The Rezillos & Department S live in Lewes!

It was stand by for action in Lewes. Two great bands headed south to deliver two barn storming sets. The Rezillos are winding up a large tour around the UK. The tour was to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their first sublime album “Cant stand The Rezillos”. The Rezillos are a punk/new wave band formed in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1976. Although emerging at the same time as other bands in the punk rock movement, the Rezillos did not share the nihilism or social commentary of their contemporaries, but instead took a more light-hearted approach to their songs, preferring to describe themselves at the time as “a New Wave beat group”.

The band arrived and carted their gear up the path through the headstones to the entrance of the venue, The Lewes All Saints Centre. Thank goodness it was still daylight when they arrived! An unusual venue, but the acoustics were great, with some strong lighting and the venue is run by some great people.

This was set to be a terrific gig due to the line up – Department S were the guests on the night. What a line up, and a genius marriage of two great bands for the night. It was odd, standing outside in the dark watching people trying to find the venue and then directing people through the cemetery to the entrance. I am not sure Lewes knew what was coming! But they sure as heck heard it!

The Rezillos – The Band – in slides!

Eugene Reynolds – vox, guitars, sax
Fay Fife – vox, theremin, keys
Angel Paterson – drums
Chris Agnew – bass
Jim Brady – guitars, vox and generally jumping about!

Chris hits that perfect Rezillos sweet spot with bass fills and bass thunder. Tonight  with his shades he looked the business as he opened up proceeding with the bass line for Flying Saucer Attack. Jim Brady on guitars, glasses and goggles sparked into action. His unique sound is complimented with a style of gymnastics as he joined in with Chris. The man at the back, Angel, was now in full percussion mode. He was giving us the drum attack and is another original member of the band. He sat behind his customised kit, his sunglasses reflecting the stage lighting. Guitar screeching, Eugene and Fay bounced onto the stage to another huge cheer.  The Rezillos had landed in Lewes. Some pre bonfire night fireworks! Ignition had happened and the fuse to the Rocket Rezillos had reached the main engines and propelled us towards planet Rezillos! A very quiet Lewes on a Saturday night had no idea what it was in for!

Eugene took hold of his mic stand and delivered a belting rendition of No. You could just feel the excitement from the band tonight and the music sparked. Fay grabbed her mic and blast off! The crowd reacted with each shout of “No”. Usually saved for the end of a show, next up was Somebody’s Gonna Get their Head Kicked In Tonight.

SLIDESHOW

We had every track of that brilliant album Can’t Stand The Rezillos in the original track listing order. It worked! Then we were served a generous mix of the old classics not on that album plus some of the new tracks from the brilliant second album ZERO. A further set of extras came up for us next and included Groovy Room, Zero, Destination Venus and the mighty 20,000 Rezillos under the sea. Also in the mix was Out of This World – which I hadn’t seen performed live before. A Revillos track Do The Mutilation was in there with Fay on fine voice belting it out and Eugene on the sax.

A Video

The song that really started it all “I Cant Stand My Baby”. Gonna go radge!

This was another storming set from The Rezillos. It was a cold evening in Lewes, but this gig was going to warm you up. It was pure unadulterated fun and I enjoyed myself as did the crowd who had gathered. The Rezillos are a great band, one hand in the past but the other firmly grabbing the future by the scruff of the neck with their new material. Whats next? Stay tuned!

Jim Brady

If you hadn’t already picked it up on The Rezillos grapevine, Jim Brady announced his stepping down as guitarist with The Rezillos. He released a statement and here is a section of it:

“There’s no drama, no fall outs and no negativity – it’s just time to focus on different things in my life and to reignite other musical pursuits that I put on hold over the years including my band Nanobots with my partner Shona.

The Rezillos have gone from strength to strength. It’s been an amazing time these last, almost ten years during which I have gained so much from the band, and from everyone who’s helped support us in many ways, and along with managing the band’s social media I’ve made a hell of a lot of friends. My sincere thanks to every one of you.

But mostly my thanks to the other four Rezillos, Eugene, Fay, Angel and Chris – a group of people who’s energy, commitment and sheer electricity on stage I have never seen nor felt the likes of.”

Jim Brady – Rezillos – Guitars. Pic by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.

Scene Sussex and me wish Jim all the very best. He is a top geeeetah destroyer, and hope its not toooo long before we see him bouncing across a stage with a guitar in his hand. He will be missed on The Rezillos line up. He really is a terrific guy, a good guy. We wish you well Jim.

Review: The Rezillos at The 229 London

Department S

Love these guys and fast becoming a must see band. Second time seeing them this year. What a set. A brilliant collection of songs to fill their 30 minute set.

The Band – in slides!

• Eddie Roxy  vocals
• Pete Jones – bass, backing vocals
• Phil Thompson – guitar, backing vocals
• Alan Galaxy – drums

Department S are a British post-punk/new wave band formed in 1980, they took their name from the 1960s TV series Department S. They are best known for their debut single, “Is Vic There?”, which was originally released in December 1980 and reached No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart the following year. A new Department S full-length album, When All Is Said and All Is Done, produced by Pete Jones, was released by Westworld Recordings in May 2016. In 2017, the band released the 45 Revolutions: Singles 1980 – 2017 compilation on Westworld.

A slightly shorter set than when I saw them last, but still perfectly formed! The band have settled into giving a great performance. The latest addition to the band line up is Alan Galaxy on drums. The band had been added as a support on many of The Rezillos gigs across the UK during the 2018 autumn tour. I have to say that the mix was an inspirational choice – the two bands complimented each other perfectly.

“Is Vic There?” which I think nearly everyone knows. It is actually quite a “different” song now and just blends in perfectly with the rest of the set. Well played Department S. And I loved hearing Left Right again.

A Video

Two songs in a mix. GO see these guys play.

Department S looked as if they were enjoying the set as much as we were.  Department S you get the feeling are really achieving with this line up. Easily one of the best bands to see play live, they are on a roll with a selection of great material and a rock steady show – go see them if they play near you. Pete powers through the whole session with a smile and some serious  heavy duty bass playing. The charismatic Eddie in his suit giving a brilliant performance. Phil providing the ear bursting guitars, riffs, moves and jumps. At the back Alan keeping his gaze on the band members and keeping it all tight.They will be back in Lewes with The Vapors in December 2018.

Review: Department S at 229 London

I just want to thank both bands for heading down to the South Coast and the wonderful job done by the Blackstar Promotions team. Its not easy finding venues and it was great to see they managed to find a series of places and venues and to bring the music to the fans of both bands. I don’t think many promoters or bands would have persevered as much to ensure as many people as possible got the opportunity to see them play, and this was a this special tour.

You can find Blackstar Promotions on the WWW

Please note all original images / video are copyright, please do not copy. If any of the featured artists/promoters/venues want copies of the images – or more if available – please just get in touch.

All original pictures / video – copyright to IANB/MEDIA WORKS/ SCENE SUSSEX – Ian “The Lens” Bourn 2018.

Got an event coming up? Need some gig photography, promo shots, previews or reviews? – please get in touch! See you down the front – come and say “hi!”