DEAF DEVILS + RAGE DC + FANTAZMAZ + THE GLITTERBOMBS – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 22.12.24
Back in August we covered the annual Rebellion punk festival in Blackpool, and although I didn’t personally attend myself, I did organise it for several of my colleagues to attend. Two of which caught a legendary performance on the Pavilion stage from a Valencia based quartet going by the name of Deaf Devils who I must confess had up until this moment gone under my radar. However, when a trusted colleague described the band’s antics of their Rebellion set and closed his review by stating “Deaf Devils: band of the festival – no contest!!!”, my attention was seriously piqued. Add to this, the photos that were taken by another member of the team, and Deaf Devils were now for me a band I really wanted to see live in action.
Back in August they did not have any other UK gigs planned, but then ‘Shake Some Acton’ promoters delivered early Christmas present options when they secured the services of Deaf Devils for a London gig and one here this evening at The Prince Albert in Brighton. There was no way that I was going to miss this one and so this evening we are in attendance for a punk Christmas party night of action from no less than 4 differing outfits, featuring Deaf Devils, Rage DC, Fantazmaz, and The Glitterbombs.
First up then are The Glitterbombs who are a Brighton based trio consisting of Niall Sparklez on lead vocals and Fender guitar, Captain Jax of Daffadildos fame on Ibanez SDGR bass and backing vocals, and Jimmy Guest on drums. We last reviewed them at the ‘Femrock’ All Dayer at Arcobaleno in Kemp Town on 31st August, where they went down rather well. They have been releasing material for 8 years now, with the unplanned Covid gaps taking their toll on releases in the middle of their tenure. 2016 witnessed the release of ‘Yesterday’s Gone’ demo EP, ‘May Day’ demo EP dropped in 2018, and this year the trio unleashed their ‘Take Two’ EP, which is well represented during their 36 minute performance, which ran from 7:13pm to 7:49pm.
OK, I’m going to immediately address one of my biggest bugbears regarding live gig reporting, this being the fact that punters simply swan into venues in order to catch their sole preferred act, which is often their mates, and then scoot off away from the action to the bar when that band have finished! The way I see it is that you’ve paid for a ticket, so why not check out all of the band’s on the bill. Punk rock gigs are usually rather well supported and have an all inclusive punk family ethics community vibe going down, where all of the bands are given the chance. Sadly this wasn’t the case this evening. Yes it’s an early 7:13pm start for The Glitterbombs, but it’s a Sunday, so there’s not really the excuse of whizzing to the venue straight from work. The bar downstairs was nicely full of punters, but many decided to stay down there and miss the action. Oh well it’s their loss! Moving on…..
The Glitterbombs performed to a sparse crowd this evening and they deserved more! Kicking off with ‘Emo My Life Away’ from their 2018 ‘May Day’ demo EP, it was immediately evident that the trio were sounding like a raw version of The Clash, with decent repetitive chorus lines. In fact Niall was sporting a Clash patch on the dungarees, which should have been a clue. One track down and Niall states “Good evening, we are a punk band that my dad says are urgent, but nothing new”. This brought a number of chuckles from the crowd, myself included. Clearly the trio aren’t up themselves and it’s obvious that they are enjoying playing for us. Without further ado they launch into tune two ‘Golden Countries’ which is found on their 2024 ‘Take Two’ EP and this is followed by the rather catchy ‘Tina Is An Anarchist’ from the 2018 ‘May Day’ demo EP, which again sounds like the Clash with a varying beat.
Selection four was their rendition of ‘Make Your Own Kind Of Music’ a song that was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and a hit in 1969 for American singer Cass Elliot. Not the normal choice for a punk cover version, but it worked rather well. The next few tunes had more of a ska punk vibe going on that reminded me of my 10” ‘Black Market Clash’ mini-album, as well as ‘The Guns Of Brixton’ (from ‘London Calling’), both by the Clash. A whole host of tunes from their recent ‘Take Two’ EP followed, including the speedy ‘Proletariat Dictatorship’ and ‘May Day’. But both were eclipsed by ‘Landlord’s Raising The Rent (Again)’ which honestly took longer to introduce than play the actual tune! I’d guess it was sub two seconds!
