Town of Cats have a new record and are launching it with an expanded orchestral lineup, accompanied by two of the best, most dedicated, purposeful and exciting world-music groups the UK has ever produced (Yamäya, Afro-jazz + Opa Rosa, Balkan folk), and one of the most exciting bands to emerge from the buzzing UK jazz-prog scene (plantfood), along with the usual array of walkabout brass bands, circus performers, electro-ceilidhs, non-stop live music, expansive line-ups, and our ever growing community of XL-appreciators!
We've been advised by our social media manager that our copy is too long - people need short snappy headlines in this busy profit-driven world, not long rambling anecdotes about Japanese folklore. But we prefer to celebrate the overblown. To try and reduce a lineup like this to as few lines would be doing a disservice to the brilliance of all the musicians and performers involved.
So for those of you who enjoy the expansive; the few who can handle the gargantuan; the ones who like to see the bigger picture - put the kettle on, settle into your favourite armchair and read on...
An old man once said: "There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats." We look forward to celebrating this divine feline combination with you, in the midst of the Brighton's Festival season, on the historic boards of The Old Market.
Japanese legend has it that when cats live to an old age, they begin to develop supernatural powers and transform into a Bakeneko. Soon they begin to walk about on their hind legs. As they age and their powers increase, they can grow to be very large, sometimes as big as a full-grown human (or a 16-piece band). Bakeneko possess great shape-shifting abilities and frequently disguise themselves as humans – sometimes even their own masters. While in disguise, they like to dress up as humans - often with a towel or some other fabric wrapped around their heads whilst dancing merrily. On an unrelated note, Town of Cats will be releasing their new record, whilst celebrating their 60th birthday (that’s 11 human years!)
We have created a careful concoction of creatures great and small, to deliver one of the best Big is Beautiful lineups we could ever have conceived! Afro-jazz, cumbia, hip-hop, Balkan folk, Klezmer, electro-Celtic reels, new-jazz explorations and lots of other words to describe things that are better listened to than read about - join us on the beautiful Old Market dance floor for a night of foot-stomping, body-shaking revelry!
THE LINE-UP
THE TOWN OF CATS ORCHESTRA
The Cats are back in town to celebrate the release of their new album What If It’s Right Here? - a six-track celebration of everything the group has come to represent over their 11 years together - and they are bringing a whole number of extra furry feline friends along to celebrate the launch! Augmented with strings, special guest vocalists, and a whole cat choir, we have struggled to fit this elaborate feline-display-of-power into the four historic walls of the Old Market.
Grown in Brighton’s grubby and fertile musical petri dish, this ever-mutating municipality of musical misfits are able to harness the transformative power of the best parties - in a way that only a huge horn section and super tight rhythms can do. The kind of parties that set fire to your zero-hour contract and remind you that change, real change, can come from the most ordinary of places. Energetic wordplay careens between raised-brow pannage and righteous indignation at the state of the nation; funk rhythms dare you not to dance; boiling blasts of brass and guitar warp from crystalline chicken scratches to face-melting prog explosions. Whether the keys belong to some sleazy lounge act or the 'Mothers of Invention' is still up for debate...
Town of Cats started life as a winking, whimsical set of backstreet fables. Over the last 11 years, they’ve coalesced into battle-hardened groove-bearers with a well-worn but vital message: when we stand together, we break down walls.
"The band manage to capture such incredible energy through their full throttle performance and if the audience were lounging around on our sofas at the opening of their set by song two they’re all up and dancing and responding to incredible energy the band give off" - Alba Torriset (People's Front Room)
"Town of Cats were incredible at Nozstock: The Hidden Valley this year! They had the audience in the palm of their hands and brought nothing but the best vibes to our beloved Garden Stage! They can come back anytime" – Ben Peer (Nozstock Festival)
"Master Blasters! Town of Cats are the best festival band EVER!! Prepare to dance!" – Constance Dalrymple (Mandrea Festival)
"Town of Cats are nothing less than remarkable. They went down an absolute storm at the festival – they are incredible musicians, fantastic performers – and, just as important to a festival organiser, absolutely brilliant people" – Outfields Festival
YAMÄYA
UK Afro-jazz interpreters Yamäya are back in Brighton for Big is Beautiful 5! This collective of talented London and Brighton-based musicians have finely crafted their own distinctly mesmerising sound. Yamäya amalgamate influences from across the great African continent including Afrobeat, Griots and Ethiopiques with modern tinges of dub, hip hop, jazz and beyond.
Their rich and intricate grooves are then layered with the inimitable rhythm and harmonic palette of Wolof song and rap. Expect triumphant horns, majestic vocals, and an unparalleled, heavy rhythm section. One of the best live bands in Britain delivering powerful original music eclectically drawn from Afrobeat, Ethio-Jazz, Dub, Mbalax, Jazz, and other distinctly UK styles.
