The lights go down and the crowd goes quiet. The strumming of an acoustic guitar and the opening lines to ‘Better Off Without You’ become audible but there’s no one on stage. Heads turn to the back of The Green Door Store and from behind a curtain emerges Elizabeth Sankey singing at the top of her lungs and Jeremy Walmsley on guitar.

Making their way through the excited crowd, the London-based duo work through the first verse unaccompanied by microphones and amplifiers and step up to the stage just in time to swap acoustic for electric, bursting into the song’s euphoric chorus.

As the set continues, clips from brat pack-era films are projected behind the band; a perfect backdrop for their catchy, 80s-inspired songs. Almost every track taken from their debut album Welcome To Condale could soundtrack a Molly Ringwald movie, a point proven by her numerous appearances on the wall behind them.

The band stepped back into the crowd midway through the show for an astonishing acoustic rendition of ‘Losing My Mind’. Each exhilarating note from both vocal and guitar chords reverberated throughout the intimate venue. Those who didn’t recognise the song to begin with were singing along at the top of their lungs by the end. Turning to my left as the song ended and the audience burst into applause I saw one woman with tears streaming down her face.

The band plugged back in for the remainder of the set and continued to inspire sing-a-longs from the small crowd. As the show ended the band strolled back through the crowd to sign autographs and pose for photos.

I’m not sure who was happiest at that point; the audience meeting the band they so admired or the band meeting their gushing fans. The band were smiling from ear to ear and the woman with tears in her eyes was now giggling as she had her photo taken with them.

Originally published on Brighton Noise.