Live Report: This is BritNite at Trip (Nov 3, 2023)

Britpop was a mid-1990s wave of largely independent music that emphasized British culture, and alternative sound. Blur, Oasis, and The Verve were all bands that comprised this era of British music. The genre has a signature, flavor, and style, that people continue to cherish and celebrate to this day.

Here in sunny Los Angeles, there is a large ex-pat community of Brits who have relocated to enjoy the dreamy metropolis that Southern California offers. Long standing British bars like The Kings Head, and The Auld Fella are often filled with former Londoners feeling nostalgia for their snake bites and Sunday roast. It was only a matter of time before a few music-industry professionals picked up the BritPop torch and ran with it.

BritNite is a British themed pop-up party that moves locations every month. They curate a casual bar atmosphere with drinks, live-music, and dancing. The house band plays BritPop covers, and it is great place to meet Brits and Anglophiles alike. The house band is currently comprised of industry professionals Johnny Ashby (vocals, keys), Simon Tellier (guitars), Carl Thomson (drums), and Mike Gonek (bass).

The Indy review came by to check out the event on November 3rd at the Trip in Santa Monica. BritNite itself creates the feeling of a lively London pub. About half of the people at the venue have a British accent, and there are women in sparkling Union Jack dresses dancing to the music. The house band is sociable, colloquial, and charming. They banter with the crowd, they take requests, and they laugh at themselves. We laugh with them.

What’s nice about this kind of thing is that it doesn’t take itself to seriously. BritNite is a bunch of lads who love the music they are playing, and are damn good at playing it. By the end of the evening, everyone in the bar is loose, sweaty, and jovial. Perhaps they played pool in the back, or maybe they lost their voice singing “Benny and the Jets.” Lead Vocalist Johnny Ashby hopes that it’s transported them to another time, perhaps a simpler one… a British one.

Ashby says the concept came about with his mates after long studio recording sessions in Hollywood. They would meet for a drink at bars with live-music or karaoke. He was always pleasantly surprised how many people knew the words to his favorite BritPop tunes. That’s where the idea began. Here are some of the tunes we are talking about. 

“There’s a surprisingly large number of people at Karaoke who will sing back these Oasis and Blur lyrics. Almost can’t believe it, especially in LA. Like it’s weird, it’s not London right?”

Ashby goes on to talk about how most cover bands completely miss this era of music. After many talks over Guinness and late night Uber rides home, he and his bandmates decided to go for it. 

Their first ever pop-up went live at Trip on November 3rd. The bar venue was completely full after a successful social media campaign to draw interest. And although the band members may change slightly from month to month (bringing up a rapper to spit rhymes from the Gorillaz here, or a female vocalist to sing the Spice Girls there) the concept will always remain the same—talented musicians celebrating British music.

There are a lot of possibilities moving forward with BritNite. They are already looking at the possibility of bringing the concept to other cities with large British communities, including New York, Nashville, and London. BritNite also throws a glow stick and costumed afterparty called BritRave, which features disco and house from the likes of Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, and Basement Jaxx.

So if you’re interested in learning more, click the link below, the next BritNite is on December 16th in West Los Angeles. “And don’t look back in anger, I heard ya say.”  

www.britnite.com