PASSENGER + THE STAVES + JOHN SMITH + BER + CHRIS SIMMONS – HOVE PARK, BRIGHTON & HOVE 6.9.26
Being a one-hit wonder can’t be easy, yet Brighton’s own Passenger operates a unique space within that world. Despite ‘Let Her Go’ undeniably being his biggest track with billions of streams, he is a cult artist – still selling out respectable venues with a full set of tracks that get just as huge a reception. Passenger is far from the likes of a Chumbawamba-type novelty act, wheeled out like a performing monkey to clap the cymbals of their fluke: he is a cult artist who happens to have a gargantuan track.
It’s been an immense summer for outdoor Brighton shows – with Nick Cave’s historic gig at Preston Park, the city’s scene is more outdoors than ever. Closing summer with the inaugural run of the ‘Live At Hove Park’ series, (presented by JOY. Concerts in partnership with BBC Radio Sussex) the booking seems to be thematically tied to cult followings, with The Levellers taking over Hove on Saturday; their fans adorned in what can only be described as Boho-Pirate chic. Sunday’s close stands in direct contrast: it’s sensible footwear and blankets for a blissed-out day of folk.
Opening Sunday’s folk-focused lineup is Chris Simmons, taking to the stage with just a guitar. Fingerpicked ‘Shacked Up’ is first, a huskier James Blunt delivery that gets increasingly overshadowed by the sound of The Dodgems. Perhaps sensing that a singalong might drown out the attractions, Simmons chooses a slightly lower-pitched rendition of ‘Wish You Were Here’: his classic busker’s gambit works. Bafflingly, this is followed up with ‘Low Light’ – a track that attempts to poke fun at growing up ginger, earning nothing more than awkward laughter.
Sensing this disconnect, he pivots into candour: “About 15 years ago I was on tip sheets with the likes of George Ezra… People thought I was going to have a big year,” Simmons then chokes out, “but then my brother took his own life. A year later my mum passed away too.” Contextually, his rustiness makes sense – ‘The Deepest Wound’ becomes emblematic of someone more battle-scarred than rusty. Regardless of the minutiae, Simmons is on the other side of grief: the only way is up!
Chris Simmons setlist:
‘Shacked Up’
‘Wish You Were Here’ (Pink Floyd cover)
‘Low Light’
‘The Deepest Wound’
‘Navigators’
‘Home’
Spattering rain flirts with ruining a chilled-out Sunday sway – and Ber’s half-hour slot. Real name Berit Dybing, she is flanked by vocalist Sarah Lees and Duncan Brookfield on guitar; ‘Give It All Away’ glides through the air with some remarkable counter harmonies. Landing like Maggie Rogers making bedroom bluegrass, Dybing cuts a remarkably humble figure on stage between lovelorn ‘Bluebird’ and the soft loneliness of ‘Book Cover.’
Throughout, the trio perfectly complement each other while always spotlighting Berit – helping to warm the audience up before a cover of her “favourite song growing up” in ‘Time After Time.’ Stripped to delicate vocal harmonies and acoustic guitar, it transforms from an 80s ballad into a Big Thief-type countrified plea – naturally, the crowd obliges in turning the chorus into a call-and-response. Despite a number of tracks of love soured, Ber ends on a positive: ‘Good, Like It Should Be’ closes on an apprehensive admission of being in love – ending what appears to be a curation of heartbreak to healing in half an hour.
BER setlist:
‘Give It All Away’
‘Bluebird’
‘Book Cover’
‘Meant To Be’
‘Time After Time’ (Cyndi Lauper cover)
‘Good, Like It Should Be’
Leaning back into traditional Folk is Devonian John Smith – a stalwart of twenty years on the Folk circuit, having initially cut his teeth opening for legendary John Martyn. Opening with ‘The World Turns’, he creates his own percussion with fingerstyle folk, delivering both rhythm and melody at once. While it may seem simple from the crowd, Smith is practically virtuosic in his multitasking. ‘Hold On’ leans more into roots stylings, while ‘To The Shore’ feels painfully close to Kyle Gordon’s ‘millennial hope’ parody in its staccato cadence.
Between songs, Smith channels 60s Greenwich Village storytelling to contextualise his material and allow himself time to retune. The muted plucks of ‘Joanna’ are foregrounded as being about calling home from tour – stating “If you put six men on a tour bus, or in a confined space, things can get weird quite quickly.” With a gruff soulfulness, John Smith’s voice evokes Chris Cornell singing David Gray tracks – ‘Trick Of The Light’ is emblematic of this, while utilising fingerstyle on open tunings for a tender melody. Reviving a revival of a bygone era is no easy feat, but John Smith even has the perfect everyman name for folk – in spite of his hour-long set slightly blurring into one by its conclusion.