"Fresh, uplifting... powerfully delivered lead vocals which take me to Senegal, the Trombone solo, tenor sax solo, baritone sax solo, guitar solo all being spot-on where they pop up, to the horn arrangements which create the promise of yet more to come" – Dele Sosimi (Fela Kuti’s Egypt 80)
"This is a fresh, uplifting and powerfully delivered album, where each of the ten tracks stands out. I am so looking forward to listening to more of this band!" - Dele Sosimi (Wah Wah 45s)
"An entrancing journey through deep and heavy grooves layered with blazing horns, afro-centric rhythms and mystical Senegalese vocals. Yamäya pay homage to the music's roots whilst forging new frontiers" – Jon Jones (Rootsgarden Records)
"Yamäya have honed their tight and funky afrobeat with a new dynamic. Expect of course a thumping Fela horn section, razor-sharp guitars, and unstoppable percussion, but their sound is made noticeably unique with its incorporation of vibrant Senegalese Mbalax and Wolof vocals from their talented singer Khadim Sarr" - John Warr (Afrobase Radio)
http://www.funkiwala.com/Yamaya/
PLANTFOOD
plantfood are a 6 piece, blood-pumping jazz tour de force, summoning an intricate mix of electronic and acoustic layers, with influences all the way from spiritual jazz to contemporary club music.
Hard-hitting grooves and ENERGY with influences and inspiration from artists such as The Comet is Coming, The Prodigy and fellow Leeds-raised band, Nubiyan Twist - from the mosh pit to serene soundscapes and back again, the journey that plantfood will take you on is an unforgettable one - and their momentum continues to grow - winning accolades such as the 2023 Drake Yolanda award, numerous radio playlisting spots and audiences hearts and minds with their incredible live shows.
"My favourite discovery of Glastonbury 2023" - Gabriel Francis (AKA Papaoul)
"I thought the camera was shaking from the bass - turns out it was my eyes!" - Dan Akers
"One of the top bands in the currently buzzing Leeds DIY Jazz+ scene" - DJ Lubi Jovanovic
https://www.plantfoodband.com/
OPA ROSA
The first time we met Opa Rosa was on our very first BiB, back in 2022, and they immediately became some of our favourite musical heroes! Fast gaining a reputation as one of the UK’s most dynamic and virtuosic bands, Opa Rosa are an energetic acoustic ensemble sharing music from the Balkan, Greek, Klezmer and Roma traditions.
With several combined decades of study and experience, all five musicians are well-versed in the musical traditions’ syntax and significance, capturing all the joy and sorrow that these traditions are so renowned for expressing. Deeply rooted in Balkan traditions, Opa Rosa’s music aims to explore and reinvent the motifs of Eastern Europe by subtly drawing from other musical influences such as Post-Rock, Classical and Jazz.
With their lineup of violin, clarinet, accordion, double bass and percussion, their unique and refined sound consists of an explosive and grooving rhythm section combined with intricate melodies soaring over rich and nuanced harmonic structures.
"Opa Rosa paint Eastern Europe with a whole new palette of colours - there’s no doubt that the music they make is for the heart and the feet. It is incredibly uplifting, beautifully freeing. Music that is pulsing, heart-racing and, quite simply glorious…" - Gavin McNamara (Bristol 24/7)
"Among the plethora of bands purveying the ‘Balkan sound’ few have taken the trouble to properly immerse themselves in Central Europe’s rich variety of musical traditions. Step forward, then, Opa Rosa - a swinging acoustic quartet whose set list meanders across the region from Macedonia to Moldova and beyond, setting themselves the task of catching the many subtle differences of style and rhythm and fearlessly rising to the instrumental challenge required. Playing with maximum energy and a great sense of fun they soon had a lively Valley Fest audience enthralled and even dancing despite the heatwave temperatures of a steaming afternoon" - Tony Benjamin
"Opa Rosa - a high-energy, incredibly tight and talented band. Flexible, fun, great to listen to. A great Klezmer band and lots more besides for your bar mitzvah, wedding, Klezmer Ceilidh, festival or concert" - Fiona Frank (Scottish Council of Jewish Communities)
CEILIDH BOOM
As usual, we are lucky to have the inimitable Electro-Ceilidh outfit - Ceilidh Boom - opening the night for us. Making the most of our excessively-sized venue, they will lead you through a selection of willow-stripping, Scotsman-flying reels, hornpipes and jigs - welcoming in the night with a big, sweaty, two-step folkie mess!
"I can't believe it's not better" - the Dairyman's Daughter
"What an amazing way to go get the party started! Well instructed and booming tunes - highly recommend for any event" - David Cameron
"I’M BARRY SCOTT - BOOM AND THE CEILIDHS ON" - Sam Salter (ITV News)
https://www.facebook.com/ceilidhraveparties/
BRASSIC PARP
Brassic Parp (a special off-shoot of Town of Cats, the Meow Meows and Buffo's Wake) will be on hand to provide you with all your essential 90's pop classics - a new type of brass band, blurting out DJ-style pop-medleys and mixing the likes of Limp Bizkit with Celine Dion, Britney with Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls and Taylor Swift.
However great these musical medleys might sound, you're never quite sure whether or not these intense brass arrangements are actually just a thinly veiled excuse to dress up as their favourite characters from Jurassic Park.
Standing
Doors: 19:00
Final entry: 22:30
End: 01:00
Tickets:
Super early bird - £20
Early bird - £25
Full price - £30
Age: Strictly 18+ only
Presented by Fail Better Productions