The decent ‘LGB (With TNB)’ came next and was penned in order to promote trans acceptance within the LGBTQ+ community and it’s here that Captain Jax t-shirt is discarded, revealing mastectomy scars. Breast removal surgery is a common procedure for transgender and non-binary people who are assigned female at birth. It can be a gender-affirming procedure that improves quality of life, mental health, and sexual confidence. ‘Together Alone’, their final number, was decent as well. I’m not totally sure that they stuck to their setlist below, but it gives you a feel for the band. I’m glad that they are local, as I would like to see them in action again. Their next Brighton gig being on Saturday 18th January at Daltons, along with The Restarts, Omixlh (from Greece), The Razorpart and Chem Sex Party. This evening has been organised by ‘Garageland’ promoters and is a free entry event – now that’s very punk rock!
The Glitterbombs:
Niall Sparklez – lead vocals, guitar
Captain Jax – backing vocals, bass
Jimmy Guest – drums
The Glitterbombs setlist:
‘Emo My Life Away’ (from 2018 ‘May Day’ demo EP)
‘Golden Countries’ (from 2024 ‘Take Two’ EP)
Tina Is An Anarchist’ (from 2018 ‘May Day’ demo EP)
‘Make Your Own Kind Of Music’ (Cass Elliot cover)
‘Another Fighting Day’ (unreleased)
‘Provanity’ (unreleased)
‘Johnny Ain’t A Tragedy’ (from 2024 ‘Take Two’ EP)
‘Proletariat Dictatorship’ (from 2024 ‘Take Two’ EP)
‘May Day’ (from 2024 ‘Take Two’ EP)
‘Landlord’s Raising The Rent (Again)’ (from 2024 ‘Take Two’ EP)
‘LGB (With The TNB)’ (from 2024 ‘Take Two’ EP)
‘Smoother’ (from 2024 ‘Take Two’ EP)
‘Against The Wall’ (from 2024 ‘Take Two’ EP)
‘Together Alone’ (from 2024 ‘Take Two’ EP)
After a mere 17 minute live music hiatus, it was back to the action with Fantazmaz who are a Brazilian ghetto punk quartet based in London, who blend genres and backgrounds into a sound that’s raw and electrifying. It is said that they formed back in 2020, but their debut ‘Better In My Head’ single release apparently dropped on 21st October 2019 – go figure! Fantazmaz consist of Thamila ‘Thami’ Zenthöfer on lead vocals, Raf Oliver on Gibson guitar, Chokis Costa on Fender Precision bass and none other than former UK Subs drummer (and not the cook) Jamie Oliver, who now also plays with the Anti-Nowhere League. It’s been said that Fantazmaz offer up energetic performances, striking melodies, and impactful lyrics, and that their music leaves a lasting impression. Since their inception, the band have dropped 7 singles. But have yet to unleash a long-player. Tonight we were going to find out if this indeed was to be the case.
We were in their company for 25 minutes, from 8:06pm to 8:31pm, but boy did they leave a mark! They launch straight into the unreleased ‘Dead On The Way Home’ and literally one minute into the set, Jamie’s drumkit falls apart! There’s a three minute delay whilst it’s fixed and they are back at it again from the very top, and the track is hard and fast, as is selection two, which according to their setlist is shown as ‘You Own Me A Fortune’, but maybe it’s called ‘You Owe Me A Fortune’. Their ‘Distortion’ single from back in 2022 comes next and begins with Jamie making the drums sound like the Ramones ‘Teenage Lobotomy’ and Thami makes the first of her forays into the crowd during this track, and is back again shortly afterwards during their unreleased ‘Bullet’ tune. There’s tons of energy going on with the band and your eyes flit from one band member to another, with not really knowing what is going to happen next. The South American punk bands I have thus far witnessed, always seem to have that edgy vibe, and you need to concentrate on what they are up to.
