx) and José “Mendy” Rego (bass), who collectively over the last 5 years have been going under the banner of “MAQUINA.” (stylized in caps with a full stop). These guys have been producing a catalogue of raw and abrasive motorik krautrock and industrial noise compositions, since they took the world off guard when they dropped 4 track ‘Dirty Tracks For Clubbing’ album. An album of only 4 tunes, I hear you cry! Well three of the songs are over 10 minutes long and the other is over 8 minutes, so there’s enough bass driven repetitive and aggressive dirty lines to keep everyone happy!
To my knowledge, tonight is their third time in Brighton, having played The Hope & Ruin last year (that my colleague reviewed); and as part of The Alternative Escape this year, when they played the Fiddler’s Elbow. Tonight’s set is 45 minutes long and takes us into Saturday morning. The Komedia Basement is jam packed and there’s a buzz in the air, even before the trio start buzzing themselves! They take to the stage and are all clad in black. They immediately lay down the ground rules with a scream from vocalist drummer Halison, and distortion from the other two. José’s bass guitar has the sound of an absolute beast, and is backed up by solid metronomic drumming. They are away with their in-yer-face blend of psych! The lighting is moody and virtually non-existent and there’s a smell of dry ice in the air, as the hypnotic beats take a hold of the crowd and drag them along for the journey.
The vocals are intense and shouted out at us and the music to lose yourself too. Killing Joke’s ‘Pssyche’ springs to mind, but MAQUINA. offer a dirty version of that. These boys are infectious as f*ck. The front two are truly animated, no wonder they are so slim. Their third offering is double the speed of the first two tunes which is impressive, and although not punk, many punks would love these for the fast intense beats. This tune sees their sound on steroids and is the best track I’ve heard all day! The next number was about a tenth of the speed of its predecessor, but it still got punters merrily bobbing away. Strangely, drummer Halison briefly leaves his drumkit and comes out front and performs the dance moves of Los Del Río’s 1993 ‘Macarena’ Eurosmash for some reason! João treats his guitar as an extension of his body and continually throughout the set wields it around his body as if it’s talking to us.
Their set gets even more intense when Halison asks “You guys ready to dance?” and the resulting tune is like Suicide’s ‘Ghost Rider’ but on acid. With every new delivery the set becomes more and more intense, it’s really incredible, very loud and incredible in fact! MAQUINA. have true bangers in their set and they aren’t afraid to unleash them. I witnessed 7 live bands today (although I shared reviewing duties), and I must state that for me MAQUINA. were the band of Brighton Psych Fest 2026.
(Nick Linazasoro)
MORN – Volks (23:00 – 23:30)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
LTTL MORT – Volks (00:00 – 00:30)
No review this time around, but see contact details below for further information.
SILVERWINGKILLER – The Hope & Ruin (00:15 – 01:00)
I named the Manchester duo ‘Silverwingkiller’ as my favourite act of the 2026 Great Escape when they played Concorde 2 on the 15th May who we re a new discovery for me back then. As soon as I saw them on the Psych Fest line up, they were the first name on my list, figuring they’d be worth waiting for despite their post-midnight slot – how right I was.
Once again, they delivered one of the most intense sets of the festival, built around distorted electronics, punishing live drums and Ni Yushang’s fierce, often piercing vocals. Their sound sits somewhere between electronic punk, industrial noise and hardcore, with James Baca’s drumming giving the music a relentless physical drive while Yushang’s vocals cut sharply through the layers of glitches, samples and heavy electronic rhythms. There was very little space to settle into the set; songs seemed to surge forward, fracture and then rebuild themselves around another pounding beat, creating the dissonance of chaos and yet managing to seem tightly controlled.
