Mutations Festival @ Various Venues, Brighton 23rd–24th October 2026
Mutations is back for its eighth year, and once again promoters FORM have crammed more than 90 bands into ten of Brighton’s grassroots venues over two nights: Chalk, Patterns, Revenge, The Hope & Ruin, Green Door Store, The Prince Albert, The Folklore Rooms, Dust, Alphabet and Daltons. This is the festival that gave plenty of us our first look at Fat Dog, Kneecap, English Teacher and The Last Dinner Party, so expectations are always high.
Throw in two named storms, cancelled trains and more clashes than anyone could sensibly navigate, and you have this year’s edition. With several reviewers and photographers covering the action, we couldn’t catch everything, but between us, we managed to experience a sizeable chunk of what Mutations had to offer. Here’s how our weekend played out.
FRIDAY 23rd OCTOBER
For me, the 2026 Mutations Festival starts at the spectacularly rammed Patterns venue with Mouth Ulcers. They’re a London-based four-piece comprising Zak Watson on vocals and guitar, Josephine Rose on guitar and vocals, Jamie-Lee Culver on bass and David Zbirka on drums. Their sound is very post-punk, and there’s some nice ethereal guitar from Josephine. The second song features keyboards, but from my rather restricted viewing position, I can’t see who’s playing them, or whether they’re on the backing track.
Vocalist Zak’s singing is very distinctive. It’s kind of airy in a way. The keyboards sound oddly glacial, and there’s some cool motorik drumming. A taped peal of bells precedes the final song. It’s powerfully urgent compared to the rest of the set and has a searing guitar solo. This band are undoubtedly very good. I can’t say that I haven’t enjoyed them, but I can’t help feeling that I’ve heard it all before.
Round the corner in Pool Valley, Chalk, the biggest of the Mutations rooms, is already filling up for Theatre, the first band on its stage this weekend. They’re a five-piece gothic/shoegaze band from Limerick, fresh from a seven-date tour of England that included a sold-out night at The Lexington in London. They have a Brighton connection too: we learn during the set that vocalist Maeve O’Shea’s father is from the city.
This is the fourth time I’ve seen Theatre, and they are high on my list of favourites of the year. Maeve’s amazing, haunting vocals, which resemble a mix of Dolores O’Riordan and Elizabeth Fraser, impress throughout, and the larger stage allows her plenty of room to move and dance around. Her vocals are backed by impressive, intricate late-80s/early-90s jangly guitar playing from Dara Gooney and Oscar Halpin. Sean Storan’s drums thump along, while Gerry ‘Sonny’ Sheil adds bass.
Their set contains all five songs from their debut EP Incarnate, released in June, as well as unreleased tracks Future, Clouds and Lough. They are definitely a band on the up, and it would be no surprise to see them move on to bigger and better stages.
I next head over to Chalk for Silver Gore. In the back of my mind, I seem to remember there was a reason I wasn’t too keen on this band, at least their live iteration. I’m sure I’ll remember why soon enough. The band consists of vocalist Ava Gore, who also plays drums on the records (she’s been playing drums since she was a child), and Ethan P Flynn, who plays guitar and keyboards. They’re accompanied by a drummer whose name we’re not told.
The opening song is very C86. The vocals are cool but a bit reticent. The backing vocals are on the backing track. The next song has a delicately picked guitar intro. There are one or two samples which I suspect are triggered by the drummer. One of the samples seems to be a pedal steel. The vocals appear to be a little low in the mix, which is a tad frustrating.
Apart from occasionally playing keyboards, Ethan is strumming an acoustic guitar. This is starting to look very much like a studio project making a semi-live appearance. We’re hearing a lot of music that certainly isn’t being generated onstage. At one point, it’s only the vocals and drums that are being played live.
I remember why I wasn’t too keen on Silver Gore as a live band: so little of their performance is actually played live. Their records are great, and I honestly believe the best way to enjoy the band is to listen to their recorded work. During their last song, Ethan plays his acoustic guitar behind his head as a very accomplished electric guitar solo comes out of the speakers. We can’t see what he’s playing with his guitar neck where it is. Perhaps he played the solo for the backing track and is miming to it here. Who knows?
It’s the age-old argument about what does and does not constitute a live performance. Have Silver Gore given us a live performance today? Honestly? Only partially.
While Silver Gore are still on, Modern Woman have taken to the stage over at Revenge, and our camera makes the dash across to catch them.
