Brighton after dark: 18 March 2014

Sade Ali shares Lollipop gossip!

For many years, Lollipop Fridays has moved around different clubs in Brighton including Shooshh, Hed Kandi and LIFE, but has managed to maintain its big name and good reputation. As the longest running urban night in Brighton, you would think it would still be a huge success. Over the years Lollipop has built a community for the different cultures
and opens its doors to hundreds of people every week. Recently Lollipop has been taking place at AMOS club at the bottom of Preston Street. The first two months there were great – good DJs, cheap drinks and the old school Lollipop vibe. They even had a few afrobeats performers which killed it and boosted their reputation even more. Then, a few weeks ago, Lollipop took a turn for the worse! The head promoter decided to move back to Zimbabwe to get married and build a house while the rest of the promo team held the fort and carried on.

The last Lollipop was three weeks ago as the club wasn’t seeing as many numbers as normal and even the regulars had stopped going. Rumour has it that the club is just too far from the main town clubs and that was the reason people stopped going. Persistent to carry on the Lollipop name the Lollipop girls are teaming up with Dot Dot Dot promotions to rebrand Lollipop completely and return at a brand new secret location. Even the famous Lollipop logo is being re-designed. No more pink flyers with tacky pictures of Mariah Carey. Instead, expect a crisp and sleek design to make a more sophisticated and flashy look but still with the good old friendly faces at the club. Dot Dot Dot promotions have never failed to put on a good night and with the Lollipop girls and crowd I’m sure this plan will work out well.

The launch of the brand new Lollipop is going to be on 4 April 2014. The club has been confirmed but is still a secret so my lips are sealed – for now. Although I can reveal that Lollipop will be hitting a seafront club and will be monthly to start with. Until then, keep an eye out for the new Lollipop brand and event page on Facebook.

To keep your Friday nights busy until the launch I hear Wahkiki (next door to Shooshh) is the new place to be! It plays similar music to Lollipop and a few of the same people go and with the club’s Hawaiian beach décor it is a lovely place to go before Lollipop’s arrival!

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Brighton Noise
Grace Clarke on the week’s best gigs

I’m so grateful for this little bit of sunshine. My vitamin D intake has been so limited recently that I’d begun to trawl Google for the symptoms of rickets. They say I’m OK. Thank heaven’s because, it’s a very busy week.

Bombay Bicycle Club play their electronic ethereal-indie to a sold out Brighton Dome on Tuesday. I was a loathsome arrogant chump in my youth who decided to ignore bands that everybody else liked. I’m living to regret it now because there’s a lot to catch up on with these boys. This is their fourth studio album and they’re only 24, which is the most offensive fact I’ve heard all week.

If you’re a fan of The Crookes or Spector, but wish they were just a little angrier, make your way to The Green Door Store on Wednesday for Dexters – at £7 you can’t complain. Alternatively Sticky Mike’s have the wonderful Thomas Dybdahl for £5. It’s not an exaggeration to say his voice has a touch of the Jeff Buckleys about it, and at times Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon.

On Thursday you can turn up anywhere and there’ll be something great happening. St George’s Church hosts The Beautiful Word and Abi Wade. The Beautiful Word sing indie folk with quirky little voices while Abi Wade centres her performances around a cello which she plays like a drum. It’s £7 and well worth it. Alternatively, Young Knives – a distinctly British indie band with a metallic edge – are at The Haunt. Their most recent album, Sick Octave, was recorded entirely on found objects and eBay purchases. No wonder they were nominated for a Mercury Award.

Emperor The Stag, who released their debut album, Fantasy To Bleak, last month, are worth checking out at The Green Door store on the 21st. They’re not a million miles away from Doves, but they’ve got a jingle-jangle sound akin to The Shins or Death Cab For Cutie.

Brighton Undercover is back at The Prince Albert on the 23rd, with a host of currently unconfirmed Brighton artists covering their favourite Lou Reed tracks, which is bound to be a fitting tribute.

Finally on the 24th, you could either brighten up your Monday with some self-defined “melodic metalcore” from Our Hollow, Our Home at The Prince Albert for £3. Or there’s The Feeling at Concorde 2 for £18.50. The only thing that could possibly make this night any better is if it were a joint headline with Mika.

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