THE REZILLOS + THE DERELLAS – ROPETACKLE ARTS CENTRE, SHOREHAM-BY-SEA 13.11.26
Tonight The Rezillos whose biggest hit on this side of the Atlantic was their UK Top 20 single ‘Top Of The Pops’ back in 1978, beam down from their spaceship (well, there’s no sign of any tour bus outside…) to Shoreham’s excellent Ropetackle Arts Centre, which always affords attendees a warm welcome from their merry band of friendly staff and volunteers. In support, The Rezillos bring The DeRellas along with them, for a full evening of entertainment.
This evening, The Rezillos comprise founding members Fay Fife (shimmies, vocals and keyboards), and Eugene Reynolds (quiff, vocals and guitar), and they are assisted by Chris Agnew (bass), Martin Metcalfe (guitar), Willy Molleson (drums) and new boy Gogo (guitar and backing vocals).
It’s quite astonishing to think that The Rezillos first came into being 50 years ago! This being in Edinburgh and although many of the punk acts around this time were spouting venom at their fans who then dutifully gobbed back in appreciation, The Rezillos were in the business of offering a more light-hearted approach with their unique brand of sci-fi influenced punk rock with goofy dancing? They preferred to describe themselves as “a new wave beat group”, I mean what’s not to like?!!!
The Rezillos material is a wonderful melting pot of heavily influenced by 1950s rock’n’roll, 1960s English beat music and garage rock, early 1970s glam rock, with recurring lyrical themes of science fiction and B movies; their influences mirrored those of US bands the Cramps and the B-52s, who were starting out at the same time. The last time I witnessed The Rezillos live was only a few months back at The O2 in London, where they were sharing the bill with the aforementioned B52s, Devo and Lene Lovich – read the account of that night HERE.
You just know that it’s going to be a “fab” performance when a band enters the stage to ‘Thunderbirds (Main Theme)’ by The Barry Gray Orchestra, and tonight is no different. We are in The Rezillos company for 72 minutes from 8:53pm to 10:05pm, and they reward us with no less than 21 choice cuts, with a half dozen of these appearing on their new studio album, which came out on 25th September. This is called ‘Psycho Tornado’ and it’s their first new material long player for more than a decade! Thank God it’s crammed full of absolute corkers that fit very nicely in with the original material. For me personally, there really isn’t a change in The Rezillos sound, which some may argue isn’t progressing, but in this instance, I’d absolutely definitely go on record as stating that this new material is equally as good as all of the old stuff! So if you enjoyed the band back in the day then you know what to do – find yours HERE.
The musicians, all wearing shades, grace the Ropetackle stage and launch into the hip swinging 60’s vibed ‘Explotando’ from 2026’s ‘Psycho Tornado’ album, which is almost an instrumental bar a few lines which are shared between Chris and one of the guitarists. On its conclusion there’s a big intro as Eugene and Fay grace us with their presence, which is greeted with hearty cheers. We are away proper….
‘Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight’ from 1978’s ‘Can’t Stand The Rezillos’ album is their selection, and when I originally first found out that this was actually a Fleetwood Mac cover, I was absolutely astounded, especially as the overrated Mac aren’t my bag, unless you count ‘Albatross’, without wafers Python fans! This version is gleefully accepted by the crowd tonight, and then The Rezillos go sci-fi with the arrival of their ‘Flying Saucer Attack’ from 1978’s ‘Can’t Stand The Rezillos’ album. I would make just one observation here, and that is from where I’m standing at the front side of the stage by the musicians, that Fay’s vocals are somewhat down in the mix. Thankfully this is rectified in a few tunes. Mind you, maybe many folk are so intent on watching Fay shimmying that they fail to notice.
The next number is introduced as coming from ‘Psycho Tornado’ and is ‘Sugar Punk Fairy’. This really has some Sex Pistols guitar riffage going down as well as some keys action from Fay. This sits in very well with the historical tracks and the punters seem to be approving of what their ears are hearing. Another new track follows, this time it’s ‘Curse Of The Pretty Man’ and Eugene proudly boasts that the album it’s from crash landed into Official Album Sales Chart at No.18, and was also No.4 in the Official Scottish Albums Chart.
