The Blind Tiger club – Speakeasy // Old Music Library // 10/10/09

Last weekend saw the return of The Blind Tiger club, Brighton’s occasional speakeasy, this time hosted at the former public records library on New Street. The weekend did not get off to a promising start when my much-anticipated plans for attendance at the Thursday night warm up sadly fell at the last hurdle, with a family engagement and M25 based traffic jam resulting in my very late arrival on the Friday. The weekend was rescued when the promoters took pity and kindly invited us back for Saturday’s festivities.

Brighton based Playgroup have been hosting parties in various guises since 2006, although this was only the Blind Tiger Club’s second outing, the inaugural event winning the Brighton Festival Fringe Award for Most Groundbreaking Show earlier this year. Organiser Declan Cassidy explained his concept of a festival within a club, the idea that a good night out doesn’t have to centre around a big name headliner and legions of adoring fans. One of the best things about festivals is coming away feeling like you’ve discovered new bands, rather than being aggressively marketed a must-see performance. It seems like this is something Playgroup strive to facilitate. The information prior to the event listed few of the acts who were actually playing, which led to pleasant surprises all the way through.

Headlining both Friday and Saturday nights were the Correspondents, London based swing-hop duo. If you’re wondering if a yet another new genre has just been invented there, you might not be alone, unless you’ve seen these geniuses at any one of many festival appearances over the summer, in which case you know exactly how they manage to merge together wide ranging jazz influences with some big beats in their own magic formula. This is the sort of music that is made for live performance, or at least the type of live performance that I want to watch. As the years go on I find I’m less and less interested in the type of gig that involves a lot of standing still looking pensive, there’s opportunity enough for that at home on my sofa.

Another highlight for me were the previously unknown to me Baca Maraca, multi instrumented outfit with fantastic female vocalist who played in the dusty basement of the venue on Saturday night. I’m struggling to find any online source for these guys, please point me in the right direction via the comments below if you can help.

I’d never been inside this building before, which has apparently been serving as an art gallery in recent days, so I don’t know whether the shabbiness and dilapidation were endemic when Playgroup got the keys, or whether the effects were exaggerated for the speakeasy attendee’s benefit, but for me the ambiance was a wholly refreshing antidote to the ever present chrome, lights and lasers set up and general shininess which feature in so many clubs these days. It was certainly a stark and pleasant contrast to the last time I ventured out clubbing, on a somewhat ill-fated mission to the Funky Budha Lounge where my friend was sent home to put on some long trousers. As it was, the vast majority seemed to have taken the 1920s theme on board when it came to wardrobe choices, the odd person present in jeans and a t shirt looked somewhat out of place. However, it was to my eyes entirely without pretence, and you probably could have come in your pjs for all anyone on the door would have noticed or cared. There is a fine line between shabby chic and being dripped on from the ceiling and peeling your feet off the floor with every step but the right side of this was definitely successfully achieved.

Like all fledgling festivals, there were some organisational issues to contend with. I’m not sure whether the outdoor portaloos were a plumbing based necessity, or an attempt to enhance the festival vibe (I’m hoping the former) but the capacity of the four cubicles was stretched to breaking point fairly early on. I am told there were overcrowding issues on the stairs on the Friday but by Saturday night this was being effectively managed by the security. I hasten to add that these are minor quibbles.

I was excited to hear about plans for a Playgroup festival, potentially making its debut next summer. After the disappointment that was Beachdown (still no refunds from those shysters for most folks, it seems), Brighton needs a fresh approach to a local festival, focussing on true local talent, giving overpaid has-been superstars a wide berth. Perhaps the guys at Playgroup will be the ones to get the balance right and establish the successful festival that Brighton deserves. In the meantime, keep an eye out for their upcoming Halloween mashup headlining Evil Nine, which will take over the Komedia on the 31st.