This was a gig to raise money for The Lantern Fayre, a three-day community arts festival on the Level, Brighton, which runs from Friday, October 2, to Sunday, October 4.

Both acts were Brighton based and Cate Ferris had a tough task at the start of the evening when the crowd was thin.

She soon created a warm atmosphere with a 45-minute set of magical looping and some fine songs.

The format of layering the loops began to grow repetitive and it would have added some light and shade had Ferris occasionally performed as she did at the start, with just a guitar, allowing more space for her exceptional vocal.

The Mountain Firework Company are a five-piece who play "alternative bluegrass with a dark treacle folk centre".

Irishman Garath McGahan fronts the band and writes the songs, but Mike Simmonds' fiddle playing was the distinctive feature - making it all the more disappointing that it took so long to get his violin into the mix.

By the end of their 75-minute set it felt as if the music was stuck in third gear with no other gear available. At the same time the band created a jolly pub vibe and the crowd lapped it up.

Three stars