The hipswinging drumming laden ‘Teenbeat’ from 1979’s ‘Mission Accomplished….But The Beat Goes On’ album is next. It’s a great delivery! Back to the new record again as they play ‘Be My Guy-Do Or Die’, which reminds me of The Monkees 1966 ‘Last Train To Clarksville’ and Chris’ bass playing has the feel of very early Tubeway Army about it as well. There’s some kick drum action from Willy and they offload ‘Bad Guy Reaction’ from 1978’s ‘Can’t Stand The Rezillos’ album which really has the UK82 vibe about it! ‘It Gets Me’ from ‘Can’t Stand The Rezillos’ is next and benefits from that trademark Rezillos sound. For this Eugene vacates the stage and watches from the side as Faye offloads all of the vocals.
It’s clear that fans in the know are pleased to hear the opening bars of the rockin’ ‘Mystery Action’ which was the B-side of the ‘Destination Venus’ single from 1978. It sits in the same mould as ‘Flying Saucer Attack’. It’s time for another newbie, this time it’s ‘Cranium’ which was the band’s last single. I can see why, with its letters spelt out as part of the chorus. The bass guitar on this is noteworthy as well. It’s now time for a “little bit of jiggy here and a little bit of jiggy there” as Fay puts it for ‘Do The Mutilation’ from The Revillos 1982 ‘Attack!’ album. The Revillos being the follow on band for Fay and Eugene from 1979 to 1985, once The Rezillos had called it a day. The mid and end of tune drumming on this reminds me of Racey’s 1979 hit ‘Some Girls’, which is always fun to hear, and a reminder of the glam rock hits from 5 years previous.
It’s treat time next, as Eugene explains that they are going to play a song from the new LP for the very first time live, and to forgive them if they get it wrong. The tune in question is ‘Caution Distortion’ and it’s another slice of The Rezillos at their very best! Another new song is next, this is ‘You’ll Be A Gangster Soon’, which Fay informs us that she penned as a result of watching “a lassie in a shop”. After this the quintet return to the work of The Revillos with the solid ‘Motorbike Beat’ from The Revillos 1980 ‘Rev Up’ album, “Me and Mr. CC” indeed!
It’s hit time folks! ‘Top Of The Pops’ from ‘Can’t Stand The Rezillos’ is next, and there are many punters with their arms raised in the air as they relive their younger years and heartily sing along. ‘(My Baby Does) Good Sculptures’ from ‘Mission Accomplished….But The Beat Goes On’ is next and the guitar riff really reminds me of that Buzzcocks classic ‘Noise Annoys’. I mentioned glam rock two paragraphs above, and one of the very best tracks of that genre was The Sweet’s ‘Ballroom Blitz’, which The Rezillos covered on their ‘Mission Accomplished….But The Beat Goes On’ album, and this track is up next. It’s an absolute belter of a tune and for yours truly with its solid drumming and is the track of the set for me!
They sign off with ‘Can’t Stand My Baby’ from ‘Can’t Stand The Rezillos’ which is another enjoyable tune. They vacate the stage, but almost immediately return and play us out with two more enjoyable cuts. The first of these being the brilliant 1978 single ‘Destination Venus’, which I witnessed live at Brighton Dome on 11th December 1981 on The Human League’s ‘Dare’ tour, as former Rezillo Jo Callis was in the band back then. Tonight’s final offering was another cover, this time it’s an adrenalised version of the 1966 Ike & Tina Turner ‘River Deep, Mountain High’ single. Suffice to say that tonight has been a classic gig. I didn’t expect it to be anything else. After all, this is what The Rezillos do.
The next Rezillos concert in Sussex will be at The Piper in St. Leonards-on-Sea on Saturday 13th February 2027. Grab your tickets quickly before they all sell out as it’s a more compact venue than the Ropetackle. Find them HERE.