What made it work was that beneath all the abrasion, there was a strong sense of rhythm. At times the set edged towards Prodigy-style techno, at others towards noise-rock or hardcore, but it never stayed in one place for long. The sheer volume made the performance feel visceral, with the drums and electronics hitting as hard as the vocals, while the more hypnotic passages gave the audience just enough breathing space before the next assault. The performance was confrontational, unpredictable and not remotely interested in compromise, but also strangely compelling, the kind of performance that stayed with you long after it finished. My highlight of the 2026 Psych Fest – this is a duo you simply must see live.
(Martin J Fuller)
LEMONSUCKR – Komedia (00:45 – 01:30)
The last act to take to the stage for this year’s Brighton Psych Fest were Lemonsuckr. They are a fast-emerging four-piece electronic dance-punk band that relocated to Brighton at the tail end of 2024. They feature Guy Ferris (vocals), Ollie Thomas (guitar), Oscar Post (guitar), and Matt Saunders (drums). For live shows, they also have a bass player. Usually, this is Jake Andrews, although Welly’s Jacob Whitear has played on a few occasions. For tonight’s performance at Komedia Basement, stepping into the role is former Swallowtail guitarist Caleb Ryde. So far, Lemonsuckr have released two EPs and are gaining new fans each time they perform. They have been featured on BBC 6 Music and headlined Concorde 2 for BBC Introducing on the opening night of this year’s Great Escape Festival. Their live performances rely heavily on guitar pedals to provide their synth-like sounds along with a backing track to drive their high-temp beats. It’s all high-energy stuff with tambourine and cowbell added to ramp up the chaotic high-energy atmosphere.
If you follow Lemonsuckr around, there’s not a month or two that goes by without hearing a new song, and for tonight’s performance, we get two that both debuted at the George Tavern in London nine days previously. One of these is ‘Children’, and it was the opening song of tonight’s set. Ollie had a set of pads that he tapped on the intro to this one. Oscar played cowbell, and Guy yelled out the lyrics. As you would expect, it had a good beat and got the crowd moving from the off. The more recognisable ‘Instant Kinks’ was next, and for this it was the first time one of the band members joined their audience. This happens a lot with Lemonsuckr. Guy plonks down his mic stand a few feet out from the stage and begins the opening verse. It didn’t take long for the crowd to get in a frenzy, jumping up and down and singing along to the song word for word. This continued for the majority of the set, and for my reckoning it was probably one of the most energetic crowds they’ve had so far. Guy was back on stage before the start of the third song. The frantic unreleased ‘Werk’. For this one, Oscar made a visit into the crowd. Guy asked, “How we doing? We are Lemonsuckr.” The more familiar ‘Stain’ followed, with Guy going back into the crowd to join the moshers.
The excellent ‘Sedated’ was next, and there was plenty in the audience singing along and bouncing to the thump-heavy sections. The other new song, ‘Crash’, was next. It was frantic with the opening line “I’m crashing out” repeated a number of times by frontman Guy. There was some additional percussion, and it’s a song with a heavy drum beat that seemed to get wilder the nearer the song reached its conclusion. Next, we had the slow early build-up of the snake charmer opening of ‘H.E.A.T.’. Once this one got going, the crowd was at its wildest, and Guy was back in with them. Some down the front almost spilt onto the stage. There was a close call for Ollie when he thought someone was going to spill their liquid refreshments onto his pedals, although thankfully it was only a near miss. Guy had some of the audience crouched down, and they all rose as one, yelling “Hotel, Echo, Alpha, Tango.” As usual with a Lemonsuckr set, they closed with ‘Rugrat’. For this, it was Ollie’s turn to join the moshpit with a cowbell in hand. Once he returned halfway through the song, Guy stage-dived and was lifted up by some of the crowd. With the venue having such a low ceiling, Guy had one foot and one hand on it at one point as he was carried around. Thankfully, he returned unscathed, and there were cheers as the shorter-than-expected set was concluded.
(Ian Holman)
Brighton Psych Fest is to return next year. The date confirmed is Friday 3rd September 2027. Tickets are already on sale and can be purchased HERE.
