The Libertines bring a sunny weekend on Brighton Beach
to a magical close!

★★★★★ (5/5)

With the tradition of On Brighton Beach events taking place on Brighton beach across two weekends anticipation was high with a bumper line up including The Charlatans and the mighty ‘The Libertines’ coming to town. The all-day extravaganza event with some top drawer acts concluding with Carl Barat’s and Pete Doherty’s musical career which spans a few decades on the beach pebbles.

Revellers who have been lucky enough to hit the beach early on witness the extensive line up were treated to the likes of ‘The Futureheads’, The Big Moon, The Mary Wallopers and of course 90’s indie baggy Icon ‘Tim Burgess’ and his band.

For today’s show, early support stems from a host of top bands, starting with a festival favourite ‘Chappaqua Wresting’ who play in perfect harmony to early arrivals, basking in the brilliant sunlight!

Chappaqua Wresting are very much foot tapping, Indie shoegaze entertainment with some guitar riffs and dreamy synths through in! The Manchester band have been carving themselves with a string of singles,

‘The Futureheads’ show little regards to traditional verse versus chorus structure but the exceptional riffs and raw technical skill show in their live set. The original line up met at the City of Sunderland College and have released 5 albums with a degree of success. There is some impressive guitar work from frontman Barry Hyde. Thankfully ‘The Futureheads’ were the ideal band for the afternoon set to get the crowds going with the banterous performance with a selection of songs taken from their elf titled debut album!

‘The Big Moon’ are always a crowd pleaser with an extensive fan base as the beach is notably more filled by the time they came on in the late afternoon! The Big Moon have recently celebrated a decade since their formation. Set against the backdrop of a clear blue sky frontwoman ‘Juliette Jackson’ sets the scene for this indie outing, taken from ‘The 4th Dimension’ album. With the likes of ‘Cupid’ bring the retro vibes to beach with the fans chugging along nicely. A cover version ‘Praise you’ a homage to Brighton brings the set to an close and went down a treat to the bouncy crowd.

The Irish folk group ‘The Mary wallopers were well reived and one can see the compassion to ‘the Pogues’ with a string of medley songs and foot tapping material. The band are a six piece from Dundalk and delivered a unique folk experience, and delivered a set with infectious and entertaining

Lead singer Charles Hendy often breaks out in banter, with at one point explained an charismatic crowd aimed statement that; “their van broke down on the way down to Brighton and buying merch would get them back on the road”!

With the sun slowly setting in the golden hour, it was now rime for ‘The Charlatans’ and Tim Burgess always has ‘the’ stage presence with him bouncing around in a traditional 90’s style ‘baggy manner’

With an impressive 13 Studio albums under their belt ‘The Charlatans’ have an extensive body of work to keep the loyal following entertained. Famously there were absorbed into the ‘Madchester’ scene of the late 80’s and early 90’s! with ‘Some Friendly’ being the most memorable timeless classic album produced !

The Libertines could never be accused of knowing what their fans want with Indie Rock classics ‘Take Me Out’, ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ and ‘ Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ being their top hits.

Pete Doherty walks on stage to the chimes of ‘I do like to be Beside the Seaside’ being played in the background with his tradition quintessential green parka! Clearly this was a ‘Quadrophenia’ reference to the Brighton’s seaside mod pastime! The set kicked off with the anathematic ‘Run, Run, Run’ which is the lead single from their most recent album ‘All Quite On The Eastern Esplanade’.

One of the bands most thought after ballad ‘What Katie Did’, graced the set with the most cheers from the punters and a clear highlight for everyone.

As the sun sets over the horizon and the evening draws to a close ‘The Libertines’ prove their can still deliver a blistering set full of magically curated charisma. Pet Doherty even invited ‘Tim Burgess’ back on stage for a finale ‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun’ for just one more memorable moment for today’s extensive extravaganza. Pete Doherty, Carl Barat, John Hassall and Gary Powell delivered star Career-spanning set and their certainly looked at home amongst Brighton’s famous Peebles and sea of smiling faces!