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Braincandy: EST for Suffolk's music scene?

By Andrew Woodger

The first Braincandy event at the Ipswich Corn Exchange was sold-out and the organisers are hoping it can become a regular event. King Billy & The Marvelous and Charlie Brown headlined alongside art exhibitions and films.

First and foremost the people at Ip1zine need to be congratulated for organising the event and trying to inject a bit more life into the Suffolk music and arts scene.听 The event was spread out over The Venue, the bar areas, the foyer and Cinema 2.听 However, the capacity was limited to just 300, which meant that the crowd for the music stage seemed a little sparse at times.听 Hopefully next time, the Corn Exchange managers can allow a bigger crowd in without flouting the accursed fire and safety limits?

Creyola Thief Genius

Comperes for the event were the Urban Sofa Beat Collective.听 Billed as the comedy element, it was more a case of two blokes chatting on a sofa and introducing the bands.听 Their comedy podcasts are available on their website.

Creyola Thief Genius started things off musically.听 Joel and Jo from Charlie Brown are in this four-piece - making a more traditional indie guitar noise in contrast to the keyboard-driven songs that make Charlie stand out from the crowd.听 The vocals were a bit too low in the live mix which goes with being the first band on.听 It was sorted out for the rest of the night.

Braincandy picture gallery

Look at photos from the first event Jan 2006

Ip1zine's editor (and Marc Warren lookalike) Howard Freeman did a Bob Geldof-at-Live-Aid by appearing at his own event.听 His acoustic duo The Horns kept the music going from the sofa while the main stage equipment was turned around.听 Their American easy-feeling songs provided a pleasant interlude, but does the lyrical reference to "the money shot" mean he's planning a porn element in Cinema 1 at the next Braincandy?

Cats Against The Bomb is a one-man band, but not a bit like Leo Sayer.听 Not like Billy Bragg either, as it features a drum-machine and a frenzy of guitar effects pedals.听 A cut-up of bits of guitar noise and speech, it's an interesting listen, although the man himself played it all in a disinterested manner and that seemed to transfer to the crowd.

King Billy at Braincandy #1

Highlights from the under-threat silver screen included a montage of inmates at HMP Wayland in Norfolk talking about their drug problems.听 Powerful stuff and strong imagery.听 Six local artists had displays in the bar area.听 Most eyecatching were the "Skin" pictures of Kathryn Tydeman - open wounds on canvas which clearly have a sexual element?!?

Charlie Brown have belt issues

All the artists gave up their time for free - and the evening closed with two of the best local bands who got the crowds dancing.听 Charlie Brown again proved they're the ones to watch and the night closed with King Billy & The Marvelous' brand of funk, ska, Clash-in-reggae-mode punk, barked lyrics and attitude.听 A very tight sound by four boys who look like a classic band-as-gang.听听 Many younger members of the audience had drifted away by this time - presumably because they'd got to go to school the next day.听 Not very rock'n'roll behaviour.听 See Me.

Ip-Spit strike a pose

Minor gripes about Braincandy include the lack of a cloakroom (it is winter for gawd's sake) and maybe a spot of food could be available?听 Smokers have to stand outside the front door and you're not allowed to take drinks into the cinema.听Overall though it's a great event with a lot of potential and one worth supporting.听 Hopefully, they'll let more people in next time.

Your reviewer missed poets Nee-Hi and Trusay and hip-hop/beat quartet Ip-Spit听 because he was watching the looped films at the bottom of the staircase and in Cinema 2.听听 Just like a mini-Glastonbury you can't see everything听 - so do add your own reviews using the Have Your Say box below ....

last updated: 26/11/2008 at 14:34
created: 18/01/2006

Have Your Say

c.l.h
i now howard freeman he told me about the adventureand he sed it was ecellent

Dave
Great night, bad venue - it is very grim.

rob woodhouse
I SAW A REALLY GOOD BAND CALLED NITE CURFEW WITH THIS LOVELY GIRL WHO PLAYS GUITAR AND SINGS YOU ORT TO CHECK EM OUT SEE YA ROB

Larry Bragg
Where are the violins?