One band that very definitely plays everything live is Basht. I can confirm that, as I’m right down at the front at Chalk to see them. The Dublin four-piece comprises Jack Leavey on vocals and guitar, Louis Christle on bass, Lughaide Armstrong-Mayock on lead guitar and Ryan McLelland on drums.
There are perhaps inevitable comparisons with Fontaines D.C. Stylistically, they are musically similar. Like Fontaines, there are few guitar solos as such, but Lughaide contributes interesting guitar sounds and licks throughout the songs. He is relatively understated in a ‘less is more’ kind of way. Also, Jack Leavey is a more melodic singer than Grian Chatten. He doesn’t imitate the latter’s ‘speak-sing’ style. Lughaide’s guitar is clear and powerful, and often seems to be just on the edge of feeding back.
This is the third time the band have played Mutations Festival, and they’re pleased to be playing at Chalk. They have just released their debut album Poor Advice, which much of tonight’s set is drawn from. The band are currently on tour and play Camden KOKO on 30th October. They’re very definitely a cracking live band. What are you waiting for?!
Next door at Revenge, it’s time for my first band of the day, Death Valley Girls, and my debut encounter with this American rock outfit who came into being way back in 2013 in Los Angeles. My copy of the Mutations programme states that, for the better part of a decade, LA’s scrappy rock ’n’ roll mystics have used their music to tap into a communal cosmic energy. So let’s see if this is indeed the case…
The quartet take to the stage with Bonnie Bloomgarden holding the fort on vocals and organ. Behind her is drummer Bailey Chapman, while Bonnie is flanked by a guitarist/vocalist and bassist/vocalist who may well be Sarah Safaie and Laena Myers. They are running a little behind schedule, but don’t panic. They have a group hug, then another one. There’s certainly no rushing this lot!
To start, they offer up a slow, gritty psych surge with their trademark three-way vocals, which occasionally stray into country twang. The beat speeds up for their second selection, Bailey certainly comes into her own, and the foot-tapping, hip-swivelling tunes come at us at some pace. I’m a particular fan of Bonnie’s organ sound throughout, which for me harks back to The Doors, The Velvet Underground and early Modern Lovers.
Death Valley Girls aren’t just psych, though. There’s a strong hint of proto- and post-punk going on. Bonnie decides to vacate the stage and get up close with the punters, which works rather well. They are a tight outfit that reminds me of Kleenex and Lilliput. It’s been an enjoyable experience, and I’m glad I made the last-minute change from my proposed band due to the terrible weather.
Back at Patterns, Morn are up next, and the camera is back in the pit for them too.
Today has been cold and wet due to the attentions of Storm Austen. Still, the weather isn’t going to prevent me from trudging up to The Hope & Ruin for Tanzana. The band are a five-piece from Glasgow comprising Freya Talbot on vocals, Lily Findlay and Sarah Dunn on guitars, Katie Hare on bass and Karolina Skinderskye on drums. One of the guitarists doubles up on synth, but unfortunately I don’t know which is which! Tanzana are a lucky find, as I was due to review Cyn Cwsg at Green Door Store, but they have been rescheduled, so I needed a suitable alternative, quick!
Opener This Love tears off at a quick enough pace to grab everyone’s attention. Astar is slower. One of the guitarists (the one who also plays synth) has a Les Paul and demonstrates that she very much knows how to use it. Without A Sound has a nice bass riff courtesy of Katie Hare and drops into near-reggae on occasion. Vocalist Freya has a very rich voice. It’s powerful too. Freya tells us that “Brighton smells of doughnuts”. Okay. It could be a lot worse.
Pulse, Pose, Position is in 6/8, although it goes into 4/4 and back again at one point. The guitarist with the Telecaster (the one who doesn’t also play synth) fingerpicks delicately and delightfully. Her Tele sounds exquisitely clear and bell-like.
They recently released their debut EP Etched In. It has six tracks, so arguably could be described as a mini-album. We’ve already heard three songs from it: This Love, Astar and Without A Sound. Now we’re presented with You Bite, I Bleed, in which the band demonstrate what a finely tuned sense of dynamics they have. Freya also shows that she can scream like a banshee when required.
They play a new song. Indeed, it’s so new that it’s listed on the setlist as New Song! I’m sure it will be properly christened in due course. Freya is on synth for the intro. It’s pleasingly pokey, and Katie’s bassline looks downright difficult. The song becomes quieter and calmer towards the end. Another display of dynamics!
