Before the music even starts I have already booked for Rockaway Beach 2027. Is this the perfect way to start the New Year, or is there actually something wrong with me? If this is an addiction, I am not sure it is one that I want to fix.

This is the earliest a Rockaway Beach has started. If I am honest, it is too close to the New Year for me and there were notable absences amongst friends who felt the same. A few years ago, I missed one due to COVID and I now tend to be careful in the run-up to the festival and restrict my activities a few day before it starts. Being so early, it put a slight damper on the end of my Christmas holidays. The early start, also didn’t give me any chance to work off some of the Christmas excesses and I have to admit, after nearly two weeks of sitting in front of the TV, I found the whole weekend a bit of an effort. Next year, the festival is at the end of the first week of January, which should work much better.

This year’s Rockaway Beach departed slightly from their usual template of legacy bands headlining and younger bands playing during the day. With two relatively young bangs headlining the Friday and Sunday, in the form of Soft Play and English Teacher, with PiL playing the Saturday night. I think this is a really positive move. I much prefer to see a new band, than a legacy band and it gives young bands the opportunity to move themselves up the booking lists for summer shows. It was great to see both young headliners, stepping up. But more on that later.

Arriving on site, it was clear that Butlins also found this to be an early start. They had literally just kicked out their New Year’s party guests and during the Friday, there were signs everywhere of the New Year festivities. I think everyone must have had streamers, they were everywhere, even the photo pit. (My room was clean through). However, as always, the wonderful Butlins staff managed to clear away the mess and by the evening, only the festive lights and the cold, reminded us that we were still in the Christmas holiday period.

Friday started a little bit later. Several bands had pulled out due to illness. The big risk for a January festival. I imagine the organisers dread every email and phone call their receive over the Christmas break. The later start meant the venue was probably the busiest it has been for the first act. Y, opened with an an impressive set of catchy songs that really warmed up the audience. I have seen Y a few times. But this was their best performance so far. A really excellent way to start the weekend.

This year, Rockaway continued to use the Centre Stage for the daytime music and the big warehouse-like Studio 36 for the evening headliner. The sound in both these venues is good. However, the problem remains that Studio 36 is pretty soulless. Several people I spoke to wanted to go back to Reds. But like me, they were the same people who complained about the poor sound in that venue. As much as I miss Reds, I think this is the better compromise.

The bigger stage also allows the young bands to hone their stage craft. Several of the bands said that Centre stage was the biggest crowd or stage they had played. I think Rockaway is becoming a winter training camp to ready bands for the summer’s festivals.

Stepping up at the last minute and the winner of Rockway Beach 2026 was ELLIS-D. A late replacement for one of the bands who had called in sick. ELLIS-D was new to most in the audience. Like Denmark, who in 1992 came from the beach to replace Yugoslavia in Euro 1992 and went on to win it. ELLIS-D completely owned the big stage, blasting through a tight set of his gothy post-punk psychedelia. When he said he only had one more song, there was a genuine sound of disappointment, only to be matched by the joy of him telling everyone it was 10 minutes long. I hadn’t seen ELLIS-D for about 18 months. On this evidence. The band have stepped up to another level. A really excellent performance.

Opening Studio 36, Idlewild left me bewildered. They were going down a storm with the audience. Some of whom had only come to the festival to see the band. I have to admit, I must have been missing something. They were tight. But they left me feeling disengaged.

Headlining the big stage were Soft Play, previously the Slaves. I have seen them numerous times, right from their very earliest days, when they played to an empty room at the Horn in St Albans. I love the energy these guys put into every performance. By the time I had left the pit, Laurence had split kicked several times and had already gone into the audience. I have seen them headline stages at other festivals. So this wasn’t anything new for them. However, they were playing to an audience who in the main didn’t know who they were, and they had the Rockaway crowd in the palm of their hands.

