Let’s start from the end: Together The People was a fun, intimate-yet-kicking festival, which was the ultimate weekend activity for the typical music-loving Brightonian.
Situated in the very accessible Preston Park, the 2-day festival had a brilliantly curated line-up, which included well-known names such as Brian Wilson, Suede, Peter Hook and Nathaniel Rateliff, alongside smaller, independent and local bands which were spread over 4 stages throughout the weekend.
Apart from the great musical programme, you could also find a great selection or local food stalls, a retro gaming hub, a kids area, a moving picturehouse, and one of our own personal highlights- a large selection of craft beers and ciders, which is quite a rare treat in festivals.
Considering the great organization, the convenient location, the price and the agenda behind this local, communal festival- we felt that Together The People deserved to be a SOLD OUT festival but unfortunately, judging by the amount of free space around the premises- it looked a bit undersold…
It seemed, however, that the fans of Suede and Brian Wilson have enjoyed that relatively low turn-out, as they could easily hold their spot on the barricade and enjoy being that close to their idols.
Suede’s fans particularly enjoyed that benefit, as lead singer Brett Anderson jumped off the stage on several occasions and stepped on the barricades to interact with his supporters. Said interaction included, at points, him jumping over the barricade and into the crowd whilst continuing to sing perfectly as if he’s not distracted by a thing.
We even managed to be at the right place on the right time to catch these 2 snippets from Suede’s set:
Generally speaking, we enjoyed every single act that we’ve had the chance to catch this weekend. A few shows that really stood out for us (apart from the obvious Brian Wilson and Suede of course) were Hiatus Kaiyote, Gaz Coombes and Fickle Friends, that have left us deeply impressed and longing for more of that sweet sound.
…And here are some of our other highlights from this weekend:
We want to see Together The People happen again next year. It really should. It’s green, it’s local, it supports local artists and it’s done especially for the people. Make sure you get your tickets for next year’s festival as soon as they become available.
©Photos by Gili Dailes