Day two of winging it in Brighton (thanks to Booking.com) started in the extremely early hours.

I’d been recommended a new night of Latin & Balearic House at the Green Door Store near Brighton’s train station.

The challenge was to go to see a style of DJ/band that I wouldn’t normally, now seeing as though I wasn’t sure what Latin Balearic House actually sounds like I thought it’d be the perfect fit! Fiero Loco is a brand new night for the Green Door Store and is described as “wild, crazy, house, techno, latin style”.

“There’s a huge McDonald’s M on the wall”

Like a typical tourist I made the mistake of turning up at the Green Door Store far too early which left me wondering if I was too early or the night was a bit of a flop. Fast forward another hour at the place was buzzing and the music was surprisingly hard not to dance to, despite trying my best!

I couldn’t quite find the Latin element to the music but nevertheless I think if anything I actually like house music.

The Green Door Store itself is a rustic, raw and quite intimate at the same time. There’s a huge McDonald’s M on the wall inside which led me to think I’d arrived at some sort of shopping complex, but thankfully it was just for decoration.

After 2am the music switched to a more drum ’n’ bass vibe and I knew it was way past my bedtime so I headed back to the Queens Hotel to rest my weary body.

The The Queens Hotel & Spa and view from my room

Music Video Landmark Challenge

After checking out I headed down Brighton beach on a bit of a wild goose chase trying to complete my final challenge… to find a landmark or place that was in a music video or bands first gig. The day before I’d done my reach and found “The Twang Feat Mike Skinner & Professor Green – Either Way” that is supposed to be shot on Brighton beach.

This would be an easy one I thought, get up early, stroll down to that part of the beach and snap a selfie in the same place. As I got to the point on the beach where I thought it was I tried to match to video to the landscape, but it wasn’t the same place. It was incredibly similar… actually no one would have noticed the difference but it wasn’t the same location so I was back to square one.

“the band shot the video on the pier the day after Margaret Thatcher narrowly avoided assassination by an IRA bomb.”

After more research I found The Kink’s video “Do It Again” where the latter part of the video is shot on Brighton’s pier including dodgems and the helter skelter. Apparently the band shot the video on the pier the day after Margaret Thatcher narrowly avoided assassination by an IRA bomb. The pier has changed over the years and the theatre that you can see in the video was removed in 1986, the helter skelter is also noticably different.

Just incase you’re not convinced with my music video landmark, Cornershop (yeah, remember them? Brimful of Asha?) also shot “Englands Dreaming” on Brighton pier.

Brazilian Juice Bar

After the mornings excitement I was ready for a bit of a break so I headed towards the North Laines in search of one of my favourite breakfast options, an Acai bowl. Acai is a delicious tropical fruit from Brazil that kind of looks and tastes like a sober but is great with oatmeal and topped with fruit.

The Guarana Bar specialises in premium guaraná based products from Brazil as well as fair-trade and organic superfood but was currently out of Acai due to supply issues. I had to settle for a tropical smoothie made with oatmeal and Acai powder, it wasn’t quite an Acai bowl but it was an superb smoothie.

I will be back here, next time I’m in Brighton.

Skate Park

After resting my feet for a while and taking it easy in the sun, I made my way up to The Level Skate Park. Built in 2013 to replace the old wooden ramped skate park, The Level is part of the wider restoration of the park. I watched the skaters for a while and was pretty impressive with how good many of them are.

Brighton Chilli Shop

I stumbled across the Chilli shop on my way to the station, once inside I didn’t quite know where to look. The variety of bottles of chilli sauce on the shelves was quite staggering. With so much choice I asked for help finding a Jalopeno based sauce from the owner, Tony. He helped me to pick out the right sauce and explained that a lot of the sauces are found locally in Brighton but he also stocks great quality chilli sauces from all over the world. The beer fridge in the corner has ice cold chilli related beers if you fancy a firery tipple.

If like me, you really love a bit of spice, you should visit the Brighton Chilli Shop on your way to or from the station… I left with a couple of bottles of sauce!

One thing I noticed about Brighton from visiting The Guarana Bar and Brighton Chilli Shop is that here the rents are cheaper for businesses meaning that they can offer more niche products and do it well and be independent. It’s something that London often lacks.

It’s been a fun, spontaneous weekend in Brighton. The weathers been perfect and Brighton is a great city to explore. It’s only around an hour from London yet has a massively different vibe and culture of its own.

So why not hop on a train, book a hotel and wing it for a weekend?

 

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