Unfortunately, I didn’t see much of their set, I headed back to Centre Stage to catch Mandrake Handshake with the intention of shooting a few songs and then returning. However, the pit closed as I got there, and heading back to Studio 36, I got waylaid by friends. But this is what is great about Rockaway. Rockaway has become the winter meeting point of so many summer festival goers. I think one year they need to play a festival version of the ‘Kevin Bacon separation game’. I’m pretty sure everyone at the festival can relate themselves to another person within two or three degrees of festival or local gig scene separation.

Closing the evening on Centre Stage, Antony Szmierek was in full ‘red coat’ mood. Fully embracing his end of evening slot, to bring some fun before we headed to bed. I think somebody should have given him a red coat. He was clearly enjoying the experience.

Opening up Saturday’s activities, Bruise Control took no prisoners. Everyone was shuck awake by their powerful performance of direct punk songs.

The next two bands gave people turning up with a hangover, more of a chance of easing themselves into Saturday. Returning to Rockaway Beach, Winter Gardens sound had grown more expansive. Atmospheric, gothic, with a moments of intense wailing guitars. It was a perfect palate cleanser after the directness of Bruise Control. Whitelands, who followed, continued with an excellent set of Shoegaze.

A new discovery for me, French band, We Hate You Please Die, at times reminded me of Sonic Youth, with a touch of the angular guitars Gilla Band used so well. If I didn’t know they were French, I would have sworn they were another Irish band produced by Gilla Band’s Daniel Fox.

I have seen Gans several times. Always on a small stage. They effortlessly shifted up a gear to make their set work on a big stage. I can see them having a very strong 2026 and I expect them to be playing venues like the Kentish Town Forum by the end of the year.

Over at Studio 36, a band I have had the pleasure to see develop from their Shacklewell days. Dry Cleaning brought their weird presence to the vast warehouse space. Their big draw is Florence’s spoken word stories. While the guitars swirl in the background, Florence performs her musings with minimum movement, but maximum expression. I never expect this to transfer to big stages. Through the camera lens, her performance is engaging and fascinating, but you need to be close to appreciate her acting. How does this transfer to a big audience? I honestly don’t know. But it does. While I briefly dipped out to see TV Smith on the second stage, I headed back to catch the end of their set. One of my highlights of the weekend.

Saturday headliner, PiL, played their usual game of requiring photographers to sign away copyright. I have done this in the past and if this was their gig, fine. But it’s a festival. Given I make every photo free under a Creative Commons license. It shouldn’t really make any difference to me. However, I don’t like the person John Lydon has turned into, so out of spite, I left and headed back to the Centre Stage which gave me a chance to finally catch Walt Disco, who played an excellent set of new music. This was my first opportunity to catch them and they seem to have toned down their glam flamboyance. But it was still a fine set.

Closing the evening where two Fat White family related bands. The first, Insecure Men seemed an odd late evening booking. Arriving on the stage smoking, pissing off the Bultins team. They proceeded to play a rather bland set. Thankfully, the excellent Moonlandingz got the party going, to close the evening.

Sunday had a more laidback feeling. Baggio, who seemed to have dragged half of south London’s musicians with them, played laid back ‘clever’ musician music. You know that noodly stuff that has been leaking out of London’s music schools for the last few years. It’s not my thing. But they sounded pleasantly clever and were suitable for those nursing heavy heads from Saturday night.

Shadowtail impressed me before Christmas. Ethereal vocals over textured layers of shoegaze isn’t usually my thing. However, I’m a sucker for bands who play guitars with a violin bow. Apparently, last year they changed their lineup. This new lineup has a lot of potential and I will catch them again.

Closing Centre Stage for another year, Inspiral Carpets, did little to inspire me. I found them bland in the 90s. They were just as bland here. Thankfully, over on Studio 36, Coach Party really stepped up to the big stage. I have only ever seen them play small shows and small festival stages. They have great energy, but I honestly never expected them to be this good on a big stage. Their set was probably a bit long and maybe they need to tweak the running order. However, they had their air of a band ready for the challenge to become an arena band. It impressive to see how much they’ve developed.

