MOTH + MUDCOFFEE + THE RAPPORTS + LIVVY ENGLISH – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 6.1.23
After a few days of rest since the New Year Eve celebrations into 2023 at The Rossi Bar and The Hope & Ruin (Reviews HERE), it was time to take in my first proper gig of the year. What better way to start afresh with four local Brighton based acts that I haven’t seen live before. I headed on over to The Prince Albert to check out an evening being put on by a newly formed events team going by the name of NativeSound, (which is headed up by Josh) who are planning events in Brighton. On the bill tonight are headliners MOTH as well as MudCoffee, The Rapports and Livvy English.
We will jump straight to the headliners and then go onto their support artists. So without further ado, here’s MOTH.
Brighton based MOTH (as opposed to others with the same name) are a “badass grunge” quartet consisting of Ciaran Brennan (vocals and Fender Jaguar bass), Zain Khan (Gibson Les Paul Studio and Gretsch guitars), Jack Ayling (Fender Stratocaster guitar) and Jamie Pocklington (drums). They rattled through a dozen tracks during their 51 minute set, which ran from 10:30pm to 11:21pm in the first floor music room of the popular Prince Albert pub located on Trafalgar Street.
I swear that the noise levels went up a few levels from MOTH’s very first note. It was literally a wall of noise as they perfectly started in unison, for opener ‘Ricochet’. It actually took me by surprise as I was stationed immediately in front of one of the venue’s floor speakers. God knows what the punters drinking downstairs must have thought! From the outset, it was clear that these lads are solid and have been influenced by the likes of Nirvana and AC/DC.
The surprising discovery was that between the trio of frontmen, they only had a mere seven foot-pedals between them, and yet their sound is so powerful, along with Ciaran’s vocals which are wonderfully gravelly and suits their vibe. ‘The Doll’, ‘When She Comes’, ‘My Time’ and ‘Blood Boils When The Tension Rises’ flew by and the consistency was evident.
Zain then switched from Gibson Les Paul Studio guitar over to a Gretsch for a tune called ‘Tiny Bicicleta’ which they only penned the other week. The Gretsch stayed for the remainder of the performance, the difference was noted by a few enthusiastic attendees. But a majority near the front of house, were content with just moshing.
Last year’s two singles followed, in the form of ‘Downtune’ (April 2022) and ‘We Go Again’ (January 2022). These were valid choices for single releases, especially the latter, however, my two fave tracks from their set came next, namely ‘Budweiser’ (other beers are available) and ‘Incarcerate’.
They ended with ‘Evolution Of Scum’ and clearly hadn’t planned on performing an encore, but the punters had been whisked up in such a frenzy (caused by the combination of music and liquid refreshment) and weren’t going anywhere without another offering. Cue band discussion…..outcome…..‘Cat Herpes’, which concluded with Ciaran launching himself into Jamie’s drumset.
If you are looking for a loud, decent grunge outfit to follow, then Moth are there for the taking!
You can catch MOTH playing live on Saturday 28th January at The Brunswick on Holland Road in Hove, where they will be on the bill with stoner and doom metal specialists Dead Jaw. The event will be staged downstairs in the low-ceilinged Cellar Bar, so it’s going to be a loud one! Ear protection might be an idea. Purchase your tickets HERE.
I believe that they are also playing at Patterns in Brighton on Friday 26th January and London’s New Cross Inn on Saturday 21st January prior to that.
MOTH:
Zain Khan – lead guitar
Jack Ayling – rhythm guitar
Ciaran Brennan – bass/vocals
Jamie Pocklington – drums
MOTH setlist:
‘Ricochet’
‘The Doll’
‘When She Comes’
‘My Time’
‘Blood Boils When The Tension Rises’
‘Tiny Bicicleta’
‘Downtune’
‘We Go Again’
‘Budweiser’
‘Incarcerate’
‘Evolution Of Scum’
(encore)
‘Cat Herpes’
Kicking off tonight’s event at 8:15pm was Essex born, now Brighton based, 23 year old singer/songwriter Livvy English, who has been working with her four piece band since October 2021, two of which are also in MudCoffee, who we will hear about shortly.
Their debut live performance was in March 2022, but I swear that many of the mainly student age punters present this evening would have guessed that it would have been longer than that. It was encouraging to see the venue around two thirds full for this opening act.
Immediately on delivery of opening numbers ‘Change The World’, ‘Checkmate’ and ‘Shame For You’, it was evident that Livvy has a powerful and emotive voice which blends elements of chart-friendly soul, funky R&B and mild rock, thus as a combined unit, they would be perfect for the American mass market…..if they only knew about her and her chums!