The set ends with Covet, which is on the EP, but I believe was also their first single. The guitarist with the Les Paul is on slide and making seagull noises. As I said earlier, Tanzana are a lucky find and are very definitely one of my bands of the weekend. They’re a superb live band with some really top-notch material. Check ’em out. If you don’t, I’ll know!
Staying put at The Hope & Ruin, next up we have Marsy, a five-piece from London comprising Hannah Rodgers on vocals and guitar, Luke Rodgers on guitar and vocals, Reuben Kyriakides on keyboards and backing vocals, Lucy Rushton on bass, and a drummer who may or may not be called Sean.
Opener Offer features both electric piano and Mellotron. It’s quite a while since I’ve seen a Mellotron played live. This confirms from the off that the band are very much ‘old school’. Hannah Rodgers’ vocals are superb. All of the rest of the band are on backing vocals, and the harmonies are faultless.
You Can You Can’t will soon be released as part of an EP. It features a fingerpicked guitar solo from Luke Rodgers, which is very pleasant. Miss Wave, meanwhile, has only just been released and is the punchiest song of the set thus far. The “yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah!” vocal line sounds a little like David Byrne on Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer.
Hannah discards her guitar for My Old Guy. This is a gentle waltz which is very nice, in more ways than one. Trampoline has a nice keyboard intro and an understatedly noisy ending. It’s all relative, though. My Bloody Valentine this is not. Praises is faster and less well-behaved than the rest of the set so far. It includes the line “Don’t fk me up, don’t fk me over”. This clearly must be the band’s tribute to the punk movement. Possibly.
Happy Hour (not The Housemartins’ tune) features a cool harmonica intro from Hannah. Once again, her singing shows that she really does have the most crystalline voice. Proceedings draw to a close with 1950 Something, which is by some distance the best song of the set, featuring the set’s most interesting guitar solo too, although it’s still rather understated. There’s a nice crescendo towards the end of the song.
Marsy’s playing has been absolutely superb. There’s nothing to fault there. However, I don’t know how Marsy view themselves, but what they’ve presented us with tonight has been melodic soft rock. Again, nothing wrong with that. If you like The Moody Blues or Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac, this is your band. Indeed, with their musical chops, I could see them making an absolute killing playing covers on cruise liners.
However, if they want to do something more original, I would suggest strongly that they perhaps compose some more challenging material that doesn’t sound like it was written to be played in a supper club, and persuade guitarist Luke to stamp on the overdrive pedal occasionally. Just saying.
Meanwhile, back down at Chalk, it’s time for my favourite act of the whole festival, Fat Dog.
We had spotted frontman Joe Love earlier on East Street whilst collecting our wristbands, and some pleasant banter was exchanged. We just knew we had to get into Chalk early to secure good positions, as there’s such a buzz around Fat Dog at the moment. They’ve played Brighton around a dozen times already, courtesy of a number of Great Escape performances, one of which, on Brighton Beach on 12th May 2023, was in my Top 5 sets of that year!
I just love what Joe and his collective have achieved in such a short time, and we aren’t alone. By the time Joe, Chris Hughes (keys, guitar, laptop), Morgan Wallace (sax/keys), Ellis D (drums) and their accompanying musicians on violin, bass and percussion grace us with their presence, there is absolutely no room to move. We are packed in like sardines!
Local hero Ellis D sets off the intro backing, and the remainder of the musicians take to the stage. The atmosphere is electric! Within seconds of opener Smile And Wave, from this year’s Cancel Me (I’m Tired) album, Joe is down off the stage and addressing the punters from the crowd barrier. This becomes a regular occurrence throughout the immense 17-song set.
There’s much merriment throughout the crowd, with vigorous bouncing, moshing and circle pits going off. Being almost at the front means constant barging from revellers is inevitable, but thankfully this hardly detracts from my enjoyment. Joe’s mic is set to echo as a couple of tracks from 2024’s Woof. album take hold, namely All The Same and an exceptional delivery of King Of The Slugs.
A majority of Fat Dog compositions are truly euphoric and give German trance masters Scooter a run for their money, but Fat Dog add their own blend of Arabic and Jewish musical influences into the pot. The set is very well put together, allowing the lively bunch a rest or two during the more sedate offerings before cranking the joyousness up to 11 again!
