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Seth Lakeman, the charming and, let’s face it, rather aesthetically pleasing Mercury-nominated multi-instrumentalist, filled Concorde 2 for his first Brighton gig in a year with a mix of classic self-penned folk numbers such as ‘Blood Upon Copper’ and ‘The Setting Of The Sun’ and tracks from his new album, including the moving, autobiographical ‘Hard Times’. The songs with two acoustic guitars were perhaps a little lacking in dynamics for a live show, but when Seth hit the fiddle he really came into his own and this reached a climax at the end with his solo rendition of ‘Kitty Jay’.

Concorde 2, 14 December 2011
Rating:
Jenni Davidson

Uncaged Monkey was pure nourishment for mind and the soul. Marking the last night of this intellectual tour, there were stars of science, comedy and the cosmos in tonight’s show, as we were shown the secrets of NASA by Adam Rutherford in a beautiful visual love poem to the now sadly ended space programme.

Opening with Simon Singh’s captivating lecture on the enigma machine – with one actually in the room with us to demonstrate the complexity of the coding – and skipping on to the dulcet tones of scientific comic chanteuse Helen Arney, and then to the arresting remonstrations of Dr Ben Goldacre who soon had us railing against ‘broken medicine’, tonight encapsulated the absolute beauty and yearning for learning.

Then second half opened with a quick and engaging Q&A session with Dr Goldacre, Mr Rutherford and Professor Brian Cox, followed on with a particularly topical lecture from Professor Cox regarding the Higgs boson particle, a great deal of which went over my head but the gist of which was exciting.

The evening closed with a highly mischievous and fun set from atheist poster boy Tim Minchin, including the premier of a new festive tune and finishing with a rendition of ‘White Wine In The Sun’ with Professor Cox taking up position to accompany Minchin at the piano.

This was bursting to full with the joys and wonder of creative minds. A great big thank you to Robin Ince, who hosted the entire night and anchored a marvelous hot air balloon of science, entertainment and awe. Fabulous.

Concert Hall, Brighton Dome, 15 December 2011
Rating:
Victoria Nangle

It’s been a while since weirdo character stand-up Brian Gittins last performed in Brighton. “It’s been a bad year,” Pyecombe roadside café-owner Brian muttered, referencing some time out due to ‘mental and physical exhaustion’, which may or may not have been part of his deliberately shambolic act. With some hit and miss support including the decent class-conscious observations of Rue Barratt and witty one-liners of Paul Jones, despite the time away, he still successfully achieved his regular goal of pushing audience participation to its awkward, sometimes hilarious limits. Though the somewhat unreceptive Portslade crowd dampened the mood, this only fueled the anti-comic fun of the either-get-it-or-you-don’t Gittins festive car-crash.

The Whistlestop Inn, 14 December 2011
Rating:
Nick Aldwinckle

After releasing his third studio album, Playing In The Shadows, hip hop and dubstep legend Example smashed the Brighton Centre during his UK tour. The charged performance fired club anthems with an Ibiza ambience, as well as number one tracks ‘Changed The Way You Kiss Me’, ‘Kickstarts’ and ‘Won’t Go Quietly’.

The floor surged with powerful energy as crowds bounced to the music and formed large mosh pit circles. Example joined forces with British electropop band Fenech-Soler to initially rock the venue. Although the entire show lasted under two hours, the strobe lighting and booming sound made tickets priceless.

Brighton Centre, 14 December 2011
Rating:
David Tabor