A trio of top rock 'n' roll bands graced this historic venue for a tremendous night of live music!
I think I’m going to stop looking for new and exciting rock n’ roll bands. No, not because I’ve lost my passion for the music (far from it) but because I might as well let promoters like the Shake Some Acton and Rockaway Beach folks do the hard work for me. Have any of them ever put on a bad gig, or even a bad band? If so, we’re yet to see it.
“I stop drinking, shit starts happening!” That’s Altermoderns singer/guitarist Glauco after a couple of guitar-related tech issues. Thankfully, said issues are quickly resolved, & the Brazilian duo get down to a typically groovy set.
We’re starting to run out of good things to say about them, so just believe us when we say that they always give 150% live, they look great (both dressed entirely in red), and that their ‘Side Effects Of Reality’ album is a masterclass in stripped-down – but highly danceable – rock n’ roll. Oh, and the new songs played tonight sound great too!
Dead Hombres play what we shall call ‘zombie surf’ (Can you imagine a horde of zombies actually catching some waves? Say, using coffin lids as surfboards? No? Oh well, back to the gig). The likes of ‘Guns, Gamblers and Ghosts’ and ‘Crazy People’ are wonderfully morbid slices of twangy, trashy rock and roll that would surely have Lux Interior nodding in approval, and they’re delivered with no little panache.
The Surrey trio have the songs and the confidence to stand out from the horror-fizated hordes, and even with a set full of bangers, there’s a sense that their best is yet to come. We shall watch them with ghoulish gusto.
Not to be outdone, headliners The Zipheads waste no time as they launch into the prime rockabilly of ‘Call Of The Wild’, Dick Dynamite thrashing away at his double bass, erm, wildly. Last year, the Hertfordshire trio celebrated the 10th anniversary of their debut album ‘Prehistoric Beat’, and it’s been heartening to see them get ever leaner, meaner and hungrier over the past decade.
The bouncy ska of ‘Matter Of Time’ gets us moving, and among the crowd favourites, they rework classics by The Damned (‘Neat Neat Neat’) and Toots & The Maytals (‘54-46: That’s My Number’) into their own jet-fuelled rock n’ roll stylings. Throughout their hour-long set, there’s never a dull (or quiet) moment, and maddeningly-catchy new single ‘How Do You Like Me Now?’ bodes well for their future.
Another evening of great rock n’ roll, then, and all for less than a tenner! Be sure to keep an eye out for future Rockaway Beach shindigs, including returns to the Hope And Anchor with Sick On The Bus (September 27th) and The DeRellas (October 11th).
Main Photo The Zipheads Credit: ALEX GOOSE
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I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
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