» Review: Blanche Nuit
The Brighton invasion of Amiens took place as part of their version of White Night (Blanche Nuit), a visit that will be reciprocated by the Amiens’ invasion of Brighton on 30 October. Featuring a diverse roster of acts that cover many of the bases of Brighton’s highly eclectic music scene, the engaging bluesy cello/percussion of Rayon Breed’s Abi Wade-Gledhill led proceedings off before Emily Baker (a late replacement for Stuart Warwick aka Jacob’s Stories) strummed solo, delivering a set of her thoughtful songs, although the cold acoustics of the room didn’t help much.
A much needed boost of energy was provided by Darius Alexander, playing with his new band for only the third time, and it looks like they have something interesting going on – a violin adding spice to their uptempo, almost thrashy folk-indie hoedown manoueverings, and with a full house for them, they went down very well with the French.
The most established act to play, Peggy Sue, have expanded from their original format of just Rosa and Katy to include percussion and strings, but are still as mesmerising as ever, with their quirky harmony vocals always complimenting the somewhat bleak acoustic/percussive nature of their music.
Jumping Ships looked out of place within all the indie artiness, producing a high powered set of overwrought emoesque tunes – the subtleties found on their records lost much within their live rhythmic maelstrom. Still, they’re a powerful band with well-crafted songs.
As a complete contrast, both sartorially and musically, the ’80s retro of Mirrors used synths and drum machines, their gently grooving electro new wave poppiness warming the audience, aided by some great projected visuals put together by the band themselves. Serious and yet subtley funky, despite the faintly ridiculous ’80s mannerisms and vocal stylings of the lead singer, this band look a good bet for the future.
But the highlight of the evening, at the ungodly hour of 3am, and despite the venue being mostly empty except for the Brighton hardcore and a smattering of French party heads, were Soccer 96, who delivered a sonically raucous and hypnotising set built around analogue synths and some outstanding drumming. Deceptively improvisational sounding, the experimental space jazz-funk grooves of Dan Leavers and Max Hallett had the remains of Amiens throwing some unusual shapes and moves – a testament to their ability to stay just the right side of accessible.
Amiens, France, 16 October
4/5
Jeff Hemmings
Fresh from the Judges houses Husstle are a five piece from Warrington ready to set the stage alight with their dance moves, great voices and general fitness! Plus they will be doing a meet and greet after their performance.