Not to be outdone, Chris comes into our section and is proudly held aloft as he crowd-surfs. I could wax lyrical about every song this evening, but there isn’t room, so I’ll cut to the chase and flag up the two final cuts: the 2024 earworm single Peace Song and Running, from Woof., with Peace Song being the best of the set.
So, summing up in just one word… Legends!
Tonight ends for me with Oral Habit at The Prince Albert. This wasn’t my original plan, but with trains being cancelled left, right and centre, I need to ensure that I get home. A band more different to Marsy I probably couldn’t have found if I tried, and like Tanzana, they’re another lucky discovery.
They’re a Brighton-based psych-krautrock band with a definite flavour of Osees, comprising Charlie Hales on guitar and lead vocals, Tippi Lewis on bass and vocals, and Felix Hales on drums. They have a keyboard player who isn’t credited on t’internet, which is surprising as he seems to be responsible for a major chunk of their sound. He may or may not be Elliot Stanford. I’m sure he knows whether he is or not, which I guess is the most important thing.
Before the set starts, Charlie hands out beers to the rest of the band. What a nice guy! There are no song titles available, unfortunately, and none are announced, so we’ll just have to go with the flow. Charlie is playing a twelve-string Vox Teardrop (or a copy thereof), which is not something I’ve seen before. The Osees comparison is readily apparent. There are already a couple of mates I’m really going to have to recommend this band to!
The second song is awesome, although where one song finishes and another begins isn’t always clear. There’s a tight psychedelic groove and one of those guitar solos that seems to spiral into the clouds. Felix Hales is an astonishing drummer. Some of the music is incredibly complex, but he seems to be in complete control of it.
The last two songs are from a record that will soon be released. Before the final number, Charlie tells us they’re “going to wig out”, which without further ado they duly do. The guitar solo is very much in the mould of Beck’s Bolero. Then things become way more frantic! Things come to a crashing close, and Charlie thanks us for not going to see Fat Dog.
The pleasure’s all ours, Charlie!
SATURDAY 24th OCTOBER
After facing the ravages of Storm Austen yesterday, today we have to contend with Storm Boelo. Oddly, although today’s storm is supposed to be concentrated on the north of England and Scotland, the weather in Brighton is significantly worse than yesterday. Still, there are bands to review, so what else is there to do but grit my teeth and get on with it?
So it is that I fight my way into the very crowded Dust venue for Ain’t. The place is packed, with, I suspect, many people simply seeking shelter. The band are waiting to start after having had a difficult journey down to Brighton. Their train was terminated at Haywards Heath because of a fallen tree on the line, so they had to get a taxi here.
Ain’t are a five-piece from London comprising Hanna Baker Darch on vocals, George Ellerby on guitar and vocals, Ed Randall on guitar, Chapman Ho on bass and Joe Lockstone on drums. Their music is grungy but melodic. Hanna indulges in some very expressive dancing. Unfortunately, during Only Angels Burst Out Laughing, her vocals drop alarmingly out of key.
The audience’s applause has been lukewarm at best thus far. Perhaps that’s why. The band had to get straight onstage as soon as they arrived and so probably didn’t have a proper soundcheck. The likely explanation is that there’s a problem with Hanna’s monitors. I’ve seen Ain’t before, and Hanna sounded fine then.
Joe Lockstone’s drums impress, and Ed Randall’s guitar is also pretty ace, although it could be higher in the mix. Their final song has some nice spidery guitar and lots of feedback. After a cataclysmic pseudo-ending, there’s a quite unnecessary coda. Some songs can outstay their welcome. Unfortunately, this closing song is one of them.
I toddle around the corner to Chalk for SNAYX, who are the first band on at the venue today. They don’t mess about and are onstage bang on time, opening with old favourite Work and its tale of (putting it nicely) an unhelpful bank manager. The sound is absolutely pummelling from the start and continues in much the same manner throughout. This is pure musical adrenaline.
Bassist Ollie Horner and drummer Lainie ‘Loops’ are one of the best rhythm sections around, whilst vocalist Charlie Herridge is one hell of an engaging frontman. SNAYX have their debut album Greed coming out at the end of February, and although they’ve started with an oldie, most of tonight’s set is from the new album.
Nice Day 4 It is one of a few songs where bassist Ollie doubles on synth. Charlie manages to knock his mic stand into the photo pit, which doesn’t amuse some of the photographers. Today is actually the band’s fourth birthday. How they’ve grown!
