Mods descend on Brighton seafront for annual gathering

Hundreds of sharply dressed riders on gleaming Vespa and Lambretta scooters could be seen in Madeira Drive in their very best 60s attire including colourful suits, beehives, parkas and Union Jack helmets.

A mod on Brighton seafront (Image: Simon Dack)

The Brighton Mod Weekender gathering, which includes ride-alongs as well as concerts and other events, is an annual August bank holiday spectacle and has been run by The New Untouchables since 2004.

But mods have been coming down to the city for some 60 years.

In the 1960s mods and rockers would clash in Brighton with more than 1,000 teenagers said to have been involved in violence on the 1964 Whitsun weekend in May.

Hundreds of scooters parked in Madeira Drive for the gathering (Image: Simon Dack)

Deckchairs were used as weapons and destroyed in fires on the beach, with images of the fights from Brighton being shown around the world.

The Mod Weekender is now a much more peaceful affair.

The riots were immortalised in the cult film Quadrophenia, which was filmed in and around the city in 1979.

The classic, starring Phil Daniels, is based off The Who’s 1973 rock opera of the same name.

A mod sporting a Union Jack jacket (Image: Simon Dack)

It sees young mod Jimmy from London escape from his job as a postal worker by dancing, partying, taking amphetamines and riding his scooter.

His life begins to spiral however after he and his friends are arrested following a major brawl during a clash between the mods and rockers on the August bank holiday in Brighton.

Many mods pay a visit to Quadrophenia Alley, off East Street, which featured in the film, as part of their pilgrimage.

Last year, Daniels, who played Jimmy, and Gary Shail, who played Spider, returned to the alley to unveil a blue plaque.

Mods and rockers clash on Brighton seafront (Image: The Argus)

We Are The Mods Aid raises money for Sussex Homeless Support as well as the Teenage Cancer Trust, a charity which The Who frontman Roger Daltrey, who lives in Sussex, supports.

Performers at the Mods Aid festival at Concorde 2 included All or Nothing Experience (The Small Faces), The Circles, The Jam Project, Maze, The Media, The New Highs, Finn Sexton plus Guest DJs.

The Modernist subculture began in London in the 1950s and spread across the country, inspiring fashion and music.