RUBELLA BALLET + NOT THE FACE! + DAFFODILDOS – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 4.2.24
Cult anarcho-punk band Rubella Ballet returned to The Prince Albert last Sunday, following up last years’ 26th February gig with a sold out matinee show again brought to us by ‘An Alternative Gathering’ concert promoters, featuring ska-punks Not The Face! and Brighton’s own Daffodildos.
The Daffodildos, a local 3-piece, started the proceedings with a half-hour set of their defiantly queer punk jams ahead of their debut EP release next month. The band opened with a triad of fast numbers, followed by a couple more post-punkish tunes featuring heavy drums and skittish single-note guitar, and concluding with some more up-tempo material. This included ‘Gender Agenda’, with the band leading the crowd into a chant for the chorus, and ‘No Pride’, a didactic song addressing Brightonians who engage with Pride but ignore LGBT issues the rest of the year.
Daffodildos:
Emi – guitar/vocals
Jax – bass
Annie – drums
Daffodildos setlist:
‘Stuck in ’77’
‘Heartbreaker’
‘Park Bench Creep’
‘Never Enough’
‘Hypocrite’
‘Mirror Mirror’
‘Gender Agenda’
‘What’s Your Excuse’
‘No Pride’
www.instagram.com/daffodildosuk
Next were Not The Face!, a four-piece who combine vocals and songwriting influenced by US third-wave ska with UK street-punk attitude and lyricism. The band performed songs from their self-titled EP now on Spotify such as ‘What’s Up’ and ‘Don’t Preach To Me’ along with new material like the dancey ‘Second Hand Boy’, and ‘Oh No!’, which singer Cat announced as being “about the ‘bad parts of the Brighton punk scene”. Despite a couple of brief bass amp drop outs, the band played a very energetic set concluding with their self-titled song, also featured on their EP.
Not The Face!:
Cat – vocals
Johnny – guitar
Weez – bass
Wozza – drums
Not The Face! setlist:
‘100 LATG’
‘Follow The Clown’
‘Die!’
‘What’s Up?’
‘Jack Off’
‘Other Morning’
‘Second Hand Boy’
‘What We Do’
‘Edgelord’
‘Don’t Preach’
‘Oh No!’
‘Not The Face!’
Finally, Rubella Ballet took the stage at 4:00pm, with Daffodildos guitarist returning to play bass along with original band members Sid Truelove and Zilla Minx. Since the bands’ formation in 1979, they have been notorious for their striking neon dayglo aesthetic, which was on display in full force in the members’ outfits and even the instruments. The set consisted of primarily newer material from their post-reformation albums, interspersed with classics such as ‘Money Talks’ from 1990’s ‘At The End Of The Rainbow’ and the 1984 single ‘42°F’. Opening with ‘All Potential Terrorists’ from last years’ ‘Planet Punk’ album followed by the 1982 album track ‘Belfast’, the group played a high-energy set laden with political screeds and Banshees-esque vocals from all three members. The use of programmed drums in place of a live drummer unavoidably caused a few moments of the band sounding a bit flat, though conversely it gave tracks such as ‘Slant Slide’ a thundering industrial quality.
A standout was ‘Death Train’ from 1985’s ‘At Last It’s Playtime’ LP, with funked-up bass and disconnected reverberating vocals, followed by the dancey thrash and chanted vocals of ‘False Promises’. Other songs such as ‘Run Run’, with cavernous drums and noisy guitar leads, and the anti-police diatribe ‘Planet Punk’ also went down a storm with the crowd, although the acoustics and mixing of the drum sound with the live instruments output got a bit messy at points in the latter. For a three-piece without a drummer, the band had an impressive stage presence, and Minx was in good voice with the lead vocals cutting through the psychedelic grunge of the instrumentation. Some songs, such as the bands’ eponymous ‘Ballet Dance’, offered a triple vocal attack which boosted the energy of the songs for the live environment. Overall, the band gave an impressive performance mixing tracks from their 40-year back catalogue, and the atmosphere in the sold-out upstairs room was brilliant with the crowd showing their appreciation.
Rubella Ballet:
Zilla Minx – vocals
Sid Truelove – guitar
Emi – bass
Rubella Ballet setlist:
‘All Potential Terrorists’
‘Belfast’
‘Ballet Dance’
‘Money Talks’
‘Arctic Flowers’
‘Trial 13’
‘Love Life’
‘Planet Punk’
‘Death Train’
‘False Promises’
‘Slant & Slide’
‘42°F’
‘Run Run’
‘Emotional Bullshit’
