Knox Hill, Viktus & Friends at Patterns, Brighton

A fantastic night of music, Knox Hill, Viktus & Friends and friends at Patterns on a sunny evening in Brighton. I’ve visited a few venues in Brighton but this was the first at Patterns, i believe they have more than one room, tonight was downstairs and what a great small venue for the evening it was. Take a look at our Tik Tok for a selection of videos from the night.

The night started with Prose from Manchester, Mike Murray, a rapper/singer and a guitarist on backing vocals. Add some Manc banter and swagger with social commentary and often personal lyrics about subjects like caravan holidays and you have a great opener. The crowd loved it. I’ve since looked into the band and they’ve supported bands like the Dub Pistols so making some waves in the Manchester Music scene. He said it was a seven hour journey down for this gig and i’m glad they made the effort. @prosemusic

Next up was Tony Humphries aka @hiphopshippy or @tonyhumphriesmusic – great charisma and what a performance. This guy can as they say spit lyrics with the best of them and I think he smiled more than anyone in the room. A true find. His drummer was awesome, the two playing off each other and even some great drum solos were left to beat through the place. He threw a Limp Bizkit track in out the blue which went down a storm, he could have done with a bit more headroom to jump in there.

Next on was Woody Wasey, a change of speed and tempo and as well as the drums, the addition of another guitar. Big songs elevated by an almost anthem like backing track filled the room. A great voice and a great vibe to the set. I’m looking forward to listening to the actual recordings online. @woodywasey

Viktus was on next to a raucous applause. Harder rap was the order of the day and he worked through tracks with a dedication like delivery but was an effortless force on stage. A more dare I say traditional rap sound that had the crowd bouncing. He dropped into pretty much everyone’s set over the night. A great performer and for a couple of songs was joined by Liv Sangster for some extra vocals and great beat boxing. Clearly a crowd favourite by the number of Viktus shirts already being worn in the queue outside. @its_viktus

Then it was Knox Hill, joining Viktus for his last track or was it Knox’s first track? What followed was a masterclass in lyrical delivery, a great rapper and proved then by adding a freestyle section accompanied by Tony Humphries, using audience prompts like ‘Satsuma’ ‘High Pitch’ and ‘Adult Nappies’ (suggested by my Mrs) and Tony had ‘Hammerhand’ and ‘Spreadsheet’. They dispatched the song brilliantly. Recently pulled for a few copyright infringements by a big label only led to adding a villain for the night to lightheartedly poke fun at. A fantastic performer. knoxhillmusic.com

One by one all performers of the night joined the stage culminating in the final track and the end to a fun night. Take a look at our Tik Tok for a selection of videos from the night.

Independent artists doing what they love in a cooperative night that could be called a showcase but was as much two fingers to labels and a ‘doing it our own way’ approach to their craft. Great performances, great venue and we’ve now booked for the next gig in Bristol to experience it all over again for Knox Hill, Viktus and Friends Birthday show.