Closing the festival were English Teacher. I am going to be honest, I think English Teacher are overrated. However, I was so pleased to see Rockaway give them a chance to headline. They did a great job of expanding their sound to the larger stage. Lily’s vocals were immaculate and at times stunning. While they didn’t change my opinion of them, I prefer more energy from my headliners, they are clearly ready to play the biggest stages. Maybe they need a touch more stage craft so that there is a performance to be seen at the back of a big crowd. But they appeared to be ready to step up. Rockaway is the perfect festival to offer new bands the opportunity to headline a big stage. They had sold 50% of their ticket for 2027 before the end of the weekend. Many of us return for the experience. The music is a bonus.

Another successful year and Rockaway has revitalised me after Christmas and wetted my appetite for what the 2026 music scene will deliver. There still remains issues with accessibility in Studio 36 that needs to be sorted out. But Butlins staff continue to be brilliant, in pretty much every other way. The festival has now pretty much nailed the January format and this has become the perfect post-Christmas break. I will be back next year.

I wasn’t at the front for this gig as originally I was meant to be at LIFE’s in-store at Rough Trade and I was planning on sneaking during the support’s set. This gave me a different view of their performance. At the front, much of the performance is watching Florence’s tiny movements and changes in facial expressions. Something I assumed wouldn’t translate to being further back. But the focus of the performance switches to the other band members providing the swirling sound for the vocals. My focus was much more on their stage presence. I shouldn’t have worried. They clearly can handle big stages.

Support was from Mermaid Chunky who I didn’t like. It was all very art-school stagey and their music didn’t appeal to me.

• Leafy
• Unsmart Lady
• Strong Feelings
• Her Hippo
• Don’t Press Me
• Sit Down Meal
• Viking Hair
• More Big Birds
• Traditional Fish
• New Long Leg
• Magic of Meghan
• Tony Speaks!
• Scratchcard
• Lanyard Conversation  

I first saw Dry Cleaning in 2019. They immediately impressed. But I honestly was’t sure they would transfer to a bigger audience until the Great Escape when I witnessed an indifferent audience warm to them. With a trip to SXSW and the possibility of an album, they were on our ‘bubbling under’ list of bands to watch out for in 2020. For obvious reasons, things didn’t pan out. However, in 2021 they finally released their critically acclaimed debut album, ‘New Long Leg’. They also started to pick up regular 6 Music airplay and since then, have gown quickly and recently sold out the Forum in London. As that is not a favourite venue, I decided to hop onto a train and head up to Cambridge to see how they are getting on.

I thought tonight there was an interesting juxtaposition. Both are bands have lead vocalist who offer musings over music. One takes a post-punk sound. The other electronic tracks. But for me two different outcomes. One I find charming. The other I dislike.

In Audiobooks case, David Wrench lays down synth based indie pop over which Evangelina, acts as some gawky posh rich kid telling rambling stories. While the music isn’t really my thing. It is Evangelina’s shouty posh accent that turns me off. I’m afraid the character isn’t something I can connect to. I was pleased when their set finished. At least this time I didn’t walk out on their performance which I did last time. So maybe they are winning me over.

Tonight’s Dry Cleaning set set consisted of the majority of ‘New Long Legs’ with a few tracks, such as the ‘Magic of Meghan’, from their excellent EPs. The set opened with ‘Leafy’, with its laid back post-punk bass that anchors the song allowing Florence’s stage persona the space to take lead but hinting at what’s to come with subtle swirling guitars. Sadly, the sound felt very wide tonight. It lacked the intimacy of previous performances. I guess part of it might have been because I was the other side of the fence. Every other time I have seen them it has either been a small venue where I am within touching distance, or I have had a photo pass. At least the sound was clear and not overpowering Florence’s voice.

Dry Cleaning are a sum of their parts. I can not imagine the band working with any other members. Lewis’s post-punk baselines, anchor every song with Nick backing up with his drums. The baseline provides the framework for Florence’s meandering musings on life with Tom’s stabbing swirling guitars echoing the mood of each musing. The music is the perfect accompaniment with Florence’s stage character who seems oblivious to the fact her musings into her tape recorder are being overheard.