Gold Star has recently been released as a single and is about misogyny and the manosphere. Go With You is fast and chunky. The crowd livens up a bit as Charlie jumps in. He gets two sections of the crowd to line up and run against each other. My rugby-playing days are long gone, so I’m keeping well out of the way!
Sink Or Swim is another oldie from the Better Days EP. Charlie calls for us to bounce, and many do. It’s a bouncy song. There’s a mosh pit too. This is still the afternoon! The set closes with a circle pit with Charlie in it. This has been pretty full-on. The material from the new album sounds awesome, and the band have been on fire today. They play Brighton Concorde 2 on 27th March 2027. You know what to do.
Just next door at Revenge, Post Common are getting the afternoon going, and our camera nips in to catch them.
I next battle through Storm Boelo to Patterns for Benchwarmer, almost getting blown over in the process. Benchwarmer are a London-based four-piece. They’ve been operational for about eighteen months, but the band members’ names appear to be a closely guarded secret, as they don’t seem to be on t’internet anywhere.
They commence with the imaginatively titled Intro, a shoegazey instrumental with a nice picked guitar intro which gradually builds into something of a crescendo. The vocals for Mannequin are very reminiscent of Ride, whilst the music is a bit ‘loud-quiet-loud’.
Darkness has an impressive drum intro and is faster than anything else so far, although the vocals are still laid-back, giving the song quite a stoned feel. They go straight from this into Sections. The singer asks us to move, but it doesn’t happen, unfortunately. Heartache is in 6/8 and has a nice lead guitar part which is complemented by the bass part. It’s one of those songs that sounds simple but really isn’t.
The chord sequences throughout are unpredictable, which I really like. The songs rarely go where you expect them to. Closing song Spinning has a cool, laid-back guitar intro. It’s initially quite dreamlike before it sparks up massively after the first verse, then finishes with some momentary feedback. Benchwarmer are a very accomplished band with attitude and ace material. They don’t seem to have any gigs planned at the moment, but when they do, go see ’em. You won’t be disappointed.
Mutations seem to do this every year. They drop some relatively unknown European band into a Brighton venue, and before you know it, the place is being torn apart. Last year, it was the unforgettable Coilguns. This year, Norway’s Hammok arrive at Revenge and promptly make it their mission to demolish the place.
The Oslo post-hardcore punks waste absolutely no time with introductions or pleasantries. From the opening blast, it’s a full-scale assault of screaming vocals, frantic guitars and drums thundering along at what feels like 200 beats per minute. Before the first song has even finished, the front wedge monitor is already in the pit, and the band aren’t far behind it. So much for keeping the performers onstage!
There’s barely a second to catch your breath as Hammok rip through one blistering punk number after another. It’s chaotic, ferocious and gloriously unhinged, the sort of performance where the line between audience and band becomes increasingly meaningless. Even the one supposedly ‘slow’ number is an absolute rager. Perhaps it passes for a breather in Norway, but there’s certainly no let-up for the rest of us.
By the closing moments, whatever boundaries remained between stage and crowd have completely disappeared. Most of the band, instruments and all, are down in the pit, moshing alongside the very people they’ve spent the set whipping into a frenzy.
Sweat, noise, bodies and complete mayhem. Hammok haven’t just played Revenge; they’ve practically taken possession of it. Every festival needs one of those performances that leaves you grinning like an idiot and wondering what on earth just happened. This is one of them.
I stay in Patterns for Iguana Death Cult, who, apart from having a really cool name, really are something else. The band are from Rotterdam and comprise Uri Rennart on drums, Tobias Opschoor on guitar, Jimmy de Kok on percussion and synth, Jeroen Reek on bass and vocals, plus an additional guitarist.
There are a number of influences apparent in their music. At times, they sound like a punky Creedence Clearwater Revival with a hint of Hawkwind. They also sound like Warmduscher in that band’s rockier moments. With searing guitar and funky tom-toms, they sometimes resemble Santana too.
Supreme Leader is about the evils of the manosphere and is preceded by a shout of “f**k Andrew Tate!”. Quite right too. A very fast closing song brings on a mosh pit. Iguana Death Cult are a shit-hot live band. Unfortunately, this is the last date of their UK tour. They have plenty of European dates coming up. They’re well worth the airfare, I assure you.
