Levellers announce Sleeper, Kid Kapichi, Brakes and The Meffs as support for their hometown open air exclusive show at Hove Park, Brighton on Saturday 5th September 2026, celebrating 35 years of the landmark album Levelling The Land.
“It’s going to be great to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Levelling The Land in Brighton. It’s a Brighton album, 90% of it was written in Brighton, a lot of the songs are about Brighton and its environs, so we are just made up to be playing in our home town, it’s been good to us, it’s a unique town, so it’s really important to us. Hove Park has an original standing stone in it – The Goldstone – which is good for us because we are hippies!”
– Mark Chadwick & Jeremy ‘Jez’ Cunningham of The Levellers
Emerging from Brighton in the late 1980s, Levellers have built a reputation as one of the UK’s most distinctive and celebrated live acts – combining folk, punk and political energy with an enduring connection to their audience.
Released in 1991, Levelling The Land became a defining album of the era, going platinum and featuring tracks including ‘One Way’, ‘15 Years’ and ‘Far From Home’, alongside ‘The Game’, ‘Liberty Song’, ‘Riverflow’, ‘Boatman’ and ‘Battle Of The Beanfield’.
The band went on to achieve a Number 1 album with Zeitgeist in 1995, further establishing their place within British music.
Over the decades, Levellers’ influence has extended beyond their recordings – shaping festival culture, grassroots movements and generations of independent artists.
Joining Levellers at Hove Park is a line-up spanning some of the most exciting names in British alternative music. Britpop favourites Sleeper achieved huge critical and commercial success in the 1990s, scoring eight Top 40 singles across three Top 10 albums and selling more than one million records. Following their acclaimed comeback, which included the Top 20 album The Modern Age, the band continue to tour to sell-out audiences across the UK. Hastings punk-rockers Kid Kapichi arrive fresh from the release of their fourth album, Fearless Nature, building on a reputation for politically charged songwriting, fearless social commentary and explosive live performances. Brighton’s own Brakes make a rare hometown appearance as part of their first live shows together in more than a decade, celebrating the forthcoming reissue of their acclaimed debut album Give Blood and a newly unearthed live recording from New York. Completing the bill are The Meffs, the high-energy Essex punk duo whose politically charged lyrics, DIY ethos and relentless live shows have established them as one of the UK’s most exciting modern punk acts.
There will be an optional charity donation to Sussex Homeless upon ticket purchase, who the band work with closely. Speaking about the charity, the band says, “We’ve been working with Sussex Homeless for 5 years. It’s front line work, what they do is hardcore and we are really happy to support that. We’ve all been homeless back in the day, and we just used to squat, but you can’t do that anymore, that’s criminal now, so it’s an issue close to our hearts. Jim who runs it is all over it, we know the money is being used at the pointy end and we are very happy to be part of it.”
Presented by JOY. Concerts, the Hove Park show brings Levellers back to their roots for a rare outdoor performance in the city that first shaped them.
