Review of Brighton Museum and Art Gallery's 'Mods and Rockers' exhibit

The Mods and Rockers exhibit at the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery falls short in its homage to one of the richest and legendary pieces of the city’s historical culture.

The modest display can be found nestled in a nook near the far end of the ‘Images of Brighton’ exhibition. Inspired by the conflicting ‘mod’ and ‘rocker’ youth subcultures of the 1960s-70s, and the 1964 clash between the two groups on Brighton Beach, the display seems to miss the mark.

It consists of just two large blown-up, black-and-white images; one of a group of rockers, the other depicting a mass of mods; and a sparkling red Lambretta Li 150, a scooter archetypally driven by mods.

With such iconic and notorious subject matter, especially as it was the inspiration for the 1979 cult classic ‘Quadrophenia’, the ‘Images of Brighton’ collection could explore the mods and rockers in more detail.

But, a glass plaque hanging beside the display piques interest with general facts about the mod and rocker rivalry and the 1964 Brighton fights.

Rocker Stuart Wester is quoted on the plaque saying: “I can never honestly say that we went down there to cause trouble… Trouble used to come to us.” This gives the exhibit a snippet of soul and personality that leaves the viewer wanting more.

The triumphant return of ‘Quadrophenia’ to Brighton’s Big Screen 2015 earlier this month on Saturday, September 5, shows how the appetite for mod and rocker nostalgia has remained so current in the public psyche.

It does seem the display has missed an opportunity to make the most out of the era’s popularity, in not providing more within the collection for the visitor to pore over.

So head to the museum’s ‘Fashion and Style’ gallery, where one can find a Rocker jacket worn by Rockin Bill, 1963 and a Mod outfit worn by David Cooke, 1965.

They give a little more insight into the personalities involved in mod and rocker subculture than offered by Mods and Rockers within ‘Images of Brighton’, which sadly seems to have left fans feeling overlooked.