Together The People's debut offers a diversity of stages, choice of food and a great weekend

Together The People is the latest addition to the UK Festival scene and I had my doubts as to how it would work; a) in Brighton and b) at Preston Park. With 5000 capacity it's the same as Forgotten Fields and ironically had 2 of their headliners on the bill. Unlike most festivals there is no camping available on site so it relies on attendees travelling each day or grabbing a local hotel/b&b.

I travelled by train and alighted at London Road (my nearest station) but had to look at my sat nav on my phone to find my way as there were no direction signs or posters en-route. It took me 10 minutes to arrive at the gates which had no queue so I made it in with time to explore before the first band started.

The first thing I noticed was the area was a large oval shape which meant easy travelling between stages for me this weekend. The second thing was the stage layout was incorrect on the planner but, it wasn't like anybody would not have worked it out and even used the plan after their first 20 minutes on site.

The Main Stage was directly in front hosting the bigger names. The Second Stage was a long small circus bigtop style tent hosting the louder up and coming acts as well as diverse acts. BIMM Stage was a round marquee tent hosted by The British and Irish Modern Music Institute showcasing their student's bands as well as offering them experience in the production side.

The Folklore Stage curated by local promoter and artist Jacko Hooper showcased acts that he has worked with at the White Rabbit, Brighton. Then two things I have never seen at a festival, the Soapbox Stage and The Incredible Moving Picture House. Soapbox Stage was a place for local communities/organisations to have their say or debate, and The Picture house was an old Formula 1 lorry converted into a 100 seater mobile cinema. Was like walking into the Tardis...which wasn't here before anyone asks. It showed short films over the weekend for kids and adults alike.

Tickets for Together The People range from £39.50 (1 day) - £75 (weekend) for adults and £20/40 for children (11-15) making under 11's free entry which sounds all reasonable considering the line-up.

The timetable lanyard £4 had all the times but when stage times changed there wasn't a way to find out unless you were on their social network, the information tent couldn't answer any of my questions - one being "What is the connection with the food vans at TTP?". I went away and researched to find they were part of Street Diner which is a local food market ranging from Venezuelan to Italian cuisine. Prices ranged from £3 fries to £7.50.

Beer tents, always a contention. Cans of cider/beer were at £4-4.50 each which is expensive considering you can buy a 4 pack for the same price but then pints of craft beer were £3 half, £5 pint which although pricey is the going rate in Brighton for this trendy style beer taking the city by storm. Soft drinks came in at £2.50. So the trend continues to keep up with other festivals and make huge profit on food and drinks. I was disappointed at the bar staff adjacent to the main stage. There were times I was stood waiting for over 3 minutes even though there was no queue. The staff would either talk to people standing near the bar or each other.

There was a fun fair, which didn't look that much fun and merely acted as a noise bleed against the main stage. There wasn't much for kids to do along the crafts/games way which, for Brighton was a bit of a shocker. Maybe something for TTP to look at next year?

The alley of stalls in the middle provided information and chances to support causes such as Sea Shepherd and No Poverty to name a couple. Cash points were on site as well as plenty of toilets that had minimal queuing, were clean and had toilet paper all day. Only complaint was lack of hand sanitizer which I highlighted to staff who didn't seem to know who to tell and didn't really seem to care about.

The most noticeable thing was the cleanliness. There were plenty oil drum bins and I believe the type of people that attended are the conscientious type that want a nicer place to live in.

Bands...Carnival Collective who I had not heard of, managed to lift the overcast, chilly mood to one where people were tapping feet and nodding along. They could easily have gone on later in the day especially after seeing Chris Simmons who should have opened after wasting the upbeat frenzy Carnival Collective had brewed up.

Second Stage and was confronted with MOK a new wave rap act that were a sweet and sour or maybe 'hot and sour' would describe them better. Gracey Croucher (vox) has hints of Paloma Faith and Pixie Lott in her voice which is meant as a compliment, could easily have been on the main stage with their performance today.

Mind Of A Lion on the BIMM stage were one of my favourite new acts and when they say Alternative you couldn't be further from the truth. Utilising loops, driller bass lines and solid drumming the Brighton 3 piece had people hanging out the doors as they reached there fan favourite 'Obstacle'. 'Monopoly' lyrics remind me of Rage Against The Machine style of writing '...Machine bred, Brain dead, Do exactly as he has said. We're sheep of the same herd....'. I will be seeing them again!

Billy Bragg was educating the audience about the country's politics when I returned to the main stage. His set ending with 'A New England' which everyone joined in with at the chorus.

Levellers were main support and they never cease to please any crowd. Having played at the Hare and Hound, Preston Circus in the early days it would seem improper for them not to play on the main stage in Preston Park on this weekend. It's not often I know every song in a bands set list but every one that Mark Chadwick belted out, the audience could be seen singing along. Jeremy Cunningham, the iconic bassist who also designed the artwork for Levellers through the years put some of the younger bands to shame with his enthusiastic performance.

Super Furry Animals were the headline of day 1, and sounded better than they did at Forgotten Fields. Gruff Rhys donning his over large power ranger helmet holding a banner up to the audience with the word 'Applause!' and 'Louder!' on the reverse. As the set flowed many people started leaving, whether it was due to time/temperature or getting kids off to bed the festival started thinning out.

Day 2 opened in the same style as day 1 with Neon Saints Brass Band trying to set the vibe however, there were a lot less people here for the start. The train service from Lewes to Brighton had a replacement rail service, the sun was shining and it was of course Sunday so who knows if any of these points were the reason for it being thinner on the ground.

Dizraeli and the Small Gods played their last ever Brighton gig after the openers on the main stage. Today the acts flow into each other better than Day 1....so far.

Public Service Broadcasting played a good set, the audience pandering to the sampled electronic voice, with my favourite 2 songs in the mix 'Spitfire' and 'Everest'
 One of the things noticeable on both days was the sound bleed of the second stage/fairground when watching the main stage. I thought it would have been tweaked for day 2 what with the complaints on the Facebook event page but alas the fairground was still heard.

Martha Reeves and The Vandellas were a treat to have on the bill. As they sang hit after hit I was educated in that they originally sang 'Jimmy Mack' and 'Dancing in the Streets'. Martha Reeves chatted to the audience whilst also getting them to sing 'Happy Birthday' to somebody she knew in the audience. My highlight was finally getting to see 'Nowhere To Run To'.

And so it was time for the headline Jose Gonzalez which had people leaving early again. I imagine that having 2 quieter headliners each day was to cater for the neighbours and to wind down the event. Otherwise it was just crazy. Gonzalez should have been early Main stage before 4pm in my opinion. Not my bag and especially after Martha Reeves and the Vandellas really got people dancing to the Motown hits.

 
I enjoyed the premise of a 2 day Brighton festival with no camping. I liked the fact it finished at 10pm each day enabling me to get the train home at a sensible time. I liked the diversity of stages, choice of food and the capacity. However, the sound from stages/fair did get annoying throughout the day, the staff were not briefed well and the layout may need thinking over. All in all I had a great weekend, saw some bands I wouldn't have maybe seen otherwise, tried new foods, had a blast but it all went so quickly. For a first festival well done one and all. Hopefully prices will remain the same next year without stalls increasing food and drink prices and maybe relax allowing sweets and water in for the kids.

Might see you next year.
 

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