Together the People

Returning for a second year, Brighton’s Together the People festival brought a selection of performers to Preston Park that suited the musical sensibilities of the vibrant city.

Peter Hook & The Light ‘lit’ up the main stage in the early evening, with the low hanging bass of the former Joy Division and New Order member helping to run through a greatest hits set of the Mancunian’s two former bands.

With the likes of ‘Blue Monday’, ‘Digital’, ‘Transmission’ and ‘True Faith’ all making appearances, the set list perfectly catered for the needs of devoted fans. However, whilst each composition may have sounded perfect in the surroundings, the frontman’s egotistical nature left a sour taste in the mouth.

Currently in dispute with former band mates Bernard Sumner and Stephan Morris, you get the feeling he had an ulterior motive with his current incarnation; choosing to overtly grace the stage and exaggerate each of his famous bass lines. He may have been a key cog in the songwriting process, but his imperiousness took away from the overall spectacle. The sooner he can rejoin New Order and begin to start writing original material again, the better.

Next up were a band that have experienced a similar trajectory and change of style to Hook, The Horrors. Long gone are the hazy days of first album ‘Strange House’ where gothic chic met dark punk met to create a vicious and at times, ramshackle spectacle. The five piece are one of the UK’s most beloved bands nowadays and each member’s advanced musicianship becomes perfectly visible when transferred into a live environment.

The crooning vocals of Faris Badwan and the motoric inclinations of the rhythm section marry perfectly with the London band’s two key focal points of synth king Tom Furse and the heir to Kevin Shields- guitarist Joshua Hayward. The pair juxtaposed perfectly with one another as they vied for the audience’s attention, with their blend of melody driven synthetic soundscapes and crunching, distorted reverb takingthe older crowd into a vortex of distorted reality.

Headliners Suede then brought the event to a close with an amalgamation of well known hits, obscure B-sides and brand new tracks. Replacing their 90s androgynous inclinations with far more conservative, yet dramatic attire. The band’s sense of theatre has now been re imagined on a large scale and Brett Anderson proved to be the perfect showman for the tired bodies already dreading the following monday morning.

With the majority of Suede’s contemporaries now finding themselves performing to dwindling and bewildered crowds in smaller venues, the Sussex natives are more relevant than ever, with Anderson’s deep seated charisma never failing to lose its charm.

Paul Hill
@paulhill3