Top Rank Suite Brighton

04/06/2026

18/05/2026

15/02/2026

The Damned
Top Rank, Brighton, 12th June 1985.🦇

Brighton would be the first of two occasions that I would see the Damned on their 'Phantasmagoria' album tour in the summer of 1985. The second time would be a couple of weeks later at the Assembly Hall Tunbridge Wells on 25th June, with a trip to Corfu in between.

Phantasmagoria was the Damned's sixth studio album and the first without the larger than life presents of guitarist Captain Sensible. Apart from the single 'Grimly Fiendish', which was produced by Bob Sargent, the rest of the album would be produced by Jon Kelly and the Damned in the May of 1985. The album was released by MCA on 15th July 1985.

The 37-date tour started at Loughborough University on 25th May, working its way around the country and finishing on 11th July at Woolwich Coronet Theatre.

The support band at the Top Rank that night was the 'Fuzztones,' originating from New York.They were really impressive, with a 1960s fuzzy guitar sound about them, some wild harmonica playing and Jim Morrison style vocals. It was a real compliment to see them alongside the Damned.

During the interval, the crowd mingled at the front of the stage in a rowdy sense of anticipation, mixed with the curiosity of witnessing the Damned without the Captain.
As the lights dropped for the second time, we were serenaded by the theme of Halloween coming through the speakers, setting the atmosphere for the evening. The Damned opened with the poetic lyrics of singer Dave Vanian, which quickly silenced the whistling and shouts from the audience. Dave took us into the Damned's tour de force from the Black album 'Curtain Call.' The instruments built up, layer by layer, getting faster and faster. Then Rat's drums kicked in, rolling like heavy thunder over us.
As the song reached the instrumental bit in the middle, the band switched via a piano solo into 'Shadow of Love,' a track and single off the new album. Followed by 'Neat Neat Neat' and 'Wait For The Blackout,' as the enthusiastic crowd moved about, the new material infused seamlessly with the older tunes.

With the departure of Sensible, keyboardist Roman Jugg had moved to lead guitar, with Paul Shepley
now on keyboards. Bryn Merrick on bass fitted well into the line-up. Along with Rat's drumming, they made a tight rhythm section.

Without Captain Sensible and his banter with the audience and the turmoil which had always been a big part of the live shows, the focus now was all on vocalist Dave Vanian as he took centre stage. Dave was as cool and suarve as ever, moving about the stage. At one point, he picked up a guitar and became the second guitarist on one of the new songs.
With Sensible's departure, it seemed Dave had been given more creative freedom, as his influence ran like alchemy through the new album's material and the band itself.
There were a couple of covers in the set: 'Too much to Dream' by the Electric Prunes and the MC5 classic 'Looking at You', which, ever since the 'Machine Gun Etiquette' album the Damned had made their own, the song that showed Vanian at his vocal best.

The show closed with the second part of 'Curtain Call'.

The encore started with Iggy Pop's 'Lust for Life', followed by 'Love Song,' 'New Rose,' 'Disco Man' and finishing with the Rats Scabies number 'Born to Kill.' As the band left the stage, Rat threw his drum sticks into the audience.

All in all, I thought it was a good show. This Damned was always going to be different to the reformed Damned of 'Machine Gun Etiquette', which was also different from the Damned that Brian James had started. But the chemistry between the band members was still there.

A year earlier, at the GLC gig in Brockwell Park, Brixton, I saw the same line-up but with the Captain also in the band. At the time, I thought about how well it worked with two guitarists and a keyboard player...(I was a bit drunk that day though.)

03/11/2025

Psychedelic Furs. De la Warr Pavilion Bexhill-on-Sea, 30/10/2025

31/10/2025

Anja Huwe, X Mal Deutschland. De la Warr Pavilion Bexhill-on-Sea last night.30/10/25.

18/10/2025

The Sisters of Mercy, Brighton Top Rank, 9th March 1985.
The Seventeen date tour started in Glasgow on 9th March 1985, and worked it's way south, finishing in Brighton on1st April1985.
The tour was for the Sisters of Mercy's debut album 'First and Last and Always.' The album was produced by David M Allen, between June and November of 1984.
And released during the tour on the 15th March 1985.

The next day after the Brighton gig the band would record a set for BBC's 'Old Grey Whistle Test'.Though guitarist Garry Marxs would perform on the show, the Brighton Top Rank would be his last gig with the band. Behind the scenes they were already in a bit of turmoil.
The support were the Scientists from Western Australia.The Scientists would return to Brighton in the October of 1985. On that occasion they would be supporting Siouxsie and the Banshees at the Centre. I don't actually remember much about their set on either occasion, except for a lot of Beatles haircuts and I thought they were better then the Banshees.

