On Sunday evening 8th November 2026 we were privileged to see the singer-songwriter and guitarist BEN POOLE with his talented band (Steve Amadeo on bass and Ollie Dixon on drums) play their homecoming show (after a 30+ date tour) at the superb Komedia venue in the North Laines area of Brighton, surrounded by loving fans and family.
We’ve described Ben as a “modest genius who has become a young luminary in the field…”
The Komedia Brighton has hosted some huge names over the years, including Mumford & Sons and Arctic Monkeys, though the venue is equally famous for hosting comedy acts such as Catherine Tate, Ross Noble, Bill Bailey, and Johnny Vegas within its halls.
This BEN POOLE gig was a celebration of firecracker rhythms, barn-burning solo climaxes, ingenious introspection, and astute musicianship from a band of visionary artists who delivered the most victorious and sizzling-hot blues gumbo we’ve heard in a long while.
Songs such as “Empty” opened with a low-bandwidth, fluidic groan that gradually locked into a slow-burn groove. The blossoming piece became wonderfully expressionistic and intellectually ambitious, pairing super-sophisticated musicianship with pristine vocals. The song rested on lush, immersive layers of sound that carried our hearts across the threshold of emotion provided by Ben’s superlative guitar play. The result was both dreamily unruffled and hugely beguiling.
The song rested on lush, immersive layers of sound that carried our hearts across the threshold of emotion provided by Ben’s superlative guitar play. The result was both dreamily unruffled and hugely beguiling…
A cover of the Don Henley song “Dirty Laundry” (originally written for Henley’s I Can’t Stand Still album, 1982) that tackles the lurid hoopla of social media streaming and the frantic buzz of background-noise mass-media went down a storm. When performed by Ben’s blues trio at Brighton, the song was stripped back from the gush of the original, and delivered with iron-like stippling and rusted sentiment.
“Runaway Souls” (a song featuring Oli Brown and guest vocals by Elles Bailey on Ben’s recent recordings) carried a deep Southern blues disposition, with a smoky swampland groove, moonlit vocals, and angular guitar motifs. This piece had vastly elongated girders of hammerfall guitar, stone-clad rhythms, and asphalt-dark bass notes. The song described the urgent need to escape one’s current state of existence, sweeping the Brighton crowd along… tempting us toward a shadowless future. This was utterly persuasive!
There were positive messages on “Anytime You Need Me” too, performed with an intrepid, tireless riff and chunky rhythms. Here, Ben’s voice was blueberry velvet as the number developed into a hot and catchy unfolding.
This show was a feast of superheated guitar magnificence, lofty brilliant vocals, and impeccable blues craftsmanship.
Words and pictures: © Neil Mach
