The first ever Brighton Psych Fest will take place on August 30, and comedian Stewart Lee is curating his very own stage to showcase five avant-garde acts to appear alongside the likes of The Horrors, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, SCALER, bdrmm and NewDad.
Lee's stage will be hosted at the Komedia club, and will feature The Bevis Frond, The Physics House Band, Alison Cotton, Eliza Skelton and Secluded Bronte.
Speaking about his involvement in the festival, Lee says, "Brighton Psych Fest asked me to host and program a stage, which is reckless of them as the last thing I curated, the 2016 Prestatyn All Tomorrow’s Parties, went bust. And no, I didn’t get paid either. Nonetheless, here’s a mind-melting day out of acid-hued action from five of my favourite acts, with minimal onstage interruptions from me.
"I’ve tried to skew the selection towards Brighton and Hastings talent," he adds, "because sometimes we don’t always acknowledge the geniuses on our own doorsteps."
Of his hand-picked stage headliners The Bevis Frond, the comedian says, "Nick Saloman’s enduring underground legends enter their thirty-eighth year utterly undimmed, surging inland from the seafronts of the South Coast with paisley power-pop anthems Teenage Fanclub would’ve clobbered them for, short sharp shocks of Wipers-influenced melodic hardcore, and vast electrical storms of duelling guitars that sound like the ‘70s Miles Davis band battling The Quicksilver Messenger Service. The Bevis Frond are a silver thread running through my life."
For those wondering what the other artists on his stage sound like, Lee says that The Physics House Band play "ugly-beautiful instrumental progressive rock that aging King Crimson fans think no-one can play anymore", that Alison Cotton is "a Nico for now", and Eliza Skelton is "a cross between Steve Nicks and a Stygian witch that can see into your soul".
And Secluded Bronte?
"People who hate my stand-up often deny it even constitutes ‘comedy’. Doubtless many would wonder if the work of the veteran improvisatory trio Secluded Bronte should be considered ‘music’. Instruments may be involved, perhaps furniture, maybe even words, or all three in a chance collision of calculated heterogenity. All that is certain – time will pass, and something will happen. Start your day in a right state."
General admission tickets to Brighton Psych Fest are available to buy here.
