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Sixties folk legend, Janis Ian, started the evening recounting how at age 17 she made a dignified exit to cries of ‘nigger-lover’ when performing ‘Society’s Child’ – her song of black on white romance in civil rights America. After a subsequent off-stage altercation with the promoter, who called her a coward, she returned and it was the bigots in the audience making a skulking retreat once the lights of the ushers picked them out. Such parables and assured performances of ‘At Seventeen’, ‘The Other Side Of The Sun’ and more, with the syrupy, guitar licks and bluesy extemporizing from one of folk’s greats and you left feeling that this was a pure, one-off.

St George’s Church, Kemp Town
12 November
Rating:
Jan Goodey

They’ve performed on 36 of the last 45 nights but if you were expecting a subdued performance from the London-based Foreign Beggars, then you’d be wrong.

Metropolis and DJ No Names were rowdy from the get go and by the time they dropped ‘Contact’, just a few songs in, the whole place had properly kicked off.

The genre-defying outfit dedicated most of the night to a mixture of heavy dance fused dub-step with a bit of hip-hop thrown in.

Their energetic performance, intense bass lines and demands for the crowd to “do better than that” left everyone wanting more.

Concorde 2,
12 November
Rating:
Kayleigh Lewis

The Noise Next Door have proven their worth as a sharp and sassy improvising group, mixing music with mugging and basic acrobatics with have-a-go fearlessness. And it’s thanks to this worth that the upstairs room at Komedia was packed for their second ever Lock-In, combining their own improv games and skits with the stand-up of two comic guests who later joined in the games and showed off their own improvisation chops. Guests were Dundee comic shouty man Peter Pirie – a likeable everyman – and comic character embittered US country singer Loretta Maine – a creation of Pippa Evans, last seen on TV on BBC2′s forray into improv Fast And Loose. Although Pirie showed his gusto, running with the idea of yoga in a rainforest as suggested by the audience, Maine – in character throughout – was the headline guest with fabulous vocals and cutting asides. The show itself was very well paced, and a great showcase for these much loved boys. Set to be a jewel in the comedy month.

Komedia, 10 November 2011
Rating:
Victoria Nangle

The enigmatic singer began, swathed in low lights, her guitar heavy with bluesy minor sevenths, aided by soft Hammond, double bass and brushed drums, displaying a playful voice that recalled Billie Holiday. ‘Don’t Wait Too Long’ sounded like a female Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks, while ‘The Kind You Can’t Afford’ with wah-wah guitar and a searing organ solo from Gary Versace was pure late night jazz club. A trio of busking songs included Gainsbourg’s classic ‘La Javanaise’ and her masterful intonation and note-bending on ‘I Hear Music’ was Anita O’Day reborn. A truly uplifting midweek musical tonic.

Concert Hall, Brighton Dome, 10 November 2011
Rating:
Steve Clements