There are other bands around doing similar things. But none have such a complete sound as Dry Cleaning. Tonight’s set showed why Dry Cleaning keep winning over audiences. They are so incredibly tight and have a charm about them others don’t. It will be interesting to see where they go from here.

Set List

• Leafy
• Unsmart Lady
• Strong Feelings
• Her Hippo
• Sit Down Meal
• Viking Hair
• More Big Birds
• Traditional Fish
• New Long Leg
• Magic Of Meghan
• Tony Speaks!
• Scratchcard Lanyard
• Conversation

Set List

LEAFY
UNSMART LADY
STRONG FEELINGS
HER HIPPO
SIT DOWN MEAL
VIKING HAIR
MORE BIG BIRDS
TRADITIONAL FISH
NEW LONG LEG
MAGIC OF MEGHAN
TONY SPEAKS!
SCRATCHCARD LANYARD

Delayed from last summer. The festival has found a home in Brockwell Park which was ready for it’s big day. For a new festival, it was remarkably well organised. COVID checks dealt with quickly and efficiently. In the main, the site was organised well. A good range of food and drink in the centre with stages spinning off. Sadly, there was a bit of leakage between the Bad Vibes and Moth Club stages, but I’ve experienced far worse and something that can be tweaked in later years. A nice touch was a free drink to those of us who had kept faith last year and not asked for a refund.

First up was Tiña on the Windmill stage. Dressed in bright pink with a cowboy hat playing breezy cowboy indie, it was just the right sound to wake us up with positive vibes.

On the Moth Club stage was Lazarus Kane, a band who previously had left me unimpressed. At that performance, Ben the singer, appeared as a kind of lounge lizard caricature, with the band playing second fiddle. But here on a big stage with the band spaced out and the singer having dropped the disguise, I thought they had a much bigger and a more dancy sound than I remembered. I was left wondering if they’d increased the size of the band as there was an added depth to their sound, I didn’t experience on the small stage. Or maybe Ben’s theatrics had just put me off. Either way, I was impressed today. I will definitely be keeping an eye on them.

My second surprise of the day was Regressive Left. A band I knew nothing about. Apparently they are now based in Stevenage. I’ll have to keep an eye out for local gigs. Again, like Lazarus Kane, they a very dancy sound. But in an 80s art-pop way. Strong drumming with feedback laden guitars and keyboards adding an 80s feeling. One to watch

Next up was a brief visit to the Bad Vibes stage to listen to Maripool. Possibly the first misstep. Their music was pleasant, in a laid back ‘beer in the sunshine’ kind of way. But the vocals were off. I didn’t experience sound issue later in the day but I was heading off to see the afternoon headliners, Idles and maybe they improved before the end of the set.

Idles were always going to be my highlight of the festival. They’ve made some of my favourite albums from the last few years. They are fantastic live and have helped revitalise guitar based music by putting issues at the forefront of driving pop punk. Their audience mixes us oldies, rekindling our youth, with young people who are hopefully listening to their messages of community and compassion (especially the blokes). There’s something special about the ‘AF gang’ community that’s grown up organically around the band. Something I’ve never experienced before.

It was odd seeing a headliner play an early afternoon set. But this isn’t normal times. With the festivals opening after a delay of a year, it’s not surprising we’re seeing clashes. Idles, were double booked for a festival in their hometown. Understandably, that took precedence. But Bristol’s gain wasn’t our loss. If anything, it gave this festival a massive boost as everyone arrived early to see the band. It meant most stages were busy right from the off with a great atmosphere throughout they day.

Their latest album came out during lockdown and they haven’t had the opportunity to play live. So I was expecting a large number of songs from the album. I have to admit, I’m not a big fan of the last album. But the one live performance I’ve seen of it, the songs were much stronger live. Maybe sensibly, they gave the crowd what they wanted with a greatest hits of their three albums. Despite reservations, the new songs fitted into the set and sounded great.