Her young band that also ploughed through ‘Blinded By Love’, ‘Try’, ‘Hands Are Tied’ and ‘Meant To Be’ consisted of Oscar Wahlstedt who was playing a handmade guitar made by this guy in Sweden, Leon Joullie on Dragster guitar, Louis Howells on Squier Jazz bass and Phil Shambrook behind the kit. They gave us the aforementioned seven numbers, all of which were tight and they are very good at what they do. Their 28 minute set concluded at 8:43pm. But I expect to be hearing more of Livvy in the future!
Livvy English band:
Livvy English – vocals
Leon Joullie – guitarist (MudCoffee)
Oscar Wahlstedt – guitarist (MudCoffee)
Louis Howells – bass
Phil Shambrook – drums
Livvy English setlist:
‘Change The World’
‘Checkmate’
‘Shame For You’
‘Blinded By Love’
‘Try’
‘Hands Are Tied’
‘Meant To Be’
After a 14 minute gap in proceedings, in which it was ideal to grab a beer, it was now time for The Rapports to grace the stage from 8:57pm to 9:30pm to offer us eight or possibly nine tunes. The Brighton & Hove News last encountered this slightly older quartet back on 1st October 2021 when they played Patterns. Tonight they consist of Tom Skilton on vocals, Fender Telecaster guitar and tambourine, Tee Jey is sporting a British made Farida bass, Joe Miles is on drums, and by no means least is Chris Wright on Gibson guitar.
Straight away within seconds of the opening bars of ‘Spit It Out’, which is the opening number of their ‘Taking Off’ album (details HERE), I knew that I was going to enjoy the outfits uplifting bouncy indie poppers. The vocals of ‘Spit It Out’ are delivered with an American twang, although this is not the case for all the numbers, as I spotted an occasional Marc Bolan similarity in there as well.
Tune one successfully delivered, it was time for the second number ‘I Was Wrong’ from the same album. But oh no Tom’s totally gone blank as a result of the Dutch courage Tequila consumed just prior to coming on stage. Never mind, move on to ‘Gimme All Your Love’ on the same album. ‘Come Home’ (from a couple of years ago), ‘Problems’, plus ‘Papercup’ all followed and they were beginning to remind me of Embrace and that fans of Tom Petty would certainly approve of this outfit.
Who’s To Know’, ‘Dreamer’ and ‘Wanna Be’ came along as well, but I was getting a little confused as I think they played a tune called ‘It’s The Night’ or ‘I Want You’ as well. But what I do know is that these lads should be awarded a support slot at the Brighton Centre for bands like say the Kaiser Chiefs as they would go down rather well.
The Rapports:
Chris Wright – lead guitars
Tom Skilton – vocals/guitar
Joe Miles – drums
Tee Jey – bass
The Rapports setlist:
‘Spit It Out’
‘Gimme All Your Love’
‘Come Home’
‘Problems’
‘Papercup’
‘Who’s To Know’
‘Dreamer’
‘Wanna Be’
Completing the quartet of performances for this evening were Brighton based folk rock band MudCoffee, two of which had already graced the stage with opener Livvy English. The guys performed a half hour set that ran from 9:45pm to 10:15pm, which was made up of seven numbers.
MudCoffee are vocalist Oscar Whaslted, who also plays a Swedish made custom guitar, along with Leon Joullie who is also on vocals and plays a Dragster guitar plus Yamaha acoustic guitar, Will Davis (who is wearing I believe a GoPro video device around his neck) is on drums and Tom Law on Squier Jazz bass. Together they are another tight unit.
They kick off with ‘In The City’, ‘Where I’m Bound’ and new number ‘Read Between My Lines’, all of which are pleasant tunes. Leon traded in his Dragster for the acoustic Yamaha for ‘I’ll Be Fine’, which was a somewhat haunting melody with its marching band style drumming and shared harmonies, the subject matter of which being the passing of Oscar’s grandad.
Seems as though MudCoffee specializes in joint harmonies and very good at it they are too. The final trio of tracks were ‘Fall Along The Road’, ‘Mudcoffee’ and the rock ‘n’ roller ‘Shout’. I’m sure this outfit will be going onto greater things and should go far on the account of appealing to the American market. The punters here in Brighton also enjoyed their set.
MudCoffee:
Leon Joullie – guitars/vocals
Oscar Whaslted – guitar/vocals
Tom Law – bass
Will Davis – drums
MudCoffee setlist:
‘In The City’
‘Where I’m Bound’
‘Read Between My Lines’
‘I’ll Be Fine’
‘Fall Along The Road’
‘Mudcoffee’
‘Shout’
www.instagram.com/mudcoffee_band
