Rockaway Beach knows its audience well. It’s Sunday morning and people are already congregating at the vinyl market stalls looking for that elusive record that they’ll probably pop on a shelf and never play. The soft play area is still closed though.
What better way to spend Sunday lunchtime than in the company of crooner Luke Duffett in the guise of Enjoyable Listens. Luke’s sound is a nod to the easy listening renaissance once led by Mike Flowers and Neil Hannon – but Luke is a unique spirit. Interspersing his light ditties with his hilariously anticlimactic tales raises belly laughs aplenty at Reds. He’s the very antidote to any uber-serious noise bothering bands that can seem so remote and self-indulgent. As an act, Enjoyable Listens have adapted their sound and set over the past couple of years but never ever fail to deliver fun and laughter. The Rockaway raconteur! Genuinely a hard act to follow but the psych-surf pop of Japanese Television is surprisingly engaging too. Their brand of instrumental groovy space rock is fascinating to watch and feels expansive.
Now this Joyeria is an interesting prospect. Said to have been around the London music scene for a couple of decades Joyeria remains an enigma but Speedy Wunderground were impressed enough to sign him. The bloke who once tied bread rolls to his body to attract seagulls in the name of art (and a music video) is a man the world needs to know about! His slacker indie sound is captivating and occasionally reminiscent of Pavement and sometimes even veers into Lou Reed’s Transformer territory. A wonderful discovery – thanks Rockaway.
There’s a point at every festival where fatigue sets in and a pick-me-up is needed. Shelf Lives arrive at just the right time. Toronto-born vocalist Sabrina Di Giuilo and guitarist Jonny Hillyard threatened to blow the roof off Reds with their explosive, dynamic electropunk. Their enthusiasm and raw energy had the same effect as bands like Confidence Man and Nova Twins have had on other festivals. Sabrina owned the stage and set Butlins alight with such an incendiary performance the Sussex fire brigade could never extinguish the flames!
It was a typically Rockaway move to follow that excitement with the crashing guitar noodling of Traams. Very popular with the Reds regulars they showed their prowess at playing and making a noise. It was great to see their synth keys player appear to be remotely directing their synchronised guitar bothering as they moved around the stage like clockwork musicians! Still, their set seemed to last longer than this review I’m writing.
To say Snayx bring every ingredient needed for the perfect festival performance is to understate the impact they have wherever they play. Charlie Herridge (vocals), Ollie Horner (guitar) and Lainey (drums) make a deliciously loud noise but all the time keep it tight to deliver scorching live sets. Ferocious from start to finish Snayx have gained even more self-belief and confidence. Reds is blown away by their hard-rocking ways. As usual, there are plenty of manic stares and mad Shining grins from Ollie and they retain their fantastic sense of humour. Intense and aggressive but never arrogant – Snayx have it sussed.
Look away now ardent fans of The Nightingales. Without wishing to commit further heresy, every incarnation of The Nightingales has passed me by. Even the excellent King Rocker documentary hasn’t inspired a delving into their back catalogue. Robert Lloyd and his band drew a huge crowd so what do I know! Often breathless and occasionally looking like he needed a rest Robert mumbled a bit and sang a bit. Everything looked unrehearsed and made up on the spot so they get top marks for authenticity. I feel a fatwa from fans will follow. In my defence, I needed my dinner…
A bowl of soggy noodles later and the Centre Stage is open for the last round of bands of Rockaway 2024. For festival goers, this is the equivalent of the marathon runners hitting the “wall” just a few more bands to go. The early pacemakers from Friday night have long since retreated to the seating areas around the edge of the venue but some are going the distance. One chap flails about the dancefloor as the DJ plays Dinosaur Junior – in his head he’s all Weekender, in reality like many present, he’s probably more weak bladder. Never under-estimate the power of music.
Deadletter bravely open straight away with their recent hit The Snitching Hour. Such confidence! This North Yorkshire lot are hardy souls and Zac Lawrence soon sheds his shirt – in Bognor…in January! Ever the complete frontman Zac gets everyone involved with the refrain from Fit For Work. There’s dominant bass-lines and sax flourishes and discordant post-punk but it’s all drawn together by the charismatic topless bloke at the front. Zac succinctly sums up the Butlin’s vibe saying, “we’re all very keen aren’t we, the week after New Year and we’re already on holiday!”.
It’s fantastic to see Desperate Journalist get scheduled in so late on a festival bill. Jo Bevan leads the band with quiet determination. A few in the room interpret her shyness and reserved nature as arrogance – maybe the same people who are happy to stand and stare at a group of blokes guitar fiddling for a whole set. Bevan just takes a while to get in her stride but when she does Desperate Journalist gel like the best indie guitar bands. There’s the dark and enticing Hollow and the more punchy Resolution but it’s Personality Girlfriend that truly sees Jo dropping her guard and claiming the Centre Stage. Characteristically coiling the mic lead around her she has moments between songs when she’s testing the range of her voice. Nothing arrogant at all then, just a performer who wants to give her best…and she does. Just superb.
Indie pop legends The Vaselines are deservedly the weekend’s final band at the Reds stage. Much praised (and covered) by Kurt Cobain, they still sound like the band that inspired hundreds of jangly indie artists to follow the template they started in 1986. Original duo Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee remain the core of the band. Frances still has the archetypal sweet, pure indie pop voice and in spite of a history of bickering, they banter well. Frances joins many of the other performers over the weekend by referring to the age of the audience before her – suggesting this makes her feel better. She also jokingly asks if anyone has any crystal meth whilst Eugene is tuning up! It’s an honour to hear Son Of A Gun and the other ‘hits’. The mystery is though, how The Vaselines have kept so humble considering their influence and impact on so much of the independent music scene of the late twentieth century. Icons!
So to the grand finale to Rockaway Beach Festival 2024 and The Cribs on the Centre Stage. The line-up has been strong and appealed to the discerning taste of the dedicated Butlin’s crowd. By this time everyone has their own idea of the heroes and zeroes of the weekend. It’s almost like it doesn’t matter who finishes the festival…it’s the journey that matters most. The Cribs are like the employee who has stuck around a company for so long that they inevitably get promoted to a loftier position by virtue of their sheer tenacity.
Good at what they do, but there are people who wonder why they didn’t leave years ago. In spite of the incredibly passionate fans in the front rows The Cribs turn in a functional performance. Nevertheless, it’s great to hear Hey Scenesters! again. It still feels a little too corporate which isn’t helped when Gary Jarman reveals how they’ve somehow wangled a deal with an online shopping site. Twin brother Ryan mutters and snarls along through the set looking as if he’s taken full advantage of the Butlin’s hospitality. Some have already left the gig to quietly secure a stable trolley ready to transport belongings back to the car-park in the morning. It’s a very sensible festival.
The Rockaway Beach Festival continues to successfully fill that dark void in the post New Year schedule. It’s an important and now familiar meeting place for so many dedicated music fans. The festival curators do well to offer a diverse array of new, established and veteran artists but there’s a clear lack of diversity with those attending. It is a safe space for the much maligned ‘6 Music Dads’ – who, to be fair, may be keeping many grassroots music venues alive right now. It can just feel one-dimensional and doesn’t reflect wider society or look as inclusive as gigs down the road in Brighton or Hackney. That aside, Rockaway is excellent at what it does and remains relevant and important for bands and fans. I immediately booked up for next year’s event – eager to see what Rockaway 10 will bring…