At the same time, over at Chalk, Wigan-born singer-songwriter and guitarist Tasmin Nicole Stephens, aka TTSSFU, is taking to the stage. I’ve witnessed her in action before, including at the 2024 Brighton Psych Fest, but the most memorable encounter was up at The Prince Albert, when I saw real potential.
Over the past few years, Tasmin has been rather prolific, releasing 16 singles, an EP and two albums. She has previously sported the blonde look, but this teatime she’s gone for something altogether darker and broodier. She is joined onstage by a second guitarist, a bassist with a headless instrument, and a drummer who also takes care of the drum pads and presets.
With a simple “Hello” from Tasmin, they are away, as she lays her sweet vocals over scrawny guitar licks. Tune two is more to my taste, with a wall of guitar noise, although Tasmin’s vocals are now sadly lost in the mix, as is the case for the next few tunes.
Initially, I was going to say that today’s TTSSFU sound is akin to Welsh indie poppers The Darling Buds, but the material has now taken on more of a wall of guitar sound, and TTSSFU are heavier than I remembered. I particularly enjoy the use of the drum pads on track four, which overall has a less intense sound than the previous two cuts.
Although initially chained to her mic, Tasmin eventually leaves the stage and runs around the punters. Unfortunately, today’s encounter doesn’t excite me as much as that Prince Albert set, which is a shame, and now I feel that TTSSFU needs to drop off my radar.
The storm seems to be easing a bit as I wander around the corner for Me Rex at Revenge. They’re a three-piece comprising Myles McCabe on guitar, keys and vocals, Phoebe Cross on drums and vocals, and Rich Mandell on bass, keys and vocals. Two of the three are multi-instrumentalists. They may not be big, but they are undeniably clever.
They’re described as a mix of indie and emo, which sounds fair, but I would also say that they’re what the Americans used to call ‘college rock’. Myles and Rich share lead vocals, whilst Rich frequently plays bass and Moog synthesiser simultaneously. Come on, you can’t not be impressed by that!
There is nothing at all not to like here. There are cool tempo changes, near-angelic-sounding harmonies, songs that are total earworms, ace musicianship; in fact, they might just be my new favourite band!!! There’s even showmanship too. During the last song, Myles walks along the left side of the crowd until his guitar lead unplugs, although I’m sure that wasn’t the intention!
Although Me Rex have played for forty-five minutes, it doesn’t feel as if it’s anywhere near long enough. Unfortunately, they currently don’t seem to have any gigs planned. More please!
As Me Rex finish up, Dove Ellis is getting underway at Chalk, and our camera heads back over for that one.
I kick my heels for a bit at Revenge prior to Pulled Apart By Horses. It’s over ten years since I last saw the band, so I thought it was about time I caught up with them. The current line-up is Tom Hudson on vocals, Robert John Lee on guitar, Tommy Davison on drums and Joseph Thorpe on bass. Both Tommy and Joseph have joined the band since I last saw them.
They’re every bit as good as I remember them. Their sound crunches delightfully, whilst Tom’s powerful vocals are sung and not screamed. Tom is an ace frontman and is in the crowd as early as the second song. Indeed, he climbs up to the mixing desk and sings directly to the soundman, which is nice.
The music is all sinew. There’s no fat. This band are a lean, mean machine. It’s all very rock ’n’ roll, but the music isn’t as straightforward as that description might suggest. There’s the odd bar in a different time signature which catches you out.
Pulled Apart By Horses have a new album coming out next year called Dopamine Hits. They play the lead single from it, Great White Lies, which is suitably heavy. Ride Or Die is another new song. The drum part could easily be a solo if Robert John Lee and Joseph Thorpe weren’t still playing! This has been a cracking set. The band have UK dates in December, January and February.
Next door at Chalk, one of the undoubted highlights of the festival is unfolding as Mike D 5D takes to the stage. Chalk is absolutely rammed, with fans having arrived hours earlier to secure a prime spot for a rare opportunity to see one of the founding members of the Beastie Boys in such intimate surroundings.
And if there’s one thing Brighton knows how to do, it’s squeeze every last drop of energy out of a packed venue.
Opening with Hello Brooklyn, Mike D and his full band waste absolutely no time getting down to business. The music hits hard, the crowd responds immediately, and within moments the room is bouncing. This is no polite trip down memory lane. The live arrangements have real muscle, with the musicians injecting fresh energy into material that already carries decades of hip-hop history.