I’ve never seen Idles have an off day. Today was no exception. Right from the off they got the crowd going with a circle forming in the early afternoon sun. They then did their usual thing of jumping into the crowd. Keeping the crowd at boiling point throughout the set. Pretty much a perfect headline slot. It just happened in daylight.

A Certain Ratio aren’t a band I know much about. They’ve been around since the late 70s. I liked what I heard but I wanted to grab some photos of other stages so I moved on after two songs.

Likewise, I didn’t stick with Porridge Radio for long. I love Porridge Radio and I’ve seen them several times. They sounded on form for the two songs I heard.

Fenne Lily was part of the reason why I was jumping around stages. She produced a great album so I wanted to see how it translated to a festival stage. Although playing a smaller stage more suited to her sound, in all honesty, I thought the sound was lost. Despite being a small stage, it was competing with the rest of the festival and I think much of the delicacy of the album was lost to the air. I’ll have to catch her at a more appropriate venue.

I love Squid. There’s similarity with bands like Black Midi and Black Country New Road but their sound is less noodly prog and feels more anarchic and organic They’re also far less serious than their siblings. Live, they’re the best out of the bunch. Today, they were on good form.

Another band I’ve seen before, so only listened to a few songs, is Los Bitchos. They play dancy latin fuzed psych with no vocals. They appear to have a changed lineup but still sounded great. The first time I saw them I wanted there to be a vocalist. But they don’t need a vocalist. Their music is so infectious and had the crowd dancing away to their latin vibes. Perfect festival band.

I only caught one song of White Flowers. They were pleasant but like Fenne Lilly, their sound seemed to be a little bit lost on the small stage so I moved on.

I’ve heard great things about PVA. Naturally as a ‘Windmill’ band they were playing the main Windmill stage. But they left me cold. They were very disco. I’m sure they sound great in a small venue with a crowd bouncing to their music. But on the big stage with everyone hidden behind keyboards, it just wasn’t my type of festival experience so I took the opportunity to grab some food.

As my recent POZI review mentioned. Pozi were my most listened to band over the last year. Unlike the Social, the drummer wasn’t lost in smoke and darkness at the back of the stage so I could actually see him sing this time. It felt more of a band performance. However, as I had just seen them a few weeks ago I only stayed for 10 minutes before heading off to catch another lockdown favourite, Dry Cleaning.

I’m never sure how to describe Dry Cleaning. They’re a talky band, with no singing. Florence’s delivers her stories as if she’s oblivious to the audience’s presence. Creating mesmerising tales of mundane modern life, enhanced with simple expressions and waves of her hand. The rest of the band acting like a stage director, focusing the audience’s emotions and attentions on the rise and fall of the tempo of each story. I always feel I’m listening to something the Velvet Underground could have written.

They’re also a surprising band. They shouldn’t work on a big stage. Half of the performance is seeing Florence’s expressions which surely is lost in a big venue. They should be very much an acquired taste. Yet pretty much everyone I know who has seen them live, have enjoyed what they saw. They’re a special band, rightly deserving of the good press they receive. They’re also an example of why Wide Awake could grow into a vital London festival. It’s venues like the Shacklewell and Windmill that are taking a chance on booking bands like Dry Cleaning.

Another ‘Shacklewell’ band, and one long overdue serious attention, CROWS played the Bad Vibes stage to a packed crowd. Their support for Idles clearly paying off, with a lot of Idles t-shirts in the packed Bad Vibes stage. As I would expect, their performance was full of the energy they’re known for.

Annoyingly, I dallied too long between stages and the pit for Goat Girl was closed. So I took the opportunity to kick back with a soft-drink and listen to the delightful sounds of Goat Girl in the glorious early evening sun.

Lynks are an acquired taste. Not my taste. They’re a camp disco performance art group who have no instruments on stage singing over backing tracks. Really not my musical taste. But they are entirely about the stage show. The whole crowd on the So Young Stage bouncing along to their set, probably the best reaction of the day. Everyone there clearly loved them. They are worth catching to see if they are your thing.