Thami is then proudly paraded around the room on the shoulders of her bearded Deaf Devils chum, which increases the intensity of the performance. There’s some decent Gibson guitar licks courtesy of Raf during ‘Corporate Behave’ and their penultimate selection, ‘Warheads’, (not to be confused with the UK Subs single of a similar name), was another urgent tune, which yet again saw Thami getting up close and personal with the punters. However, they had (for me) saved the best to last, with the arrival of the unreleased ‘Violator’. For this they were joined by Uruguayan born and now Valencia based Luis Machado from the band Motosierra on guitar, as well as his son Pipe Dead on Fender Precision bass, who just happens to be in Deaf Devils. Raf and Chokis both switched to backing vocals during this track. I’m not actually aware of any Motosierra songs, but based on this delivery, I really think that I should!
Fantazmaz:
Thamila ‘Thami’ Zenthöfer – lead vocals
Raf Oliver – guitars, backing vocals
Chokis Costa – bass, backing vocals
Jamie Oliver – drums
Luis Machado – guest guitar
Pipe Dead – guest bass
Fantazmaz setlist:
‘Dead On The Way Home’ (unreleased)
‘You Own Me A Fortune’ (unreleased)
‘Distortion’ (a 2022 single)
‘Does God Know Misery?’ (a 2020 single)
‘Better In My Head’ (a 2019 single)
‘Bullet’ (unreleased)
‘Pobreza’ (unreleased)
‘Scars Of Downtown’ (a 2020 single)
‘Corporate Behave’ (from 2020 ‘Scars Of Downtown’ single)
‘Warheads’ (from 2023 ‘Who Sold The Law?’ single)
‘Violator’ (unreleased) (with Luis Machado on guitar and Pipe Dead on guitar)
After another 17 minute live music break, the third band grace us with their presence, this being Bracknell based quartet Rage DC who are Simon Loric Harwood (vocals, Vantage guitar), Graham Pegler (Gibson Les Paul guitar, vocals), Chris Surtees (Squier Jazz bass) and Ziggy Morbi (drums). We are in their company for 43 minutes, from 8:48pm until 9:31pm. The band’s first long player, ‘Attitude And Fortitude’ dropped way back in 2011 and since then they have released ‘What You Get Is Just What You Deserve’ in 2015, ‘Punk To The Bone’ in 2019 and most recent ‘F*ck The Man’ single in 2022. The last time I can recall catching Rage DC live was here at The Prince Albert on 10th November last year, when they were supporting Johnny Moped. I concluded my review on their performance that time by stating that it was “a solid set!” and I was rather hoping for the same this time around!
Tonight, the lads kick-off with a couple of yet to be released tunes, these being ‘Too Many Rules’ and ‘Make A Nose’. Immediately it’s obvious that anyone in the room who yearns for the clocks to be turned back to 1st January 1977 on their punk rock calendar, would obviously love the sound of Rage DC. Simon’s lead vocals are not that far away from those of the legendary Turkish born John Graham Mellor aka Joe Strummer, who sadly passed away 22 years ago today, at the young age of 50. There’s also the vocal feel of Malcolm Owen (also RIP) of the similarly titled Ruts (now Ruts DC) and even Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke, most notably on the faster track three ‘I Believe In Nothing’ which is from their 2019 ‘Punk To The Bone’ album.
Their sound features some urgent bass playing courtesy of Chris and it’s him that is the most animated of the band, which is quite unusual for a bassist. Mind you, there’s some serious kick drum pedal action going on from Ziggy during the unreleased ‘The Planet’ aka ‘Planet Will Survive Human Race Is F*cked’, which was played after ‘Austerity’. Their 2022 single ‘F*ck The Man’ is certainly carrying the Sex Pistols banner and Chris makes a brief foray into the crowd for some up-close action. After the unreleased ‘First Stone’ and ‘Above The Ground’, we are asked “Are there any normal people here tonight?” which is laughingly greeted by many denials, and the lads dive into ‘Normal’ from 2015’s ‘What You Get Is Just What You Deserve’ album. This tune has tons of energy, as does ‘Had Enough’ from 2019’s ‘Punk To The Bone’ album, which is very much like the Sex Pistols.
