Saturday 18th June, four bands got together in Peacehaven to make lots of noise. And a bit of money for cheridee (that’s charity, if you were wondering). One of those bands was Left Hand Red (us), making their first proper live appearance.
The venue was The Good Companions - an unusual venue for such an event as it’s what we commonly refer to as a ‘chav pub’. Apparently the Good Companions (or "Goods" as it’s often refered), once hosted regular gigs, but a change of ownership in the Eighties put a stop to that. Now its current owners are making an attempt to get live music back in Peacehaven (other than Karaoke, that is).
It all kicked off at 7:30. The first band on the bill was Dirty Deeds, who for half-an-hour knocked out a succession of well performed rock covers with a rather handy performance by both guitarists. Next up was us. The audience was steadily growing…
Our set kicked off with the energetic but still groovy Gold Digger, an excellent opening song performed perhaps a bit nervously, with the exception of singer, Dan Scully, who got right in to his stride from the off. This was followed by Can’t Help Thinking This Way, another punky in-yer-face sort of tune, genetically engineered to get the crowd going nuts.
The middle of the set showcased some of the band’s more thoughtful and melodic songs, with with baggy-punk Unsung Heroes, Throw It All Away and Unwound (albeit with riotous finish) lulling the audience in to a false sense of comfort. Confidence was growing, and the crowd were loving it.
The penultimate song on the set list was Against the Grain, a dark and bottom-heavy tune with chugging guitar and bass. The set finished with the coup-de-grace, See It Coming, already a favourite among fans with its cheeky swaggering bass line and nasty guitar lines, and big finish as standard. Dan resisted the temptation to throw himself in to the drum kit, and Left Hand Red left the stage to applause, compliments and just a hint of ego.
I have to be honest that I didn’t catch much of band number 3, Emphyrian, as I was too busy buzzing round after our set, chatting to people and lapping up the compliments. From what I did hear, they we clearly a band who had done this sort of thing once or twice before.
The last band, and headliners for the night, were Best Left Dead, a tongue-in-cheek metal band who are quite popular around Brighton, and have sold out venues such as The Concorde in the past. I must say I really enjoyed their set, with particular highlights being a tribute to Kylie (a metal rendition of I Should Be So Lucky), Sister (I didn’t know she was your…) and their defining moment, Die You Bastards!, which is about how to deal with the threat of the undead once Hell reaches capacity.
Overall it was an excellent evening, and we couldn’t wait for our next gig. Little did we know that’d be sooner than we expected…
Full set list:
- Gold Digger
- Can’t Help Thinking This Way
- Unsung Heroes
- Unwound
- Throw It All Away
- Against The Grain
- See It Coming
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