Snapped Ankles are just awesome live. They create a primeval driving shamanistic music to dance to and dance the crowd did. I stayed for three songs before heading off to catch the Bad Vibes stage.

Kikagaku Moyo are possibly one of the best psych bands around at the moment. They make playing psych look effortless but controlled. Today was no exception with layers of sound washing over each other, interacting and heading off in a new direction dragging you with them on their musical wanderings. They a perfect band to catch at a festival when you’re feeling tired. Just allow the music to take over and revitalise yourself. Catch them if you can.

I cut short the Kikagaku Moyo set to catch the pit for Black Country New Road. They’re the chess club of music. There’s an element of prog with every instrument give time to weave it’s sound into their stories. Everything sounds like they’ve made a conscious compositional choice. That’s not a bad thing. But it lacks the organic nature of Squid and maybe at times feels too serious. However, their debut album released earlier this year, is one of my favourite albums of 2021. It looked like their lineup had changed since the first time I saw them at Rockaway Beach last year. They also didn’t look like school kids this time. It’s amazing what a year in music does to people. Have to admit, in the evening sun, I enjoyed their set. But the music has that kind of downstairs in a jazz club type feel that requires concentration and might have worked better when things got dark or even a smaller stage.

With the slew of bands that followed Idles into the mainstream. A bunch of Irish acts forced their way through the door. Initially, Fontaines DC were my favourites. They have a poetry and nervous energy that instantly made me like them.

The Murder Capital followed close behind, disposing with the nervous energy, replacing it with a dark intense emotion. Over the last year or so, the album I keep going back to is the Murder Capital’s debut. There are songs on the album with a real emotional punch. Somehow they manage to carry the darkness into their performances.

Tonight, was no different. James holding the crowd in his hands (or them literally holding his to stop him falling into them). His use of space in songs to give everyone time to take in the emotion and then hitting you with his powerful rich mournful voice distinguishes the band from the crowd. While a big stage in a big top, lacked the intimacy of the 100 Club gig last year. This was another storming performance. Slightly let down when the sound engineer cut them off after timing issues with James squaring up him and security dragging him away. He’ll have to learn to keep the emotion on stage.

I did briefly leave the Murder Capital set to catch Crack Cloud. I’ve seen them before and they’re really good. But there’s something special about the Murder Capital that meant I needed to see the rest of the set. I will have to catch Crack Cloud at some other point.

Getting to the Wide Awake Festival had been a bit of a trek. My rail line was closed due to a fatality on the line. So I had to drive across country to pick up a different line into London meaning I had to return to pick up my car. I also am still not comfortable with crowds and spent most of the day wearing a mask in the pit and in crowded areas of the festival. I didn’t really want to be stuck on packed trains out of Brockwell with a late night drive. So despite some excellent bands to come, I decided to cut after one last band – Black Midi

I’ve seen Black Midi a few times and their debut album was my one of my favourite albums of 2019. Their followup, this year’s Cavalcade hasn’t had such a big an impact on me. It’s too consciously experimental. I have to be in the right mood for it to work.

I think with BCNR and Squid also playing in the same space. The seriousness of Black Midi and BCNR has worn more heavily. There’s an intensity to their music and the way they play that means you have to really be switched on to enjoy them. By this time, I have to admit I was a bit tired with my mind on home, I didn’t take in their set. I think the Murder Capital had taken all my emotions.

Not quite the high I’d expected to finish the festival on. But I can’t complain. It was a day I needed after a long 18 months. It felt like a bit of normality had returned to my life.

While I had a ticket, I was grateful for Bad Vibes giving me a photo pass. It helped me relax into the day and move around more easily without having to deal with packed crowds. I had also upgraded to a very reasonably priced VIP ticket. I needed to have a space to retire to if things got too much and the VIP space was quiet enough to allow me to deal with my post-COVID return to the real world.