The unreleased ‘In The Underground’ came next and benefitted from another fiery delivery and it’s as perfect historic punk rock sound as you can get. Their penultimate choice was ‘No Control’ from 2015’s ‘What You Get Is Just What You Deserve’ album and after which, in typical punk fashion Simon states “We’re gonna do one more and f*ck off” and that’s exactly what happened. The number in question being the catchy
‘R.I.P Mr V.I.P’, a song in which I can imagine punks stating “they don’t make them like that any more”, but clearly they do!. Yet again it’s been a solid set and one in which our photographer Cris Watkins was more than pleasantly surprised to have enjoyed much more than anticipated.
Rage DC:
Simon Loric Harwood – vocals, guitar
Graham Pegler – guitar, vocals
Chris Surtees – bass
Ziggy Morbi – drums
Rage DC setlist:
‘Too Many Rules’ (unreleased)
‘Make A Nose’ (unreleased)
I Believe In Nothing’ (from 2019 ‘Punk To The Bone’ album)
‘Austerity’ (from 2019 ‘Punk To The Bone’ album)
‘Planet Will Survive Human Race Is F*cked’ aka ‘The Planet’ (unreleased)
‘F*ck The Man’ (a 2022 single)
‘First Stone’ (unreleased)
‘Above The Ground’ (unreleased)
‘Normal’ (from 2015 ‘What You Get Is Just What You Deserve’ album)
‘Had Enough’ (from 2019 ‘Punk To The Bone’ album)
‘In The Underground’ (unreleased)
‘No Control’ (from 2015 ‘What You Get Is Just What You Deserve’ album)
‘R.I.P Mr V.I.P’ (from 2015 ‘What You Get Is Just What You Deserve’ album)
There’s a wait of exactly half an hour before tonight’s headliners take to the stage and so at 10:01pm Deaf Devils show us what they’ve got for the next 45 minutes until 10:46pm. Deaf Devils consist of Lucyfer (vocals), Pipe Dead (Gibson guitar), Kuba (Fender bass) and Eric Von (drums). Kuba hails from Poland, Pipe is Uruguayan,and the rest are Spanish natives. They are described as a Death punk / Action rock band who are led by a ‘She-Devil’ that arrives from Spain to prove that new blood is here and that Punk is not dead. Their music is a mixture of rock, metal, punk rock and rock and roll. They formulate devastating songs that bet on energy and rawness in order to give us a whiplash full of grit, strength and attitude.They dropped their ‘Boom’ three track single on marble clear red vinyl back in May.
Not surprisingly The Prince Albert music room has filled out considerably and there’s now true anticipation and excitement in the air. Their intro tape begins, it’s Gene Kelly’s ‘Singin’ In The Rain’ “I’m singin’ in the rain, just singin’ in the rain; What a glorious feelin’, I’m happy again”. But then it morphs into Wendy Carlos’ haunting ‘Theme From A Clockwork Orange (Beethoviana)’ and the four Droogs take to the stage for some “ulta-violence” and I even spy two glasses of “milk plus” on the go on stage. The scene is set and they energetically launch into ‘Tonite’ from their ‘Boom’ EP, it’s loud, fast and furious! But the unreleased ‘Dancing With The Devil’ is faster still. There’s riffs aplenty and Pipe Dead makes a beeline into the crowd with his cordless Gibson guitar on the go. Not having a guitar lead certainly helps with the mobility in between the punters! They segue straight into the unreleased adrenalin fuelled ‘This Is Not’ (which it’s listed as on the setlist, but it might be an abbreviated title).
Another yet to be recorded number comes next in the form of ‘Don’t Bother’. There’s tons of energy and adrenalin coming from each member of Deaf Devils, with Lucyfer clambering atop the drumkit and then jumping off and then lying on the stage in between the floor speakers and then rolling off the stage completely and writhing on the floor in front of us whilst still screaming into the mic. It’s impressive stuff, and it’s certain that the white Droog outfit will have to go in the wash tonight! The tunes are now coming fast and furious and the unreleased ‘Get Away’ / ‘Lost’ come next and Pipe Dead’s guitar heads on into metal riff territory, which I’m not a great fan of to be honest. All is redeemed though, with the arrival of the unreleased ‘Too Much’ punk anthem. This witnesses Pipe Dead standing on the drumkit as Lucyfer had done earlier, but she went one better and clambered atop the rear stage speakers. After this Lycyfer vacates the stage and the trio of lads hold the fort and play yet another unreleased tune, this one’s called ‘Night’, and it’s the turn for bassist Kuba to walk amongst the crowd.
