Manchester’s genre-blending indie band Westside Cowboy take a trip to the Brighton seaside for an incredible sold-out show. 

Photos by Alex Frances

Words by Beth Ford

Above one of Brighton’s coolest pubs, The Hope and Ruin, an excited crowd of Westside Cowboy fans gathered in anticipation for their sold-out show. Having won the 2025 Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition, they released their debut EP, This Better Be Something Great, catching the eyes of everyone on the indie-rock scene. At the start of this year, they released their new, highly anticipated EP, titled So Much Country ‘Til We Get There, ahead of their UK tour. 

Warming up the room were Holly Head, and they turned the heat up right away. Their music mixes British indie rock with post-punk walls of sound and some refreshingly jazzy bass lines to create fantastic, messy-bedroom rock. They brought such a big energy to the small stage, and it was amazing to experience. The drummer was on fire, the vocals were powerful, and the room felt immersed in the music. It was a great start to the night.  

Photo by Alex Frances

Finally, it was time for Westside Cowboy to take to the stage. After aptly opening with a cover of Midnight Cowboy by Santo & Johnny, the band jumped into their debut single, I Never Met Anyone I Thought I Could Really Love (Until I Met You). The song perfectly embodies their eclectic, blended sound full of nostalgia, wistfulness, and intensity. 

Westside Cowboy actually coined their own genre, Britanicana, describing it in an interview as a mixture of American country, English, Irish, and Scottish folk music, alongside classic indie and punk. Their music evokes both pop-punk teenagehood as well as a dreamy country-folk wistfulness. This may sound like an odd combination, but trust me, it works. It really works. 

You can feel the band’s chemistry in their performance and presence. They look to each other, smiling, genuinely enjoying performing together, and the feeling is infectious. All of the vocals exist beautifully together, with Aiofe’s dreamy folk tone grounded by Reuben’s indie-rock tenor and Jimmy’s voice pulling everything together. The guitars and drums are intense, rhythmic and impressive. Everything merges together effortlessly.

By midway through the set, we got a slower song, Shells, where their indie-folk influences take centre stage. Aiofe and Reuben’s harmonies are just gorgeous as the song builds to a rising, fervent crescendo. 

We were then blessed with not one, but two new, unreleased tracks. Both Pin Up Boys and The Boys epitomise their Britanicana genre, with the latter rising into a crashing, wonderfully chaotic end with Paddy absolutely shredding the drums. Don’t Throw Rocks was clearly a crowd favourite, ramping up the sound after the softer Slowly I’m Sure was sadly met with loud rumblings from the show downstairs. 

The moment came for their final song, In The Morning. The four gathered around one mic, with Paddy gripping his snare drum, to sing together, making everyone feel as though we were dancing in an Irish bar, drunk on a night of incredible music. 

Photos by Alex Frances