Fat Tony and Sandy Rivera Lead Brighton Takeover

Love to be… is taking its biggest UK venue tour to Horizon in Brighton on Saturday, November 28, with Fat Tony and Sandy Rivera leading a full club takeover that connects the brand’s old-school house roots with a wider Brighton lineup.

The event splits across two rooms. The Auditorium hosts Fat Tony, Sandy Rivera, Trimtone, lau.ra, and Tom Davis. The Tunnel brings in Brighton selectors Sullivan, Lidia Da Luca, Blanco Brothers, and Mischief, giving the night a clear local layer rather than relying only on the headliners.

That balance has always been part of the Love to be… identity. The brand began at Sheffield’s Music Factory in 1994 and has spent over three decades linking house music’s established figures with newer and local names. Its history includes events with Frankie Knuckles, Masters At Work, and Basement Jaxx, while current lineups have featured artists including Claptone, Sam Divine, and Sonny Fodera.

For Brighton, that history gives the event a cleaner story than a standard touring club night. Love to be… is bringing a legacy house brand into Horizon, but the room still needs to feel current, local, and alive on the night.

Tickets here

Fat Tony and Sandy Rivera Give the Night Its House Backbone

Fat Tony and Sandy Rivera are the names that give the Brighton date its immediate pull. Both carry long histories in house music, and each brings a different kind of weight to a lineup built around club culture rather than festival spectacle.

Fat Tony brings personality, history, and a DJ identity tied to several generations of UK nightlife. Sandy Rivera brings the kind of house credibility that works across vocal records, club-focused grooves, and a deeper understanding of how long sets should move.

I wrote about a related balance in my article on Patrick Topping’s club-focused run with Hellbent, where the bigger question was how modern house stays connected to the room without losing its identity. Love to be… comes from a different generation, but the Brighton takeover is working inside a similar tension.

Horizon Gives the Tour a Two-Room Brighton Setup

The Horizon layout helps the announcement because it gives Love to be… space to program the night with a little depth. The Auditorium carries the bigger touring names, while The Tunnel gives the event a Brighton-facing counterpoint.

That second room matters for a city like Brighton. Local selectors are often what keep a touring brand from feeling dropped into a venue without context. Sullivan, Lidia Da Luca, Blanco Brothers, and Mischief give the takeover a tighter connection to the city’s own scene, while the Auditorium keeps the event anchored around the broader Love to be… tour.

The full lineup also gives the night room to move across different shades of house. Trimtone, lau.ra, and Tom Davis sit between the headliners and the local programming, helping the event feel like a full club bill rather than a headline-plus-support setup.

Love to be… Still Understands the Club Calendar

The Brighton date is part of a 13-date UK tour across 2026 and 2027, making this announcement part of a bigger push for the brand. That scale is important because Love to be… is not being revived for one nostalgia-led night. It is treating its long history as a reason to keep moving across new rooms.

Founded in 1994, Love to be… has survived several versions of UK club culture. That longevity only works when a brand keeps giving people reasons to show up now. History helps, but a room still has to work once the lights drop.

That is where the Brighton event has a practical advantage. The lineup brings recognizable names, local selectors, and a venue setup that can support different energies across the night. It gives longtime house fans a reason to come out, while still creating space for newer Brighton dancers who may know the brand less by memory and more by the lineup in front of them.

My coverage of artists who sound like Green Velvet touched on a related point in house and tech-house culture: scenes last because certain sounds, personalities, and room dynamics keep getting passed between generations. Love to be… has been part of that transfer for three decades.

Brighton Is the Right City for a House Takeover

Brighton is a good fit for this kind of club event because the city already understands nightlife as part of its identity. A Love to be… takeover at Horizon does not need to behave like a rarefied heritage showcase. It can be direct, social, and built around a crowd that wants a proper Saturday night.

The programming reflects that. Fat Tony and Sandy Rivera give the night recognition and depth. The supporting names widen the musical route. The Tunnel lineup gives Brighton its own place inside the bill.

That makes the event feel less like a traveling brand landing for a night and more like a tour date built with the room in mind. For a house music institution trying to make its biggest UK venue tour feel active rather than archival, that distinction is important.

The Brighton Date Shows Why Love to be… Still Has Room to Move

Love to be… could lean entirely on nostalgia if it wanted to. The brand has the history, the early Sheffield story, and the archive of major names to do it. The Brighton takeover is more interesting because it uses that past as a foundation, then builds a current club night on top of it.

Fat Tony and Sandy Rivera lead the night, but the full lineup is what gives it shape. Trimtone, lau.ra, Tom Davis, Sullivan, Lidia Da Luca, Blanco Brothers, and Mischief help spread the energy across Horizon rather than letting the announcement rest on two names alone.

Tickets are available from £20 via Skiddle. For Brighton house fans, this looks like one of the clearer Love to be… tour dates to circle: a legacy brand, a two-room setup, a strong headline pairing, and enough local programming to make the night feel rooted in the city rather than borrowed for the evening.