THE GIG LIST – NUMBER 32

It seems that we’ve not done a Gig List for a while. August is a slightly weaker period for live music in Brighton, (with a handful of lucky exceptions), as venues await the return of students in September and October, so here are a couple of highlights as Autumn’s flood gates open.

DEADMAU5

Is there a bigger name on the world’s DJ scene right now? This one-man, tidal wave of a DJ launches his next album, Lack Of A Better Name, in the next few weeks and follows it up with a tour around the UK. Out of all the places on this tour, Brighton is lucky enough to get the man-sized mouse for two consecutive nights at our beach-fronted club, Digital, such was the massive demand for tickets. It seems Brighton has a special pull on this Canadian tech-master. His recorded music is often tucked into the minimilist, progressive techno pocket, which suits the fact that he’s rather a techie geek, often spending almost as much time inventing programs and software for his studio productions than he does actually creating new music. However, it’s with his live sets that the mouse truly begins to roar, as he steps into a more thumping electro realm with extroadinary power and finesse. This is a DJ totally in control of any crowd he faces, building up tracks and dropping the breaks to perfection. He’s famous for wearing many different custom designed, massive mouse heads that range in colour from bright red, to black, to diamond encrusted. Prepare to see the giant mouse ears bobbing up and down above the frenzied crowd’s pumping fists.   (MB)

ACT:                    DEADMAU5
VENUE:               Digital, Brighton Beach
COST:                  £ 10.00
DATES:                Sunday 18th and Monday 19th October 2009
WEBSITE:           Myspace
TRACK:               MORGAN PAGE – THE LONGEST ROAD (DEADMAU5 REMIX) (ysi)

BLOC PARTY

So big are this indie band that they’ve taken it upon themselves to rebrand the month of October for us. As they drive their UK tour around to most major cities outside London through ‘Bloctober’ they stop off at our largest capacity venue, The Brighton Centre. It’s a pity that this is the only venue big enough to squeeze in a band of this size as the acoustics are piss poor. Really, really piss poor. If a band are to avoid getting lost in this vast chasm they’ll need to create a sound as big as a stampede of horny elephants. Taking in the evidence from their summer festival slots it seems that Bloc Party could scare off a thousand, rabid mammoths with one blast of their bursting choruses, so they’ll be just fine. Adored by millions, Kele will no doubt bring his usual self-assured frontmanship to each set, whilst Matt Tong, a man that is the definition of  extroadinary drumming and technical timing, will provide his usual metronomic brilliance as the back drop. With such a vast catalogue of generation-defining songs in their locker, prepare for mass sing alongs and an atmosphere that The Brighton Centre probably hasn’t seen since the likes of Muse or Kasabian. And that’s saying something!   (MB)

ACT:                      BLOC PARTY
VENUE:                  The Brighton Centre
COST:                    £ 22.50
DATE:                    Saturday 24th (BL)October 2009
WEBSITE:             Myspace
TRACK:                  BLOC PARTY –  HUNTING FOR WITCHES (RUCKUS ROBOTICUS REMIX) (ysi)

The Recommender is off to SourceFest tonight for the annual celebration of our town’s best going out bible, The Source Magazine, which I also write for. On show is a truly exceptional line up of Brighton’s talents, including The Half Sisters, The Agitator and The Lyrebirds. All of which are due a mention on this blog in due course.

THE GIG LIST – NUMBER 11

 

We are blessed in Brighton with many new music festivals throughout the summer months. This winter however brings with it a fine selection of live sets to rank high among any you may have experienced yet this year. I’ve thrown my hand into this pot of cracking performances thats lined up and I’ve plucked out a couple of right charmers.

DEADMAU5
This world-class DJ / producer from Toronto, Canada, brings with him a reputation so sizeable, you’d be hard pushed to find a club big enough to suit him, let alone get his giant red ears through the doorway. His excellent live sets thankfully tend to veer more towards the Electro end of the dance spectrum, as opposed to the more minimalist-techno he often produces in the studio. A proper star in the ascendancy.

ACT:               DEADMAU5
VENUE:               DIGITAL, Kings Arches, Brighton
COST:                 £11
DATE:                 Thursday 23rd October 2008
WEBSITES:          Myspace   Last.fm

DEADMAU5 Live (in Denver)

HOT CHIP
Masters of geekdom. Lords of minimalist-dance-pop. This cheery, bouncy 5-piece are very well known to us all, with mucho Radio One airtime and giant singles and albums now under their belts. Their live sets are totally awesome. They share the type of chemistry on stage that always floods out to the crowd. You won’t know where to look. Release your inner geek.

ACT:               HOT CHIP
VENUE:               THE DOME, Brighton
COST:                 £17.50
DATE:                 Wednesday 5th November 2008
WEBSITES:          Myspace    Last.fm

HOT CHIPLive (@ Coachella)

Who cares if summer is over when you have a winter like this in store. Two brilliant nights out. Two world-class sets of guaranteed fun. I can’t wait. As always, let me know if you’re joining us?

Mike