{"id":54041,"date":"2026-05-20T12:24:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T16:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=54041"},"modified":"2026-05-20T12:25:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T16:25:46","slug":"review-red-rum-club-brighton-music-hall-4-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2026\/05\/20\/review-red-rum-club-brighton-music-hall-4-28\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: Red Rum Club @ Brighton Music Hall 4\/28"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo Credit: John Hutchings<\/a><\/p>\n

Review by: Michelle Leung<\/span><\/p>\n

Riding on the wave of their recent chart-toppers, Red Rum Club\u2019s unique alternative indie band instrumentation and spunk have returned to this side of the pond. Kicking off with the very first stop of their North American Tour, the Liverpool quintet hit the stage at Boston\u2019s Brighton Music Hall, and dedicated fans showed up in droves.<\/span><\/p>\n

But first, the South London rock band Ollie Gullick & The Lads filed onto stage with a palpable excitable energy, featuring members Ollie Gullick on vocals, Colin Lillich on guitar, Leo Birkin on keyboard, Alex Reeves on drums, Jack Helfer on bass, Andrew Schuler and Cooper Swartzentruber on saxophone. The septet jumped right into \u201cCan You Keep A Secret?.\u201d They transitioned into two unreleased songs where both saxophonists got to shine with expansive solos, followed by \u201cSushi!.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gullick, who hails from Berklee, was extremely comfortable onstage, dancing in a black blazer, silver tie, shorts, and knee-high boots. He was an animated, bubbly performer, leading the performance effortlessly with exaggerated expressions and intense eye contact with the audience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before their final track, \u201cTurn Around and See,\u201d Gullick gave his tambourine to a young boy, expressing that he\u2019s the youngest person who\u2019s ever been to any of their shows. Gullick shouted out Lillich\u2019s rousing electric guitar solo, lamenting their final Boston show together as the latter is set to graduate from university. Overall, Ollie Gullick & The Lads injected a particular buzz into the crowd, who cheered enthusiastically and generously throughout the set, unable to tear their eyes from the stage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Red Rum Club needed no introduction, with Francis Doran on vocals, Tom Williams and Michael McDermott on guitar, Simon Hepworth on bass, and Neil Lawson on drums stalking coolly onto stage. Member Joe \u201cthe Blow\u2019\u2019 Corby\u2019s departure was announced the day before the start of Red Rum Club\u2019s American tour, following a long ten-year stint, six albums, and huge arena tours. Fans voiced shock and disappointment that the trumpet player would no longer be contributing his distinctive timbre. That night, to stand in for Corby, the band was joined by Eli Younger, who played some undeniably fantastic trumpet riffs and held his own.<\/span><\/p>\n

The band started with the high-energy \u201cBuck,\u201d with Doran stealing all eyes until they entered an interlude highlighting Younger\u2019s trumpet and Williams\u2019 electric guitar. Pulling back with a more lighthearted song, \u201cAmerican Nights & English Mornings,\u201d the band ruminated on the difficulties and exhaustion of navigating a long-distance relationship between partners in different time zones.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Their next song \u201cUndertaker,\u201d featured Red Rum Club\u2019s signature \u201cMariachi Merseybeat\u201d sound, which blends rock-pop with melodic brass-heavy hooks. This unique style shone through with the help of a tambourine and soaring trumpet flourishes. They continued into \u201cAfternoon,\u201d then \u201cEleanor\u201d before finally addressing the crowd. \u201cWe\u2019ve got another hour together, let\u2019s make the most of it!,\u201d announced Doran.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The band utilized a mix of electric and acoustic guitar, switching often and adding different warmer colors to each song\u2019s tone depending on the specific combination. As the audience hooted and hollered, Red Rum Club flowed into the love song \u201cDaisy,\u201d featuring lyrics such as: \u201cIf you fall for my charms \/ You can fall asleep in my arms \/ Consider myself redeemed.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The next songs \u201cWild,\u201d \u201cAnimal,\u201d \u201cCall Me On Your Comedown,\u201d and \u201cCrush, TX\u201d came off their newest album, \u201cBUCK,\u201d which peaked at number seven on the UK Official Albums chart last September.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Red flashing lights dazzled the crowd as they jumped and danced to the driving bassline, the push of the drums, and the trumpet melodies. The band wasn\u2019t much for talking, much preferring to barrel straight through their setlist.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Next up came \u201cKids Addicted\u201d and the groovy \u201cVibrate,\u201d which boasts a fantastic hook. \u201cBlack Cat\u201d and \u201cHole In My Home\u201d finished out the main set, and the crowd was actively encouraged to join in and sing the latter\u2019s titular chorus, which repeated as more fans took part in the wholesome moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Red Rum Club briefly hopped offstage, the audience began their own rousing vamp, singing the melody of \u201cHole In My Home\u201d until the members reappeared and performed the stripped-back, acoustic \u201cEighteen.\u201d Then came \u201cWould You Rather Be Lonely,\u201d the band\u2019s most-streamed track on Spotify with over 5.3 million listens. The song has quite the following of its own, with fans at previous concerts singing its refrain between setlist numbers. During \u201cAngeline,\u201d Doran motioned for everyone to get low, before leaping up as the roaring trumpet and powerful drums kicked back in.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The band\u2019s final song was \u201cVanilla,\u201d a certified crowd pleaser with its addictive main melody and titular repetition. The audience took advantage of the final song to get crazy. Disco ball lights shimmered into the crowd, coming from offstage and adding a mystical element. Doran finally introduced the members of the band before running back one last resounding refrain of \u201cVanilla,\u201d warmly inviting fans to chat at a bar after the show came to an end.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Red Rum Club undoubtedly holds its own in the US, ramping up a crowd with their formidable combination of heavy bass and brass hooks that makes the band\u2019s music so eccentric. The band holds a gritty, undeniable spark and clear love for their music and fans, and with the departure of Corby, the band has definitively begun a new chapter of their sound and future discography.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo Credit: John Hutchings Review by: Michelle Leung Riding on the wave of their recent chart-toppers, Red Rum Club\u2019s unique alternative indie band instrumentation and spunk have returned to this side of the pond. Kicking off with the very first stop of their North American Tour, the Liverpool quintet hit the stage at Boston\u2019s Brighton […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25741,"featured_media":54045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1525,1523,15],"tags":[215,2713],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54041"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25741"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54041"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54044,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54041\/revisions\/54044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}