Top things to do in Brighton — week of 23 March

Brighton in late March is the right amount of mad. Cold but bright, the seafront is busy on the dry days, and the venues have stopped pretending it is winter. Here is the week, in order, no fluff.

If you want the calendar straight, the Brighton this-week page has all of these in one place.

Monday: a slow one in Kemp Town

Kemp Town has a couple of pubs — the Sidewinder and the Independent — that are quietly the best Monday in Brighton. The Sidewinder kitchen is doing a £12 burger night. The Independent has a free folk session at 9. Neither is going to ruin your week.

Tuesday: Resident Records in-store

Resident on Kensington Gardens is doing a free in-store with a band who are about to play the Hope and Ruin later in the week. Free, fifteen minutes, then a record signing. The kind of small thing Brighton still does well.

Wednesday: Komedia new act night

£6, six comics, late show is the rougher one and that is where the gems are. The MC has been the same for two months and she has the room locked in within five minutes. The bar is reasonable, the seats are tight, and you will leave with at least one comic's name to remember.

Thursday: Hope and Ruin

A Thursday gig at the Hope and Ruin is the right size of small. £10, doors at 8, the band is the same one who did the Resident in-store on Tuesday. The set is honestly the same as the album but louder and with a longer drum break in the middle. Worth it.

Friday: a quiet seafront walk and a pub

I am leaving Friday off the headline list. Walk the seafront, find a pub that is not the Mash Tun, eat at Bincho or get a kebab from the place opposite. Save the legs for Saturday.

Saturday: Concorde 2

The headline of the week. £18 advance, doors at 8, a line-up that has no business being on a stage this size. The room holds about 600 and it will be tight by 10. The cloakroom is now £2.

If you cannot get in, Patterns has a Saturday night for £14 with a smaller line-up that has been quietly good for six months.

Sunday: Patterns afternoon session

Patterns on Marine Parade is doing a Sunday afternoon session — local DJs, sea view, £7 on the door. It is the kind of slow Sunday Brighton does best, the kind where you stay until the lights come up at 10 and then go for chips.

A reminder that the free Brighton meetups list has a Tuesday lunch I keep forgetting to mention. Free pizza, free coffee, alot of decent people.

Saturday at Concorde 2 is the one you book first. Wednesday at Komedia for £6 is the second pick. Sunday at Patterns is the slow one. Mental how much Brighton can fit into a week when the weather lets it.