I really hope this festival happens again next year. From the organisation, to the lineup. It was pretty much perfect. An excellent start.

For the last few years, singer song writers have featured heavily but this year they have taken a back seat. This probably reflects who I’ve saw this year. It is also the first time a Jazz record has been on my list, with Jamie Branch. And for probably the only time, the list features a snooker player!

As usual, deciding on the order has been difficult. I’ve spent the last week re-listening to all my favourite albums to work out my top 20. The top three were especially difficult as they all were my favourite album at some point of the year.

Top 20 Albums of 2019

1. Fontaines D.C. – Dogrel
2. The Murder Capital – When I Have Fears
3. Black Midi – Schalagenheim
4. Dry Cleaning – Sweet Princess EP
5. LIFE – A Picture of Good Health
6. Drahla – Useless Coordinates
7. Richard Dawson – 2020
8. Erland Cooper – Sule Skerry
9. Warmduscher – Tainted Lunch
10. Avalanche Party – 24 Carat Diamond Trephine
11. Girl Band – The Talkies
12. Aldous Harding – Designer
13. RAKTA – Falha Comum
14. Jamie Branch – FLY or DIE II: bird dogs of paradise
15. Lewsberg – Lewsberg
16. Automatic – Signal
17. Ezra Furman – Twelve Nudes
18. Snapped Ankles – Stunning Luxury
19. The Utopia Strong – The Utopia Strong
20. French Vanilla – How Am I Not Myself

For the last few years I’ve started my TGE on the Wednesday. It means I can start at midday on the Thursday and there’s usually some music on in Brighton the night before anyway. This year as no different. Well I say no different, I actually mean sadly, was different.

Just before Christmas, one of my favourite Brighton venues, Sticky Mike’s announced it was closing. This is my usual Wednesday night and end of festival hang-out. There was some good news, when they announced that they would be using the East Street Tap as their new venue, one of my favourite pubs in Brighton. It turned out to be bad news as the regular student crowd who seemed to occupy upstairs at Sticky Mike’s have migrated to the much smaller East Street Tap and throughout the weekend I struggled to get in. The nearest was stranding on the stairs to the upstairs venue/

Losing Sticky Mike’s is a sad loss.

Despite its closure. There was still some things happening on the Wednesday with some bands playing the main festival hub, some free events at the Green Door Store and the Prince Albert

Unlike last year. I didn’t have a photo pass. Okay, I’m not shooting for a magazine or online website. But I’m the sort of person they should be giving a pass to. I’m not overly bothered by the big acts. I’m happy to photograph the next generation and throughout the weekend, the venues I was in, were devoid of official photographers unless there was ‘hype’ behind the band. What’s the point of having the same acts photographed by a few dozen photographers? Because of this, I left most of my kit at home and just took a few primes and a fallback camera in case security were being sniffy.

The festival itself kicked off in fine style with Cousin Tony’s Brand New Firebird. An Aussie band who played a nice slice of infectious pop-indie. They even made a ‘keytar’ sound good.

Deciding on getting in an early banker and positioning myself for the walk up to Horatios, I headed down to see the amazing playing of Gwenifer Raymond. If you haven’t seen there. She’s pretty amazing on the guitar and banjo.

The Russians had invaded Horatios on the pier and I headed up to hear Lucidvox, a band that had played London earlier in the week with positive reviews. Sadly, there were sound issues that effected the two bands I saw.  

After a few misses, I decided to see one of my favourite live bands, Avalanche Party. Playing the tiny Black Lion pub as part of the Alternative Escape, they still managed to put on an excellent show that was appreciated by the packed pub.

Bumping into some friends, they had mentioned that Giungla had impressed in the afternoon. So I headed into the sea wall to catch her. I have to say I was really disappointed.

Venues seemed to be busier this year. By the middle of the first day it was already proving to be difficult to move around. Venues, I usually found easy to get into were often full, so I headed to see the Murder Capital early and had caught, Jockstrap. They are members of Black Country New Road but this offshoot band, really didn’t work for me.

