‘VARIOUS ARTISTS’ – THE TACHE ROCK CLUB, THE ROSE & CROWN, BLACKPOOL 3.8.22
The Brighton & Hove News Music Team have been on a working holiday and a number of us headed to Blackpool for up to 6 days in order to take in the many delights of the very popular Rebellion Festival.
For those that aren’t aware of this event, simply put, it’s the biggest punk music festival in the UK and it attracts the largest bands and new emerging talent on the scene up to the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, where it is held on an annual basis. It has been running continuously in one form or another since 1996. The capacity of the Rebellion Festival is 15,000 and many of those travel from around the globe in order to attend.
In fact it is so big, that it even has its own radio show, Rebellion Radio which broadcasts during the event. The Rebellion Radio show is hosted by local Brighton and Peacehaven lads Del Strangefish (from Peter And The Test Tube Babies) and Jimmy Skurvi (from Skurvi) who also broadcast ‘The Delstrangefish Show’ on Brighton’s Radio Reverb.
This year’s Rebellion is the first post covid event and as a result, the first since 2019. It seems everyone is seriously up for it! That includes ourselves, as two of us arrived a day early in order to take in an unofficial festival pre-show event at The Tache Rock Club on Corporation Street, which is hosted on the first floor of The Rose & Crown pub. Think along the lines of something like Brighton’s Hope & Ruin and you won’t be far wrong.
We headed off to the venue after our seaside Fish ‘n’ Chips (with Northern mushy peas and Curry sauce…. Going native of course!). Thankfully we had purchased our tickets in advance as tonight was sold out and there were already many punks milling around downstairs. The upstairs doors flew open at 7pm and we all patrolled inside. Local brew purchased, we bravely set up camp right at the very front and sometimes even had to sit on the side of the stage to avoid being squashed. I know what you’re thinking……“Come on then, who’s on the bill tonight?”.
There were no less than seven grassroots bands playing here tonight. So imagine something like The Great Escape in Brighton, where artists perform around thirty minute showcase sets with a relatively quick turnaround in between. If fans liked them, then they would again be able to see them perform at Rebellion (with one exception!). We managed to take in six of the seven acts, but made a serious point on not missing out on the other band, as we caught them as part of the official Rebellion Festival.
In appearance order we had Subalternos (7:30pm), Geoffrey Oi!Cott (8:20pm) , Vulpynes (9:10pm), Litterbug (10pm), Suzi Moon (10:55pm), Drongos For Europe (11:45pm) and finally Filhos De Inacio (12:50am).
First up on stage this evening, were a male quartet all the way from São Paulo in Brazil going by the name of Subalternos, who after band-mate bonding hugs were off to entertain us. They whizzed through at least a nine track set consisting of melodic slightly pop punk tunes.
The venue was already rammed which is always encouraging for the atmosphere, the artists and the owners of the joint. Subalternos often specialised in joint vocal style which is a highlight of a band that are in tune with each other. If you think along the lines of early Jam meets Buzzcocks with a Latin Cockney Rejects vibe. It was a pleasant 31 minute set to kick things off and the crowd were immediately won over.
Visit their ‘linktree’ HERE for more information.
Next up, a mere 12 minutes later, were a band that turned up donning cricket whites. They set their stumps and Gunn Moore bat up at the front of the stage. Of course it could only be the light-hearted street punks Geoffrey Oi!cott, who are four mature gents who get the runs from Yorkshire. Were they on a sticky wicket following on from Subalternos? Would they bowl any maidens over during their 11 song innings?
The match began at 8:13pm with a host of bouncy Oi Oi numbers. They were offering true value with their new LP, as purchasers would also secure a free CD and a turntable mat for a mere £15. An act that you may well find in the beer tent at Headingley after many John Smith pints have been consumed. They are the only band playing tonight who are not playing the main Rebellion, but they have apparently been at the last eleven. So that’s 11 and out. We had sing along anthems in the same vein as Peter And The Test Tube Babies. There were some decent drives with fours and sixes and were 38 (minutes) all out at 8:51pm.
Find out more by clicking HERE.
Molly and Kaz are Vulpynes. The young duo offered us meaty guitar and bashed drums sounds, which commenced at 9:12pm with their intro plus eleven tracks. Their music reminds me of an accidental meeting between Dollyrots and hip swinging elements of Nirvana.