The build up to get the audience going was 'Kasmir' by Led Zeppelin. I don't think the crowd at the front needed much encouragement, for the Sisters seemed to had brought a large following with them.

Sisters of Mercy opened with the title track of the new album 'First and Last and Always.' Starting with a long solo drum beat and cymbal crashing. Repeating itself, interspersed with shouts and whistles from the audience.Then rasping guitars started working their way, intertwining into the beat. Everything getting faster and faster. Then the deep vocals of Andrew Eldritch entered through the speakers.
Between songs and the shouting of the crowd Eldritch would announce the next number and chat to the audience.
Musically the band were very tight.
The highlight for me, as I watched from the right hand side was the cover of 'Hot Cocolate's 'Emma,' Errol Brown's most emotionally charged and personal number, written about his mother's su***de when he was a child. Eldritch done a brilliant job, making the track sound raw and desperate.
As the show progressed the music seemed to become faster and even more intense.And the front of the audience more wild, with sporadic fights breaking out and lots of chanting. Culminating in 'Rock and a Hard Place.' The music and the rhythm were first class.
The Sisters punctuated the set with a few covers, the Rolling Stones' 'Give Me Shelter' and Dylan's 'Knocking on Heavens Door'. Finishing with two brilliant versons of the Velvet Underground's 'Sisters Ray' and mod anthem 'Louie Louie' made famous by the 'Kingsmen.'

As the show ended, we all slowly recovered ourselves, but not our hearing, well not until next day.(I always wondered how many other punters were partially deaf until lunch break the following day)..

03/07/2025

The Stranglers, Brighton Centre, 4th March 1985.

Another year, another Stranglers tour.This one was for the band's eighth album, 'Aurel Sculptures.' A name and concept that originated from a free single given away with their previous album 'European Female'.The album was produced by Laurie Latham.

The twenty date tour started at the Oxford Apollo on 11th February 1985 and would finish in Brighton on 4th March 1985.Taking in five nights at the Dominion Theatre in Tottenham Court Road, London and two nights at the Odeon Birmingham.The previous night the Stranglers had played down the coast at the International Centre in Bournemouth.Once again the Brighton gig took place in the sterile, concrete surroundings of the Brighton Centre. I had always preferred the close Intimacy
and sound of the Top Rank Suite, just around the corner and off the seafront. I remember seeing the Stranglers at the Brighton Dome for the first time on the bands 1993 'Stranglers in the Night' tour.And they've played there
regularly ever since.The Dome gig would have been the first time I saw the band without Hugh Cornwall, he had left the band, and had been replaced on vocals by Paul Roberts and on guitar by John Ellis. At that point the Dome was still keeping the seats in, which nobody took any notice of. The guy standing next to me was a mate of JJ Brunel, who spotted him in the audience.

The Show at the Centre opened with a ventriloquist. I'm not sure if there was any other support on the bill that night.The act was essentially the ventriloquist doll swearing a lot and keep banging on about how marvellous the Stranglers were.The ventriloquist and his dummy were basically booed off the stage, though the funniest moment of the set for me was when the dummy done a impression of ET, where 'ET phone home' was changed to 'ET F**k off,' as the dummy pointed one finger into the air.

'Vladimer and the Beast' blared out through the auditorium, followed by 'Aurel Sculptures'. Then the Stranglers appeared, and went straight into 'Something Better Change' followed by 'Nuclear Device,' which got the crowd moving.The band was backed by a horn section that seemed to make the sound less raw and more polished.Though the intro to 'Peaches' was messed up and had to be restarted.
The stage seemed to resembled the French Alps, being covered in white sheets. At one point a shoe was thrown on the stage, which Brunel threw back with some force.
There were some great songs played that night, covering all the albums except 'Gospel According to the Men in Black'. With some of my favourites: 'Dead Ringer, European Female, Death and Night and Blood, Threatened and Hanging Around.'
The Stranglers finished with 'Down in the Sewer, Nubiles and Toiler on the Sea.'
The next time I would see the Stranglers would be once again at the Brighton Centre, the following year, on the bands 'Dream Time' album tour. This time supported by the brilliant German band, 'X Mal Deutschland'.Their singer Anja Huwe will be back in Sussex on 29th October 2025, supporting the Psychedelic Furs at the De la Warr Pavilion Bexhill-on-Sea.

29/04/2025

To Mike Peters.Great song writer and performer.A warrior to the end.RIP Mike.

The Alarm 'Marching On' The Tube 1983/84?