There was a lot of hype around the Murder Capital. They had been heavily supported by Steve Lamacq and were coming through on the tails of the Idles and Fontaines D.C. What surprised me the most though, was how different the band are to those two bands. Fontaines have the poetry. Idles have the politics. The Murder Capital are your dark emotions. Every song brooded with an intense emotional centre and was something I was completely unprepared for. Easily the highlight of the festival.

After the emotion of the Murder Capital I decided to take it easy and find a seated venue and caught a band called MarthaGunn. They were okay. Almost an Americana twinge to their indie.

Day 2 started with a highlight. Dry Cleaning are one of my favourite bands at the moment. They mix interesting stories with some brilliant windy guitars.

After a few okay bands, one of the great things about TGE happened. I stumbled upon a band I didn’t know were playing. Walking past the Hope and Ruin, I could hear the brilliant sound of Snapped Ankles. It was one in one out, but the windows were open so I stood and watched and they came over to see me!

I had heard good things about the Petrol Girls. A punk band focused on feminist issues. Not sure I’m the core market but the post punk word at the moment seems to be missing female bands. However, while they put on a good performance, it was all too shouty shouty, rather than shouty singing, or shouty talking, as is the norm with post-punk. They are definitely more of a punk band and they didn’t work for me.

The other thing I like with TGE (when the weather is good) is how they give busking spaces to local artists if you have time, it’s always worth stopping and listening.

Often at this year’s TGE, I went for safe bands who I’d seen before. Saint Agnes are one of those safe bands. They always put in a brilliant performance. They were playing in the alt-Escape and as expected they were great.

Venues were getting busy and I decided to opt out of queuing and headed down see another set from Gwenifer Raymond in a seated venue. (I must be getting old).

As I was chatting to a friend, I stayed on for the next band, Ferris and Sylvester who played blues rock. At times it was a bit saccharine but I enjoyed the set.

It was getting late and Black Honey were playing a very late set at the Haunt after most places had closed. I thought it would probably be a complete waste queuing. Luckily I got in to catch the last few songs and them having a complete ball playing their home town.

Day 3 started with another banker. I’m a big fan of John J Presley’s blues. He’s got such an expressive voice and distinctive guitar. It was also good to see him reverting back to having a band as they add an extra depth to his music.

Queuing was much more an issue this year. You had to get there early for the hyped bands and there was no bigger hyped band this year than Black Midi. As The Ninth Wave were playing before hand, I queued up and caught both bands play good sets.

Wanting to take it easier, I headed back to the alt-Escape and grabbed a pint and the opportunity to catch Dutch Mustard who I’ve caught in London a few times

After heading out and finding all the nearby venues full, I returned to the Black Lion and was fortunate to catch another enjoyable performance from the Pagans SOH. They mixed rap, funk and rock in a very enjoyable way with a charismatic lead singer.

After the Pagans I bounced around with no one in particular standing out.

I have to admit. I was a bit more knackered at this festival than usual. I was also getting sick of queuing. As I’d hit SXSW in a big way and seen lots of new music. I decided to take it easy and stick to a venue. The Green Door Store seemed to have the best lineup with Big Joannie, Porridge Radio, and Peggy Sue, all of whom I’ve seen before. They were all good and Porridge Radio, played the best set I’ve seen from them. But it was Stonefield, a group of sisters who I assume grew up in a house with only Paranoid by Black Sabbath to listen to, who really impressed.

Sadly after the Green Door Store finished their programme, it wasn’t possible for my traditional trip to Sticky Mikes to catch their late-night off-festival bands and it was time to grab a few pints before calling it a relatively early night. Losing Sticky Mikes is definitely a loss to Brighton.

All in all. Another good TGE. It’s disappointing that the venues continue to spread out with what seemed like an increase queue time at each and the risk of walking half way across town to find TGE’s app’s busy status hadn’t been updated. Sadly, the ability to move around is reducing. Hopefully, next year they can rebalance the mix of venues. But I will be back again next year.