Sussex’s largest rock and metal weekend gains crucial second stage

Across the two stages, across two days, there will be 36 bands for Sussex’s largest rock and metal weekend, running on Saturday, July 19 and Sunday, July 20, with one stage in Chalk and the other next door in Dust, all in the heart of Brighton.

Managing director Harry White is delighted with the way it has all come together – and with all the opportunities that the second stage will bring.

“That's the biggest change that we have got this year. Over the last few years we've had ten bands per day over two days so 20 bands in all but now we have moved to a bigger venue. We haven't quite doubled the number of bands but the way we've done it means that you can see all of them. There will be no clashes. We will have 36 bands, nine per stage per day and as one band is finishing in Dust another will be starting in Chalk and you can just walk between them. You go out, come around the corner and then straight in the door in less than a minute which means that you will be able to see everything over the weekend – 22 hours of music.”

It's a move which makes sense: “You think of The Great Escape and they take over the whole of the city and multiple venues. Almost every music venue in Brighton partakes in The Great Escape as well of lots of alternative bars and clubs that are not necessarily places that have live music. And I think more and more festivals are doing that in the UK. It is a lot cheaper to hire a couple of venues rather than set up a giant stage in the middle of a field, and also when you do it this way, you are naturally where there are people. If you're in the city, then everybody is already here. It just makes sense.

“But the reason it is so important to have that extra stage is that it means I can give a lot more local talent a slot. When you've only got 20 bands then I'm halfway there in terms of booking them for the following year the day after the festival finishes. But when you've got more slots you can give more of the up-and-coming bands that are local to the area a go. It means that you can take more chances.

“When you first start thinking about the next year, then you are thinking about the established names. They are the bands that are going to bring in the crowds, and that's the reality – as much as I would love to have 36 up-and-coming Brighton bands there. You've got to get established names nationally and in some cases even internationally, the recognised bands that bring in the people. But once you've done that, then you get the chance to put in so many more local bands if you've got a second stage, the kinds of bands that I've seen at gigs and just thought that they would be worth a go. But the point is that you need a combination of the two and I think that's what we've got for this year.”

Bands this year include: Tygers Of Pan Tang (new wave of British heavy metal band, co-headlined Reading Festival); Demon (several albums in the charts in the 80s, also part of the new wave of British heavy metal); The Raven Age (featuring George Harris, son of Iron Maiden's Steve Harris); Dream State and Fort Hope. Key local bands include Bleed Again (ever present at Hammerdown annually, based between Worthing and Lancing); Sypha (Brighton based); and Hell Can Wait (Brighton based).