HALINA RICE + FRANK HOPKINS – THE OLD MARKET, HOVE 14.3.25
Brighton & Hove is such a buzzing place for music and we are regularly spoiled rotten with the many different concert options available on most nights. Tonight was no exception, but difficult decisions had to be made, as clearly we are unable to clone ourselves! We were very keen to catch two different electronic music artists, but sadly something had to give! The hard decision was made and Halina Rice, the London-based electronic music artist known for her groundbreaking approach to music production and live performance, was our winning selection! Although we hadn’t seen the other artist performing live since 21st May 2016 at ‘The Great Escape’, we have never had the pleasure of Halina’s company before, and judging by the tracks on her latest ‘EVOLVE’ album that we listened to prior to heading out this evening, we knew that surely a fab night out was to be on the cards.
Halina has established herself as a leading figure in the contemporary electronic scene, blending complex soundscapes with immersive visual elements. In 2020 Halina launched her groundbreaking ‘NEW WORLDS’ project, where each release comprised both music and the creation of a unique visual environment. Since then she has continued to experiment with innovative technology, working with lead visual designer Freny Antony and often being one of the first to take the plunge into what is now a rising trend in immersive experiences. Her releases have been praised for their innovative use of technology and emotional depth, earning her a dedicated following around the world. The aforementioned ‘EVOLVE’ long-player is Halina’s third studio album and this dropped on 9th October last year and is a solid body of work. I don’t actually believe that there’s any substandard numbers on the eleven track record.
Integral to Halina’s work is the creation of dynamic and encompassing live immersive experiences. “Yes”, I hear you say, but “How exactly do these live performances work?”. Well, we put this directly to Halina and she kindly told us:
“To perform I use Ableton Live and a controller to play audio and to bring up live VST synths, sound effects and drum racks. I also control the lighting from my set up which I pre-programme and the visuals are served from my second laptop”. So you see folks, it’s not a case of Halina standing there and spinning the decks, it’s far more involved and for us punters, it’s almost hypnotic as we watch with anticipation, to see what Halina is up to next during her renowned immersive show, which this evening at The Old Market lasts 67 minutes from 9pm to 10:07pm. Such was the interest in Halina coming to Hove, that this evening is the second night in a row that she’s appearing here, on the account of the initial show announced had sold out. Halina has already conquered Nottingham a few days ago according to my mates-mate who went along to the Rock City gig. So fans in other parts of the county, including Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester and Leeds have certainly got a treat in store, as they too will get to witness the fusion of electronic music, visual art, and cutting edge immersive sound and technology.
Tonight at The Old Market we are luckily camped at the very front of the venue and have a birds-eye view of the action. I absorb my surroundings and note that the rear of the stage is made up of many LED panels that when combined link right across the whole available area and become one giant screen. Either side of the stage there are four vertical white neon strip lights that are hanging from the gantry, and there are also two other lots of four of the same lights hanging high above the crowd at regular spaced intervals. On the floor of the stage at the front there are also four LED Moving Head RGBW Wash/Zoom Stage Lights with 19 colour changing bulbs in each, and these units all swivel around in unison just like four mini versions of Kraftwerk’s robots. At the centre of the stage sits Halina’s equipment and at 9pm a figure wearing black graces us with their presence.
Halina gets straight down to business with the recent ‘Split’ single which is from the new ‘Evolve’ album, and the crisp clear instrumental electronic beats boom out at us! Many folk start to dance and go with the beat. Others stand and watch in awe as the sharp quality computer graphics at the rear change shapes and designs, just like those last few Shamen video’s used to. Thankfully, there are (in the main) the very briefest of gaps in between the bangin’ tunes, in order for the punters to show their appreciation via whoops, cheers and claps. This adds to the overall enjoyment of the performance and before we know it ‘Pheme’ (from 2024’s ‘Evolve’ album), ‘Third’ (from 2022’s ‘Elison’ album), ‘New Sunday’ (from 2024’s ‘Evolve’ album), ‘New Basis’ (from 2023’s ‘New Basis’ EP) and ‘Sequence Test’ (from 2024’s ‘Evolve’ album) have had an outing and flown by.
The backing graphics are really working in unison with the music and, for me, there are the combined elements of Frenchman Jean-Michel Jarre, German quartet Kraftwerk, and Dutch DJ Ferry Corsten to name just three. Then later on in the performance I hear a beat reminiscent of Shock’s terrific ‘Dynamo Beat’ and ‘Helix’ which is found on the 2022 ‘Elison’ album is one of tonight’s highlights, this being one of the Ferry Corsten sounding tunes. However, we do get ‘Believe’ from 2024’s ‘Evolve’ album, which is different from tonight’s other material as it’s not only a slow chugging number like Belgian New Beat tunes of the past, but it has vocoder style occasional lyrics in the mix, which I rather enjoyed. However, the track immediately before this was from the same LP and this was ‘Swarm’ and this was for me up until that point the standout track of the night. However the barrier was to be raised during the two final numbers, both of which can be found on the latest platter, which is extremely encouraging, as this leads the way to the future. The first of these tunes being the immense ‘Meld’ with its really deep bass synth notes and shuffling rhythm atop…it’s ravetastic mate! How does Halina top that? Well, only by playing the fastest tune of the night, which has the energy and intense feeling of the similar ‘Out Of Space’ by The Prodigy and this gave me the tingles….Job done Halina! . At the conclusion of the set, the screen at the rear gave thanks to Freny Antony and Jan Petyrek who were the visual designers and at 10:07pm that was it. No single song outstayed its welcome, with I reckon of an average of each track being something like three and a half minutes long. Overall, the set didn’t outstay its welcome either and certainly left me yearning for more next time around! A great night out!
Halina’s releases can be found on Bandcamp, check them out HERE.
Halina Rice setlist:
‘Split’ (from 2024 ‘Evolve’ album)
‘Pheme’ (from 2024 ‘Evolve’ album)
‘Third’ (from 2022 ‘Elison’ album)
‘New Sunday’ (from 2024 ‘Evolve’ album)
‘New Basis’ (from 2023 ‘New Basis’ EP)
‘Sequence Test’ (from 2024 ‘Evolve’ album)
‘Mod Sound’ (from 2024 ‘Evolve’ album)
‘Synth Sounds B’ (from 2024 ‘Evolve’ album)
‘Terrain’ (a 2021 single)
‘Momentum’ (from 2022 ‘Elison’ album)
‘Reciprocity’ (from 2023 ‘New Basis’ EP)
‘Accession’ (from 2023 ‘New Basis’ EP)
‘Helix’ (from 2022 ‘Elison’ album)
‘Swarm’ (from 2024 ‘Evolve’ album)
‘Believe’ (from 2024 ‘Evolve’ album)
‘Breaks’ ( a 2021 single)
‘Meld’ (from 2024 ‘Evolve’ album)
‘Hybrid’ (from 2024 ‘Evolve’ album)
Support this evening came from Frank Hopkins who has been rather prolific with his music releases since 2022. You can find these on his Spotify page HERE. Tonight at The Old Market he warmed up the crowd with a 42 minute continuous mix of material that ranged from ambient floaty numbers right across to deep base trance tunes. He busied himself on his decks and the sound quality was crisp and clear.