As the set powers on, the temperature inside Chalk seems to climb with every track. Sweat is running, bodies are bouncing and the audience is giving just as much as it’s getting. It’s one of those performances where the atmosphere becomes almost as important as the music itself.
There’s a thrilling balance between the Beastie Boys’ formidable legacy and Mike D’s more recent work, reminding everyone that his musical journey hasn’t stopped evolving. Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun provides a particularly explosive reminder of just how influential the Beasties were, its raw aggression feeling perfectly at home in these surroundings.
By the time So What’cha Want brings things to a close, Chalk is already at boiling point. What follows is one final, glorious eruption from a crowd that has given everything it has.
There’s nothing quite like seeing an artist of this stature in a room this size. No huge arena production, no distant stage, just the music, the band and hundreds of people losing themselves in the moment. A joyous, sweat-soaked celebration of a musical legacy that still sounds every bit as vital today.
Back at Revenge, I stay put for my final band of the night, the totally awesome Panic Shack. I’ve seen them six times before, and they’ve never come close to being disappointing. Indeed, I don’t think they’d know how to be. It’s two years since I last saw them, so they’re another band I need to catch up with.
The band’s line-up hasn’t changed since their inception, being Sarah Harvey on vocals, Meg Fretwell (great name for a guitarist!) on guitar and backing vocals, Romi Lawrence on guitar and backing vocals, Emily Smith on bass and backing vocals, and Nick Doherty-Williams on drums.
The band are tight and thunderous and seem to play most of the songs faster than I remember. The line about a “baby-shaped hole” in Baby is still funny, although the NSPCC may not necessarily approve of it! Apparently, Personal Best is about when Emily ran a marathon on magic mushrooms.
One of the best things about Panic Shack is that they’re always a lot of fun, and they have a lot of fun onstage too. Smellarat is about a creep from Cardiff. The venue is packed. Even the stage looks a bit cramped with five musicians on it.
They were going to do The Ick, but their backing track is broken, so they do Mannequin Man instead, throwing the customary mannequin poses. During Do Something, there’s a crowd-surfer who seems to lose his sense of direction. Instead of heading towards the front, he seems to be moving from the left side of the crowd to the right, until he falls to the floor. Crowd-surfing navigation can occasionally be a bit problematic, I suppose.
Grin And Bear It is a new one that we “might not know”. It’s very fast, I do know that. Much of the set is from last year’s self-titled album Panic Shack. It sounds like it’s going to be an essential purchase. This has been a very fast and enjoyable set. It’s been far too long since I’ve seen this band!
TWO DAYS, TEN VENUES AND A LOT OF VERY LOUD MEMORIES
And just like that, another Mutations Festival draws to a close. Two days of dodging storms, cancelled trains, packed venues, impossible decisions and, most importantly, some absolutely cracking live music.
That’s the beauty of Mutations. You arrive with a carefully planned schedule, convinced you know exactly which bands you want to see, and inevitably end up discovering something completely unexpected in a sweaty little room somewhere across Brighton.
From the glorious chaos of Fat Dog and Hammok to the sheer punk-rock fun of Panic Shack and SNAYX, there were performances that reminded us exactly why grassroots venues and festivals like this matter so much. There were familiar favourites, a few disappointments and more than enough new discoveries to keep our playlists busy for months.
Mutations is becoming something of a mini Great Escape, but with its own distinct character. It’s loud, unpredictable, occasionally exhausting and absolutely essential to Brighton’s musical calendar. Most importantly, it continues to give exciting new bands the chance to play to audiences who might otherwise never have discovered them.
And judging by the noise, sweat and chaos across the city this weekend, the future of live music is in very good hands indeed.
Roll on next year!
WORDS: MARK KELLY PHOTOS: CRIS WATKINS
Additional reporting: Nick Linazasoro – Death Valley Girls, Fat Dog and TTSSFU; Ian Holman – Theatre; Sara-Louise Bowrey – Mike D 5D; Cris Watkins – Hammok.
More Mutations Festival on Punkinfocus: Mutations Festival completes 2026 line-up with 23 new acts (October 2026) · Mutations Festival unveils Fat Dog and Mike D 5D-led 2026 line-up (August 2026) · Fat Dog and Mike D 5D to headline Mutations Festival 2026 (July 2026) · Live review: Two Days of Chaos and Catharsis at Mutations 2025 (November 2025) · Mutations Festival Returns with Explosive 2025 Line-Up Across Brighton (August 2025)
