17/08/2010

13MONSTERS
A LOW BROW PARTY FOR LATE BLOOMERS.

It’s been a few years now since I bid a farewell to constant grey contentsof my nostrils and human traffic on the central line, for a quaint little existence by the English Channel.
When I first hit Brighton I wrongly assumed that the nightlife consisted of nothing but chart fuelled gay clubs, West St, for those who love a pint and a fight, or obscure indie haunts that are as cloaked as Maddy. And then I unearthed 13Monsters.
The name might suggest that it’s just a dozen +1 gangly little terrors vomming up slime and writhing around in an opaque daze, which TBH isn’t too far from the truth, but 13M is the Loch Ness of all monsters by the sea.

Situated in the picturesque location of the South Laine, it’s a pebbles
throw away from the centre of town, the pier and the seafront.

The night itself has become a bit of a hub for Brighton’s ‘cool’ and elite. Faces that you barely see all month drag themselves away from illegally downloading enigmatic LA indie bands to their bulging playlists and gather above The Loft to do something other than standing around and being swanker than Hilary.
Not only does it shelter a bundle of East coasts regular faces but occasionally avenues in the odd celebrity. Ellie Goulding, Norman Cook, Lady Sovereign, the xx and Cassette Playa frontguuurl Carrie Mundane have all climbed the 30 odd stairs to get ghoulish.
Established in early 2008, the night has become a highlight to every first Saturday of the calendar. From the very first event, the night has amplified at a steady pace into what it stands at today. The venue itself is a perfect choice to emphasize such an affair. This joint is pretty ritzy, with lots of space, although the bar dynamics could be thought out a little more. Patient party goers await in a heaving mass to secure themselves a cuddles worth of jagerbombs and cheap shots in order to lose their inhibitions and throw a chino leg to some hardcore party musique.
What appears to be a gaping hole that is cut into the far end wall is home to the resident disc jockeys that finger their diverse collections and soundtrack the Saturday. Art- haus films are projected onto the walls to give an installation atmosphere and plush, velvetted seating areas are caved into the capacity and are afloat with conversations and people just generally having an awesome little time. This place is something Gaga would sketch up as her erratic little outhouse.

The crowd are good. The crowd are very good. The boys look the part and undoubtedly have the knowledge and intelligence
to back up any of the band t-shirts that might be adorning their top half’s, and the girls are a dishevelled array of casual, raggy doll GLAMA in apparel that is everything American with hair scraped into a loose bun on top of their head that looks like a 10p mix-up. The room is basking in an assortment of ‘on-trenders’ who aren’t afraid of bringing back Moschino sweaters and getting their deck shoe laces in a twizzle.
If you see any posters littering any walls for the night, the clientele are exactly what you’d imagine. Arty types that aren’t afraid to seep into the subculture still with oil pastels and gouache smudged across their
clobber.
Above all the people watching and fashion forecasting, we shouldn’t forget that the majority of this army are here for one thing only and that is for audio stimulation.

Sounds that are bound to shake yer drums are more assorted than a shaken bag of pick’n’mix. Vivian Girls, Factory Floor, Wavves, Bad Dudes and Beyonce? All throw their noise out of the speakers and create a fleshy dancequake.

13monsters is most definitely a core of creativity, for a handful of the senses and it will no doubt grasp onto that accolade for a lengthy time to come. It’s a scene that has longevity and is a habitat where people who are passionate or curious about a specific genre will be destined to discover.







13Monsters@ the Loft
Ship St,
Brighton.
£5 standard
£4 NUS
£3 guest list