Brighton after dark: 21 January 2014
Sade Ali celebrates ingenuity and novelty
How does paying £1,000 to get into a club sound? Not very good, does it? However, as it goes that is the door price for one of Brighton’s most popular events. I know I – among many – definitely cannot afford to pay that ridiculous amount to get into to a club. There is an interesting way around this, though…. Catface, for many years has been a very popular and alternative event to bless Brighton’s night life. Many promotion teams in Brighton have tried almost everything to make their night unique, and with the constant thriving competition it is almost impossible to think of an original and exciting theme to make a club night popular and successful. Well, I take my hat off to the promotions team behind ‘Catface’ as they have managed to think up an excellent idea to keep their punters keen and make their night shine above the rest. The event has a very simple yet strange bio, this is exactly what to expect…
Cat Face is Brighton’s most expensive club night.
Tuesday 28th January 2014…
£1,000 entry or £3 with a cat face.
Draw a cat face on. It’s fun. (That’s black whiskers and a nose, it’s not a lion’s face.)
Club rules:
No dogs.
No acting like an actual cat.
No other cat paraphernalia apart from a cat face – it’s not a cat appreciation society.
Don’t dress like a cat. You won’t get in.
DJs on the night:
Milton & Budakan pres. CAT FACE SOUNDSYSTEMCareless Whiska vs. Paws 4 Thought
So as you have probably worked out yourself, everyone has a cat drawn on their face on this particular night. The last time I went to Catface I actually saw someone in the smoking area without a ‘catface’ and he claimed to have paid full price to get in, I’m sure he was pulling my leg.
But I must say it did look pretty awesome, hundreds of people with the same ‘catface’. The concept for the night is brilliant and with an already huge following, this month’s Catface is sure to be a good start to the year.
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Brighton Noise
Alastair Reid on the power of music
Some music can have a physical effect on the listener. Physiological may be more accurate. Changes in melody have been scientifically proven to encourage the release of serotonin to the brain and pilo-erection on the forearms and nape of the neck, sending shivers down a spine or sparking an involuntary smile. When I was in my teens certain bands seemed to provoke a benign rage; quickening my pulse and clenching my jaw as my pupils dilated and fists hammered on
the steering wheel of my poor one-litre s*** heap as I flung it up and down the A3. Some of that still happens, although in the relative safety of a front room since I had my licence revoked when I was 19. I still hold Daryl Palumbo personally responsible.
A 1991 study by music psychology professor John Sloboda cited amateur choral singers experiencing a “lump in the throat” during particularly emotive passages, disrupting their normal singing mechanisms. Personally, I have been bought to tears twice by music, the first watching Godspeed You! Black Emperor and the second during the creschendo and major resolution of ‘Level 8 Clouds’ by now defunct Brighton band Soccer 96, although I was about eight pints in and had little control over even basic motor functions. It’s probably best not to mention the effect of Barry White on some listeners.
Yesterday, I experienced fear through music. Horror film aficionados may recognise the symptoms: nausea, sweaty palms, an increased heart rate as the body prepares to take flight or fight. Neither was an option while sat at my desk, surrounded by oblivious co-workers, so I had to sit it out, like a panic attack or an acid flashback. Local duo MYYTHS were responsible here, having released their debut album which I was overly eager to hear having tipped them as a band to watch in 2014. The record, TYSTNAD, is a deeply dark half hour of tomb-like ambience, echoing drums overlaid with guitar and piano as vocals drift like ghosts in the scene. It is fantastic and terrifying and consuming and comes highly recommended.
In a particularly dry week for shows, Bad For Lazarus are kicking a hornets’ nest of blues-based rock riffs around The Blind Tiger on Tuesday, Warpaint are at the Dome on Friday, Jaws and Object Object are at Green Door on Friday and the rest of the week should be spent checking out our tips for 2014 on the Brighton Noise website.
Go get some shivers in your week.
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