Johhny Clarke
Great Event. Much talent. Downside is The Venue continues to be awful. I've been to lots of promotions there and its such a shame that promoters like Furry and Lunerjunkie have decided to leave.

Nat
What an awesome evening. My favourite band was by FAR Mark and How, The Horns. American-easy-feeling? wot tripe.

waftytarn
Would just like to say well done to all the guys at ip1zine for organising such a successful night, Lets hope the peeps of ipswich start to stand up and notice the home grown talent that was evident from this event. 2006 is the year for KING BILLY AND THE MARVELOUS. Always follow your dreams!

Juanos
What a great night - It was refreshing to attend an local arts event that managed to soar above the usual community jumble sale of bland sub standard acts we have grown accustomed to - sorry but has anyone actually enjoyed that mayday tedium at alexander park? Bring on BrainCandy2 - maybe you could help out the mayday organisers?

Eric "Iralie" Matthews
It was good, review here seems a little condensed. I mean it even missed out the Unreal gaming going on there.

marco
shame all the comments seem to be mostly about the bands when there was some other fantastic things to be seen here, the bands were awesome though. the wide range of art was great and the films were also entertaining and somewhat interesting. it's exactly what ipswich and the surrounding area needed to promote the ever growing local talent, in whatever shape or form. more of this please!

Charlie
The horns - American easy feeling songs? Tosh! Bad, lazy description of a great act.

Jephy Riphage
I personally think this review is a load of rubbish. Yes Jo and Joel play in Charlie Brown but Charlie Brown are a completely different band to The Creyola Thief Genius. It would have been nice to get a review of The Creyola Thief Genius' set as opposed to a comparison with Charlie Brown, which you would not have made if 2 members weren't in both bands. It seems really lazy to write 6 line comparison and call it a review. Also, like Rachel I think your criticisms of the event are poorly researched. I think its wrong of you to criticise anything if you were too lazy to ask one of the organisers why smoking wasn't allowed, why there wasn't a cloakroom and why they couldn't afford to stuff your face with pie (entry was 拢3, think about the overall costs - a spot of food for 300 people will cost more than they made from ticket sales). If you're going to review something, then do it properly and take the time to do your homework - its the least you do for the organisers and artists who worked completely free to make the event such a sucess.

Anonymous
To reply to Jan, the Evening Star ran an article prior to the night that focused mainly on King Billy playing at a night called Braincandy, organised by a community group in conjunction with the council. No mention of IP1zine (the organisers) was made (for whatever reason) although Braincandy was mentioned several times.

Rachel
I have to say I don't think this is a very well researched review. A lot of your criticisms may seem worthy but if for example you actually bothered to try and understand fire regulations you would soon learn that these rules cannot be bent asthey are inforced very strictly by the fire service. As such the IP1 crew did a brilliant job of filling the space given the rules they were confonted with.I think you'll find that there were far more than 6 artists on display in the bar area, as was made clearly visible via the labels next to each artists work.I think all in all this was a very successful event, (they had to turn many people away at the door)and one that is well needed by the Ipswich arts community. It desreves full support and praise in my opinion. After all everyone involved offered their time and work for free.

Jan
Great effort from IP1 ! The cherry on the iced bun for me,was King Billy and the Marvelous,awesome!Where's the review in the Evening Star?

bob
fantastic night, just what ipswich and all the local talent needed. great to see local films screened, somniscope films were great!

Dave Gangees
I have been awakened to a new musical dawn by the music of The Horns. Long live The Horns!

Chico
Watched King Billy And The Marvelous at The Garage, Islington a few weeks ago, glad i came again, they didnt disappoint!

Larry Foreman
King Billy And The Marvelous, ace man, tunes that stick in your head without being obviously commercial, they need to be playing at major venues

Mark
One of the best nights Ipswich has seen in a long time, the night had something for everyone. Excellent Get the Braincandy Out!

spesh
IT WAS SUCH A SUCCESS!!! Cats against the bomb! omg that was genius! so oldskool random! My favourite was of course the wonderful KING BILLY AND THE MARVELOUS! Big shout to king sticky and the guys!

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