Brighton After Dark

Sade Ali on an epic night at Ammos Brighton

So last Friday saw another amazing night for Lollipop at Ammos Brighton! As a two off the very popular upcoming Afrobeats artists DRB Lasgidi and Joulesdakid hit the decks and gave an outstanding performance! From the minute the doors opened the ladies were piling in (probably to take advantage of the free entry before 11.30pm) but hey, I would have done the same. After the free entry for ladies finished the club continued to fill up, reaching full capacity by 1.30am. The vibe was good, the drinks were cheap, the bottles were flowing and the artists and DJs couldn’t have been more on point. I asked a friend after the night to give me one word to describe his night, the word he chose was ‘epic’. In my opinion he couldn’t have put it better. There were even girls outside the club literally crying because the club reached its limit. I’m sure next week they will turn up earlier. My favourite part of the night had to be the end of the night when the DJ played ‘Skelewu’ and the crowd grouped together and imitated the YouTube video (just YouTube ‘Skelewu’ to see). The funniest part of it was that Nikita (you all know as the ‘pirate’) attempted to do the dance too. But when you clap at the most silent and wrong time in the song, the whole club looks at you and even the DJ is shaking his head I think that is the moment you give up and stick to the ‘Dutty Wine’. To top off the night DJ Toocold aka Peter turned up and jumped on the mic and hyped up the crowd even more. Every Friday Lollipop will never fail to give me a good end to the week.

Coming up in the next few months Lollipop will play host to many more artists and this week will be bringing back radio 1xtras DJ Dubl to the decks to have a one-off old school Bashment night. Finally Brighton has something many people have been waiting for, a night with two music floors, one floor dedicated for Classic old school R&B – Hip Hop & Dancehall. Time for a proper old school reunion party. The night is called ‘Throwback Saturdays’ at 24 Karat club and will soon be playing host to Stylo G!

Brighton Noise, James McLarnon on the week’s best gigs

We’re lucky to live in a city with so much to do to suit all budgets and tastes, and, with that in mind, it makes no sense to use much space on sold out gigs, except to say there may be returns for Ezra Furman (Green Door Store, Tues) Speedy Ortiz and Joanna Gruesome (Green Door Store, Thu) and London Grammar (Dome, Sun). Without doubt all three will be excellent nights, they’re sold out for a reason.

Italian prog rock legends Goblin (Concorde 2, Mon, £20) take to a Brighton stage for the first time in their 42-year career this week. Famed for their work on the soundtracks to Dario Argento films Profondo Rosso, Susperia and Dawn of The Dead, at their best they are like a horror-themed version of krautrock legends Can. Reports of their shows since most recent reformation have been exceptional and the likelihood is that there won’t be another opportunity to see them on our doorstep. Support comes in the form of a rare show from the multi-headed Brighton folk beast Sons of Noel & Adrian.

Danny Brown (Coalition, Sat, £16) brings us his critically acclaimed hip-hop show to promote his excellent Old album of last year. He’s widely acknowledged as one of the most idiosyncratic and witty MCs in the business and, Kanye West aside, unparalleled in his ability to unify the hip-hop and indie crowds.

The Green Door Store hosts a whole day of excellent local(ish) tunage starting at 2pm on Saturday. Called Worms (Green Door Store, Sat, £4) it will be headlined by hard rocking London two-piece Playlounge who have impressed on previous visits to Brighton, with the pre-Loveless My Bloody Valentine-esque Tyrannosaurus Dead and the Pavement like Magic Gang the pick of the day’s supports.

For those of you who like your rock a little heavier, Bristol based punks Caves (The Hope, Thu, £4) make another of their frequent visits to Brighton supported by a stellar local cast. Not tied to a traditional punk sound, their influences range from Queen to Weezer, most noticeably in their catchy riffs, tremendous vocals and overall monstrous sound.

Finally, it wouldn’t be Brighton without a good free gig and the monthly Dub Organiser (Blind Tiger, Thu, Free) is a 100% live mix and amalgamation of local reggae outfits clubbing together for one hell of a dub party. Just watch you don’t overindulge, you’ve got work tomorrow.