The venue door swings open and enters Lucyfer who is now clad in dominatrix black and they perform her title song, ‘Lucyfer’ which was a 2021 single. The track is hard and fast and Pipe Dead and Kuba throw some showman poses which keeps the photographers happy. Pipe Dead is really in the moment now and continually address us as “motherf*ckers”, which does get a bit tiresome. But then, the performance levels were increased as according to their setlists, the next track (number nine) was simply listed as “-”. Clearly it’s a surprise and the former UK Subs drummer Jamie Oliver is summoned to the stage and Eric Von gives up his kit for the next number, whilst the band now also call the legendary UK Subs frontman, Charlie Harper, to the stage. They all then launch into the UK Subs ‘Rocker’ with the call to arms vocal hook of “Born a Rocker Die A Rocker” chorus, which is often referred to as “B.A.R.D.A.R”. It’s a great moment and pleasing to see Charlie and Oliver back on stage together.
There’s yet another frantic delivery for ‘So Messed Up’ which is yet another unreleased tune. For this tune Lucyfer fell onto the floor amongst us again, but a guy touched her whilst she was singing, and of course, her being in dominatrix mode, shouted “don’t touch me” and she pushed him and then hit him with her microphone…ultraviolence indeed!
‘Boom’ the lead track from their new EP came next and this is pleasingly punk rock and both Pipe Dead and Kuba came into the centre of the crowd and swapped instruments. Not to be outdone, drummer Eric Von also vacated the stage, and brought his drumkit too. By now the whole band is playing in the centre of the audience, there’s no one on the stage, it’s a novel idea and one they also carried out at Rebellion back in August. Eric Von is bashing away at the drumkit and it sounds like a combination of the Sweet’s ‘Ballroom Blitz’ meets psychobilly. When Pipe Dead was leaving the stage, he tore his setlist off of the speaker in front of him and screwed it up and began to eat it. What he was doing was moistening it a tad and when he was amongst us, he actually set the setlist alight, it went up in seconds and the remains dropped to the wooden floor. There was a burning smell. Now it’s at this point at the Rebellion show that the security guards raced to the setlist and put it out with fire extinguishers and they then immediately stopped the band’s performance! Thankfully, this didn’t happen tonight and we were afforded two more tunes.
The first of these being ‘Burnin’’ and the second was ‘Alright’, for which we all (if possible) had to crouch down and jump up when commanded by Pipe Dead. It’s here that I noticed our photographer’s face, and of all the tons of gigs we’ve been together at, I’ve never seen him with such a massive smile across his face! Clearly Deaf Devils had the desired effect on him and many others present this evening. He, like several others, then headed to the merch stall at the rear of the room in order to purchase a souvenir from the evening, as a remembrance of a fab night out!
Deaf Devils:
Lucyfer – vocals
Pipe Dead – guitar, backing vocals
Kuba – bass, backing vocals
Eric Von – drums
Charlie Harper – guest vocals
Jamie Oliver – guest drums
Deaf Devils setlist:
(Intro tape) ‘Singin’ In The Rain’ (Gene Kelly) / ‘Theme From A Clockwork Orange (Beethoviana)’ (Wendy Carlos)
‘Tonite’ (from 2024 ‘Boom’ EP)
‘Dancing With The Devil’ (unreleased)
‘This Is Not’ (unreleased)
‘Don’t Bother’ (unreleased)
‘Get Away’ / ‘Lost’ (unreleased)
‘Too Much’ (unreleased)
‘Night’ (unreleased)
‘Lucyfer’ (a 2021 single)
‘Rockers’ (UK Subs cover) (with Charlie Harper on vocals and Jamie Oliver on drums)
‘So Messed Up’ (unreleased)
‘Boom’ (from 2024 ‘Boom’ EP)
‘Burnin’’ (unreleased)
‘Alright’ (unreleased)
Want to see more photos from this concert? Then click HERE.