Tonight, the girls just let their compositions do all the talking and initially didn’t interact with the punters, but to be honest, I can’t see that being their style. These were a tad rockier than their predecessors, but they certainly went down equally well with the rammed crowd. They are Irish and hail from Dublin, but their vocals sound American like The Runaways, which is nice and gritty. It’s where rock meets punk. To be honest, their tunes all sound rather similar, but they certainly gave it their all. This was a 35 minute set that ended at 9:47pm.
Check them out on Bandcamp HERE.
The Litterbug guitar/vox, bass/bv’s and drums trio were on stage next at 10:01pm with their more traditional punk 15 track set. The band evolved from alt/indie to punk rock and offer catchy quirky moments with hook lines. It is certain that these are on home turf as they have a Blackpool Football Club banner draped over the speaker.
One or two Skids riffs were spotted during their performance and the music was delivered at a fast pace, but some punks at the front were already showing signs of wilting. Litterbug offer up no nonsense punk rock that is clearly inspired by the sound of sub three minute 1977, although one of the guys is sporting a Black Flag tattoo and thus their sound also leans to UK ’82 as well. These guys are clearly in sync, as their set was nice and tight. Their track called ‘Time Machine’ sounded rather familiar and I liked it. There was some jolly decent basswork which at times was accompanied by Muppets Animal style drumming. Litterbug are for fans of the Ramones and the Pixies. Their 31 minute set ended at 10:32pm.
Check them out on Bandcamp HERE.
American Suzi Moon and her chums were up next to entertain the faithful with their 10 track set. Those at the front (ourselves included) couldn’t really miss Suzi’s striking pink locks and knee length glittery boots. Suzi was on lead vocals and guitar – which incidentally she destroyed on stage during their Rebellion Festival performance – accompanying her were a trio of guys on guitar, bass, and drums. They certainly sandwiched the room, as they warmed up for quite a while until they were ready to blast off at 10:50pm with their backs to us. Suzi sure as hell knows how to throw the poses in order to keep the paparazzi more than happy. There’s no way that they could hail from rural England; they just have that showbiz X Factor. The tunes were tight, fast and energetic as you would expect. Here is an artist on the way up. Fast bubble-gum punk anyone?….. Yes please! Earworm alert…’99 Miles To Pasadena’ track eight from her forthcoming album ‘Dumb & In Luv’. You know where you heard it first!
‘I’m Not A Man’ is similar to ‘Rock n Roll Radio’ by the Ramones…..Mosh alert! Suzi and her helpers rock with a capital ‘R’. Suzi clambered off the stage and joined us near the end of the set and then after that stage dived too. Things have certainly gone up several notches with this act. Suzi Moon has the edge of a female Iggy Pop. The 37 minute set ended at 23:27pm. This was a must to add to our Rebellion ‘must see’ list!
It was now the turn of Birmingham’s finest Drongos For Europe to grace the three feet high stage for their 12 song set which started at 23:48pm. This punk band originally formed in 1979, but split up in 1985, but after a hiatus of three years decided to get it on again and have been on the case ever since. The quartet of mature guys are in the standard vocals, guitar, bass and drums format. They offer us another dose of back to basics punk and they mean business as the drummer has his top off from the outset. The venue is still busy and the mosh pit is still in full operation, in fact more than it has all night. Drongos sound more menacing than they look. They definitely have a UK Subs and Angelic Upstarts vibe about them, I’m surprised I haven’t seen them before.
If you love ‘the Subs’ then this band is for you, as the anthems come fast and furious and are without doubt the tightest unit of the night. God their drummer is great. ‘Who The F@ck Are You?’ was placed in GBH and early Blitz territory as they speeded things up. A chum joined on joint vox for final number ‘Rule Britannia, Britannia Rule The Waves’. Their enjoyable 43 minute set ended at 00:31am.
More information on the band can be found HERE.
There’s one more band to go this evening, but the room had seriously thinned out and we have 4 more days of punk rock to go and so we must pace ourselves. The decision was made to catch São Paulo’s Filhos De Inacio for their Rebellion performance instead and we were very glad that we did catch them! Time for bed, said Dougal.
Filhos De Inacio can be found on Spotify HERE.
