REEF - Concorde 2, Brighton.

The Autumn Tour Is In Bloom.

On the 17^th October REEF visited a venue in Brighton which is one of my favourites. The Concorde 2 in Madeira Terrace is a building that is rather deceiving. From the outside it looks like it would only hold about 100 people but as soon as you go through the front doors it really is like stepping through the wardrobe and into Narnia. It is a little breath taking and holds 650 people. The ambience is good and the fact that it is a beautiful building gives you everything you need in a venue to watch your favourite bands or party the rest of the night away when the building sheds it's evening skin and becomes a nightclub. This was my second Saturday photographing REEF in a row, and with the band moving slightly round the coast from the South East of Kent in Margate to the rather cultural West Sussex home of the Sea Gulls (Brighton & Hove Albion,) the Arts (music and everything that involves mark making,) it always makes a great day out to let go in such a fantastic diverse place.

The support act for tonight was the rather awesome ‘Youth Sector’ which are a fantastically Art-Pop 5 piece band from Brighton itself. Wearing large boots that they have filled very well, these guys are also definitely worthy of giving any band a run for any amount of money. Bringing many colours, a very cemented style and some fantastic singing opportunities for those who like to join in with the harmonies, if you are not the kind of person who likes to sing along, then they bring plenty of good music to lose yourself in.

As they ‘Youth Sector’ brought their energised set to an end, they gave a very big shout out to the headlining act ‘REEF,’ thanked everyone for their support and made their way over to the merch table to meet anyone who wanted a snap with them or and one who wanted to simply say ‘hello!’ A great band and I would gracefully love to capture this great band again!!

Timing was everything.

The times for tonight’s show in the ‘Concorde’ were very regimental, doors were at 7pm, ‘Youth Sector’ at 7:20pm and ‘REEF’ were on stage at 8:20pm. And the script was very well written and staged by.

The changeover was quick and smooth, the tech guys descended eagerly down and delivered like a perfectly frantic pit crew in Silverstone on that all important pits stop, making sure that everything was right and everything sounded good!

When everything was complete and everyone had left the stage, the soul music that was playing was faded out, the curtain of darkness was dropped onto the onlooking crowd to let them know that now was the time!

With 8:19pm being upon the venue, the lights dropped, the ‘REEF’ logo illuminated the front few rows of people’s faces and the fuzzed kicked in from the intro music.  The crowd became very vocal and almost were chanting the bands name as it was some form of a war cry to start the evenings hunt for that music that they all were waiting for. As the chants got louder, guitars were handed out and the band were on the stage, we were ready to go!

Cranking the audience up with ‘Feed me,’ and slipping smoothly into ‘Naked,’ the crowd were released from their wait and were up for a great show.

REEF always put on a good show, always feeding off the audience and always willing to take it that one step further to raise the bar, every time I have seen these play live, whether it was Gary playing solo at the very nostalgic and very authentic 90’s inspired ‘Blue Reef Unplugged Session,’ or whether it was the band playing in the lashing rain at the Blue Reef Festival’ itself, nothing seems to stop them from playing their best and when I say nothing, I mean nothing. The same feeling was released on this tour, the feeling that they are just not an old band on a circuit to please the old fans, they’re here because each of them love what they are doing, and God doesn’t it show!

After ploughing perfectly through the set list, song after song with ease, perfection and no problems, the crowd wanted more and more and with very little effort Gary and Co put it into sixth gear, bringing out the belters for the old school crew and fans, these included that one we all know, ‘Place your hands,’ which everyone sang along to and this just pushed the pedal harder to the metal.

The songs that followed just added adrenaline and fuel to the speedy driver and onlooking crew. ‘New bird,’ opened the cage door, ‘Summers in bloom,’ pushed the bird out of the cage and ‘Loose,’ ‘Revelation’ and ultra cool classic ‘TNT’ set the bird free and at high soaring heights, just in time for the encore.

The crowd didn’t want a break and nor did they want the band off the stage either, they wanted to keep going and going. Reef weren’t off the stage for long, they now knew that the audience were a warmed putty in the bands hands and wanted to keep this speedy car full throttled.

Something a little special.

The encored gave the crowd something special and a great opportunity to do something they’ll never regret and gratefully I was there to record it. As the evening peaked Gary came down to the crowd, hopped over the barrier and entered the nosebleed section with the animate rock party goers. It was like adding Mentos to a freshly opened bottle if fizzy cola. Yes, the atmosphere went through the roof and Gary danced everywhere with everyone that wanted to dance with him. What a great end to an out of this world night, finishing up with ‘Yer old,’ this is something that these solid rockers certainly don’t act like! They are literally living their second childhood and living it out through their music!

As the band left the stage, I managed to grab myself a pick and as the lights came up, I left the building to try and hunt down the band to grab a few words with them. After roughly 30 minutes, they left the building and one by one I managed to have a bit of time to talk to them. The main subject that I wanted to cover was the new album that is being written and their fantastic bond they have on and off the stage.

To be honest, it is so beautiful to watch this, and it must be so influencing the new music so much as the closeness would give them heaps of freedom to try new things, relax and explore new heights! They all agreed that the bond was strong and Luke (the solid beats behind the band) quoted that ‘it is a beautiful feeling that is coming from the band and that they love people are noticing it!’ Dam right we are noticing it, you can see it, feel it and it makes you want so much more than you can suck in at any given moment! Gary also quoted about the forever dedicated and brilliant Amy (guitarist, backing singer,) ‘she is an amazing guitarist with a fantastic voice!’ Jack (the Gandalf of all things Rock,) played high on how much he is enjoying everything at the moment and his presence on stage reflects this too! Amy was in agreement and was so happy with the progression and future of the band.

With everyone on board and all in the same mind space about their future, it really is exciting times for all those in and around this forever youthful band of rockers from Glastonbury!

Words & Images Jayson Worsfold/Homebug Photography.