John Smith setlist:
‘The World Turns’
‘Hold On’
‘To The Shore’
‘The Living Kind’
‘Eye To Eye’
‘Joanna’
‘Trick Of The Light’
‘Freezing Winds Of Change’
‘Save My Life’
‘Salty And Sweet’
‘Far Too Good’
The final opening act before our headliner is the sister act, The Staves – now just Camilla and Jessica Staveley-Taylor. Conjuring immediate images of the likes of First Aid Kit, their harmonies are eerily perfect from the opening minimalist ‘Icarus’ even if the crowd isn’t ready to stop their conversations yet. Unfortunately, this remains an issue throughout the set, as the synths of ‘All Now’ are stripped out in favour of a muted country swell, while ‘I’ll Never Leave You Alone’ is mellifluously cathartic in its small scale, harmonies and shifting lyrical metaphors.
The hour-long set truly feels like an uphill battle to get people to shut up, even if the twinkling hopefulness of ‘In The Long Run’ does briefly get people to put the pints down and listen up. Pairing ukulele with guitar for the Fairport Convention-adjacent ‘Winter Trees’ feels like frostbite amidst ambient synths, while following ‘Mexico’ heats things up only in location, built on just a subtle thumbstroke on an acoustic and heartbeat-like pulse. Closing with the pulsating ‘Good Woman’, despite occasionally cutting through the noise, the musicianship of The Staves feels largely unappreciated by a crowd too busy drinking or talking to appreciate the quality of what’s in front of them.
The Staves setlist:
‘Icarus’
‘I Don’t Say It, But I Feel It’
‘All Now’
‘I’ll Never Leave You Alone’
‘In The Long Run’
‘Nothing’s Gonna Happen’
‘Make It Holy’
‘Winter Trees’
‘Mexico’
‘Eagle Song’
‘Good Woman’
Darting onto the stage, Mike Rosenberg gets the closing sentiments out the way instantly – stating, “I never thought I’d play to so many people in my hometown.” Playing to 5,000 people with just an acoustic guitar is a gutsy move, but Passenger grips the audience instantly – the distinctively hollow breathiness in his voice on ‘Survivors’ is supported by crowd singalongs with no goading from him whatsoever. ‘Life’s For The Living’ is an arpeggiated extension of the YOLO millennial sentiment, stomping along for a beat to carry the drunken singalong in Hove Park. After the devastating nostalgia of deep-cut ‘Table For One’, his self-deprecation acknowledges the crowd’s wants; he states, “I’m going to play some stuff from the new album… I know. When I go to a gig, I want to see the old stuff too.” In spite of this, the twangs of Sisyphean ‘Boomerang’ are granted the silence any artist desires when airing new material.
Reflecting on his busking origins, he declares, “I’ve been playing ‘The Sound Of Silence’ for the best part of 15 years. It might be time to retire it.” Given one last play, Rosenberg embellishes the vocals in lieu of harmonies on the back-and-forth fingerstyle. “Thank you for being quiet”, he states, “I need you to be loud for this one.” The rambling of ‘I Hate’ is introduced – the lyrics “I hate ignorant people / who pay money to see gigs / and talk through every f*cking song” feel incredibly apt.
Channelling earlier Greenwich Village energy, the entire crowd laughs, sings along and stomps their feet – unified by hatred from fussy eaters to Donald Trump to The X Factor. With energy expended, ‘Young As The Morning, Old As The Sea’ is met with adulating silence for the interlocked dual arpeggios. After a brief dedication to his wife, ‘Wild Love’ airs to a tranquil park. Rewarding this respect, ‘Let Her Go’ gets its awaited airtime – phones raised straight into the air, flashlights encouraged by Rosenberg himself for the track’s melancholic ubiquity. Stunned into sincerity, he admits: “I’ve played that song hundreds of times. I don’t always feel those words… Tonight I did.”
Closing on ‘Scare Away The Dark’, it feels more frantic – strummed, instead of picked; there are rambunctious singalongs, only separated by a near-spoken rant on war and the environment. “It doesn’t have to be good, just sing it f*cking loud” swells Hove Park into a chorus of “Oh oh oh” continuing as Mike leaves the stage. For the near five minutes he’s off, the volume never wanes – only increasing as he returns. ‘Things That Stop You Dreaming’ and ‘Holes’ form a conclusive duo from ‘All The Little Lights’; the latter is a testament to resilience. Ending the night on a message of hope, there’s something inherently beautiful about Passenger’s journey: building a one-hit wonder into a devoted cult following, capable of stunning 5,000 people into silence.
Passenger setlist:
‘Survivors’
‘Life’s For The Living’
‘Table For One’
‘Boomerang’
‘Sword From The Stone’
‘Victor’s Song’
‘The Sound Of Silence’
‘I Hate’
‘Young As The Morning, Old As The Sea’
‘Wild Love’
‘Let Her Go’
‘Scare Away The Dark’
(encore)
‘Scare Away The Dark’ (brief reprise)
‘Things That Stop You Dreaming’
‘It Was Going To Be You’
‘Holes’
