Spring sunshine, packed rooms and thousands of steps between venues; Brighton's Homegrown Festival stirred the city from its winter hibernation with the sound of its own diverse and fiercely independent scene.

After a sell-out debut last year, Homegrown returned bigger and bolder on 12 April 2025, once again championing the city's eclectic talent with another sold-out edition.

Organised by the Music Venue Alliance Brighton (MVAB), this grassroots celebration transformed the city's favourite live music haunts into a walkable, all-day showcase of Brighton's best. Expanding from six to eight venues, seafront spots Daltons and Revenge joined Green Door Store, The Prince Albert, The Hope & Ruin, Rossi Bar, The Folklore Rooms and The Pipeline. More than 60 acts filled the day with everything from acoustic folk to experimental rock, furious hardcore to dreamy shoegaze, and everything in between.

Here's a glimpse of what we caught.

We kicked things off at The Folklore Rooms with Magda, whose 2024 debut EP Hole Punched in Cloud had already made fans of us. Live, their lo-fi alt-grunge expanded with beautifully orchestrated light and shade. Lowkey, gravelly vocals burst into yelps and jazz-tinged guitar licks tangled with dreamlike, sometimes spacelike keys. Their performance had real integrity in its intrigue, but also felt distinctly playful and melodic. We arrived early to a sparse room and left through a heaving crowd.

Next, we squeezed into the sweat-slicked attic at The Pipeline to catch Oral Habit. The garage rock trio unleashed a high energy set that rattled the little venue's very bones. Commanding vocals cut through explosive punk drumming and basslines veering into psychedelic wanderings. Their latest single 'Sauerkraut' was a tangy 2-minute bombardment of fuzzy, serrated, motorik rhythm.

AtticOmatic were up next on what’s usually the dancefloor of local legendary LGBTQ+ nightclub, Revenge. Bringing back memories of yore, guitarist Ollie joked about once being kicked out of the club for student-era mischief. Here to stay this time, the band’s genre-splicing blend of neo-jazz, rock and trip-hop textures soared and crashed beautifully. Closing with new single 'Wait', their dual vocalists flickered between conversational softness and stark emotional peaks, creating a dynamic tension and angular urgency.

Then came Le Lamb, who effortlessly persuaded the Daltons crowd to chant in bleats. Cloaked in wool, knee-high leather gogo boots and crowned with a sheep skull, the vocalist led a theatrical journey through 1920s cabaret glamour and 1970s rock balladry. Operatic vocals soared across an eclectic, powerful musical backdrop. The performance art was a spectacle to behold and left us thinking who had really been sacrificed: the lamb, or us?

Dashing back to a packed out Revenge, SLAG delivered a euphoric set of mathy, sparkly, poppy, alt-rock. The five-piece succeeded at making noisy riffage and tender melodies work together in sweet, sweet harmony. We overheard someone next to us say with total admiration for the glitter-clad singer-guitarist, "wow, she's like a trashy Taylor Swift!" - our favourite overheard comment at a gig, and fittingly, our favourite band in Brighton right now.

Francis Pig welcomed us back to The Pipeline with their deviant rock'n'roll and sex talk. Since our Artist Spotlight feature, the pigs have expanded into a five-piece to create a richer live sound, adding a drum kit and six-string bass to their distinctive drum machine and dual-guitar assault. Our friends in leather brought 2am debauchery to 6pm teatime. The band held it down with a certain coolness, whilst frontwoman Alana Paradise channelled a Debby Harry meets Iggy Pop hybrid in her sultry yet enigmatic performance. 

Sticking with The Pipeline for more alternative sounds, we were plunged into A Basic Fault's expansive experimental rock. The singer and guitarist created intricate soundscapes, triggering pads and looping rhythms whilst heavily affecting his vocals to create something truly mesmerising. The drummer was locked in, playing with jazz flair and evolving rolling rhythms, whilst the bassist remained tight and melodic, swapping four strings for a flute on one of the later songs. A cinematic set.

Next up, London-based Bloody Death hit with jangly lo-fi rock in Rossi Bar's basement. Surf, country and sun-bleached blues blended into propulsive rhythms that had the room bouncing between head-bopping and full-blown head-banging. The singer and guitarist snapped a few strings during the closing number, leaving us basking in a storm of dissonant feedback.

At The Prince Albert, Van Zon unveiled a darker, gothic evolution of their already unique alt-folk sound. Playing several new cuts off their upcoming debut EP, the quintet delved deeper into their classical influences, only to then smash through them with experimental post-rock flurries. Their immersive set built to a sudden, breathless crescendo - leaving the packed out room waiting and wanting more.

Fresh off the release of their new single 'Highway Man' and signing to Transgressive Records, The New Eves were our Homegrown 2025 finale. Celestial and singular, they closed with their latest track that they tell the room was one of their earliest written. Razor rock'n'roll guitar, brooding cello, pounding ritualistic drums and multi-vocal alchemy told a tale of subversion and diversion from the usual fate of the maiden. Watching one of Brighton's very best, who have been steadily emerging from the local scene and into the wider musical universe, was a fitting end to our festival.