Transvision Vamp + Yee Loi @ Chalk, Brighton 28th October 2026
Tonight I’m at Brighton’s Chalk for a band reunion that I really didn’t see coming: Transvision Vamp. I must confess that I wasn’t particularly a fan of the band back in the day, but I didn’t see them then, and I’m curious to see how both the band and their music stand up in the 21st century.
Yee Loi
I’m actually far more interested in seeing support band Yee Loi, about whom I’ve repeatedly heard great things. They’re a three-piece from Merseyside comprising siblings Rose on guitar and occasional lead vocals, Matilda on drums and lead vocals, and Don Don on bass.
As soon as they cut into Dad’s Money, it becomes apparent that the hype is to be believed. They really are as good as everybody says. Matilda’s vocals are ace, and there are cool harmonies too. Rose has a Les Paul Double Cutaway and essays the first of many storming rock ’n’ roll solos on it. She throws rock guitarist shapes too. She’s the real deal.
Current single Down In The Bunker is dispatched early in the set. It’s a gothic tale based upon a family holiday in Italy and, amongst other things, involves the body of a dead uncle hidden in a basement. Dark? You betcha! Poor Girl is dedicated to their immigrant grandparents (they’re half Vietnamese and half Irish) and the hard times that they endured when they first moved to Liverpool. The band’s musical heritage is emblazoned on the T-shirts that they wear, with the Ramones and Motörhead figuring prominently.
Yee Loi’s material is so good that they don’t need to bother with covers, but they do them anyway. First up is Elvis Presley’s Mystery Train, which starts with a storming guitar intro from Rose. It’s possibly the best version of this song that I’ve heard. If Motörhead and Girlschool had released Mystery Train as a joint single, this is what it would have sounded like.
I hadn’t expected them to do Ramblin’ Rose by MC5, but they do a totally inflammable version, dedicated to “Brother Wayne Kramer”. They close with Miraclist, a single that is about to be released.
Yee Loi’s set has been utterly jaw-dropping, and I must say that I’m completely blown away. If they play like this every night, I can’t see them doing support tours for very much longer. Well done to Transvision Vamp for inviting them along. Yee Loi’s debut album, Flicks, Licks, Party Tricks, is released on 15th January 2027. I rather think that it’s going to be an essential purchase.
Transvision Vamp
The stage is set for Transvision Vamp. Chalk is far busier than I was expecting. If it’s not sold out, then it’s pretty close. I can’t help noticing how low Wendy James’ mic stand is. Is she really that small? It turns out that she is! Bless!
Apart from Wendy, the only remaining original member of the band is Dave Parsons on bass. In addition, they have guitarist Alex Ward from Thurston Moore’s band, drummer Jim Sclavunos from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, together with guitarist Pip Stakem and keyboard player Matt Millership.
Kicking off with Trash City, it’s immediately apparent that Wendy’s voice is in fine fettle. It’s every bit as good as it was three-and-a-half decades ago. Second song in is their cover of Holly and the Italians’ Tell That Girl to Shut Up. A great cover of a fine song, which was a minor hit for Transvision Vamp. I was unaware that the band had started out in Brighton: in Silwood Terrace, apparently. As the evening progresses, it becomes clear that Wendy is quite the raconteur. She could easily do a ‘songs and stories’ kind of tour.
Tonight isn’t just about Transvision Vamp, though. It’s possibly easy to forget that Wendy has also had a solo career. And so we get Speedball from 2011’s I Came Here to Blow Minds. Well, you’re making a good fist of doing that tonight, Wendy. Unfortunately, the synth part on this is somewhat overpowering. It sounds like a dentist’s drill.
I was unaware that Transvision Vamp’s third album, Little Magnets Versus the Bubble of Babble, didn’t get a UK release at the time. In hindsight, that was clearly a factor in the band’s demise. We get Pressure Times from it. The intro is not dissimilar to David Bowie’s “Heroes”, although it’s different enough. It’s pretty good. If it’s representative of the rest of the album, then I’ve no idea why the record company had a problem with it.
A more recent Wendy James solo song is You’re a Dirtbomb, Lester, inspired by the late, legendary music journalist Lester Bangs. This is from the 2016 album The Price of the Ticket. It’s a bit of a banger, if you’ll pardon the pun.
For most of tonight’s set, the synth seems to be the lead instrument. The guitarists seem to mostly play rhythm, apart from the odd lick. There aren’t really any solos to speak of. One of my bugbears about Transvision Vamp used to be that much of their music seemed to be very derivative. That’s not so apparent tonight. Mind you, since Transvision Vamp’s heyday, we’ve had Oasis stealing riffs from here, there and everywhere, and nobody cared about that.
However, the riff for Born to Be Sold seems to be based upon The Who’s version of Summertime Blues, and debut single Revolution Baby could possibly be the bastard offspring of a liaison between T. Rex and a Marshall stack. This does feature a cool but short guitar solo, though.
Pay the Ghosts from Velveteen doesn’t sound like anything else and is an absolute banger! Best song of the set! Probably.
Landslide of Love, however, sounds like Goffin and King’s Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow played by The Velvet Underground. There’s a hint of Kim Wilde’s Kids in America in there too. Set closer Baby I Don’t Care shamelessly steals the riff to Wild Thing. Still, talent borrows, genius steals, apparently.
The band leave the stage for just long enough for Wendy to change into a T-shirt bearing the slogan “No Wendy No Party”, which the crowd sing back to her to the tune of The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army. She looks visibly moved.
We’re rewarded with The Impression of Normalcy from Wendy’s 2020 album Queen High Straight. I’ve never heard it before, and it’s really good! Bad Valentine manages to sound undeniably classicist without sounding like anything specific, and for the final encore we’re treated to the full nine-and-a-half minutes of the title track of Velveteen, which apparently hasn’t been played live before. It’s a proper epic without an ounce of self-indulgence.
Tonight has been an interesting gig. Opening with a glimpse at rock ’n’ roll’s possible future, followed by a hefty slab of nostalgia. However, 3rd October 2028 will be the fortieth anniversary of Transvision Vamp’s debut album, Pop Art, being released. It is also the planned release date of a new Transvision Vamp album. We wait with bated breath.
WORDS: MARK KELLY PHOTOS: CRIS WATKINS
More Yee Loi on Punkinfocus: Yee Loi take aim at online cults on new single Miraclist (October 2026) · Yee Loi announce debut album Flicks, licks, party tricks (September 2026) · Yee Loi take aim at music industry clout on Social Suicide (September 2026) · Yee Loi bring gothic horror to new single Down In The Bunker (July 2026)