The Rezillos:
Fay Fife – vocals and keyboards
Eugene Reynolds – vocals and guitar
Chris Agnew – bass
Gogo – guitar and backing vocals
Willy Molleson – drums
Martin Metcalfe – guitar
The Rezillos setlist:
(Intro tape) ‘Thunderbirds (Main Theme)’ by The Barry Gray Orchestra
‘Explotando’ (from 2026 ‘Psycho Tornado’ album)
‘Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight’ (Fleetwood Mac cover – from 1978 ‘Can’t Stand The Rezillos’ album)
‘Flying Saucer Attack’ (from 1978 ‘Can’t Stand The Rezillos’ album)
‘Sugar Punk Fairy’ (from 2026 ‘Psycho Tornado’ album)
‘Curse Of The Pretty Man’ (a 2024 white label single & from 2026 ‘Psycho Tornado’ album)
‘Teenbeat’ (from 1979 ‘Mission Accomplished….But The Beat Goes On’ album)
‘Be My Guy-Do Or Die’ (from 2026 ‘Psycho Tornado’ album)
‘Bad Guy Reaction’ (from 1978 ‘Can’t Stand The Rezillos’ album)
‘It Gets Me’ (from 1978 ‘Can’t Stand The Rezillos’ album)
‘Mystery Action’ (b-side of 1978 ‘Destination Venus’ single)
‘Cranium’ (a 2024 white label single & from 2026 ‘Psycho Tornado’ album)
‘Do The Mutilation’ (from The Revillos 1982 ‘Attack!’ album)
‘Caution Distortion’ (from 2026 ‘Psycho Tornado’ album)
‘You’ll Be A Gangster Soon’ (from 2026 ‘Psycho Tornado’ album)
‘Motorbike Beat’ (from The Revillos 1980 ‘Rev Up’ album)
‘Top Of The Pops’ (from 1978 ‘Can’t Stand The Rezillos’ album)
‘(My Baby Does) Good Sculptures’ (from 1979 ‘Mission Accomplished….But The Beat Goes On’ album)
‘Ballroom Blitz’ (The Sweet cover – from 1979 ‘Mission Accomplished….But The Beat Goes On’ album)
‘Can’t Stand My Baby’ (from 1978 ‘Can’t Stand The Rezillos’ album)
(encore)
‘Destination Venus’ (a 1978 single)
‘River Deep, Mountain High’ (Ike & Tina Turner cover)
As stated above, support this evening comes in the form of glam and trash rock punks The DeRellas who comprise Timmy DeRella (bass, vocals), Luca Comencini (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jez Miller (guitar, backing vocals) and Steve Grainger (drums). The outfit first got ‘All Fired Up’ when they unleashed their debut EP of that name back in 2007 and dropped their first long player ‘Hollywood Monsters’ in 2010. Since then The DeRellas have proudly offloaded ‘Slam! Bam!’ in 2014, ‘Something’s Got To Give’ in 2021 and most recently ‘Trust Me, This is Going to Hurt’ in 2025; all of which are truly solid bodies of work!
This evening there is solid rock action a plenty for their allotted 30 minute set, which ran from 8:01pm until 8:31pm. Encouragingly, the venue was more than half full as they commenced their onslaught, with more punters arriving as each song progressed.
With an “Alright…let’s go” from left-handed bassist and Sid Vicious lookalive Timmy, they commenced with the first of a half dozen cuts from their latest ‘Trust Me, This Is Going To Hurt’ long player, this being ‘This Is Going To Hurt’ which is a shouty vocal slab of punk rock blues. The lads segue right into ‘Fake It Til You Make It’ which offers more of the same. On conclusion Timmy says “Hello Lewes” then realises his error by pointing it out with a big smile. I dunno, life on the road eh, you never know where you are from one day to the next.
They set about offloading the oldest track of the set, this being ‘Freak Show’ from 2010’s ‘Hollywood Monsters’ album, which certainly has an urgency about its delivery, and not surprisingly went down well with the punters, especially those gathered at the front. Timmy then introduces ‘Just Because I Smile, It Doesn’t Mean I Like You’ from ‘Trust Me, This Is Going To Hurt’ with a devilish delivery. There truly are some superb guitar chops going on here courtesy of Luca, who incidentally is in Spizzenegi as well. Next up is another newbie in the form of ‘Empire Vultures’ which Timmy dedicates to The Rezillos.
Timmy then enquires whether we would allow the band to get a bit sleazy, and they perform ‘Loveless Landslide Of Love’. After which they reward us with the equally best song of the set for me, this being their ‘High Rise Supersize’ earworm from 2021’s ‘Something’s Got To Give’ album, which comes fully laden with killer riffs and has an air of heyday Belfast punk sounds, many of which surfaced on Terri Hooley’s ‘Good Vibrations’ label. Timmy concludes the tune with a statement about the current American President – for those present at the gig, he’s right you know!
The DeRallas bid us farewell and leave us with the other equally best tune for yours truly, this one is ‘Night Time’ from the latest album, which is a real rocker with obligatory “Oh yeah’s”. It goes without saying that The DeRellas were very well received by the crowd.
The DeRellas:
Timmy DeRella – bass, vocals
Luca Comencini – lead guitar, backing vocals
Jez Miller – guitar, backing vocals
Steve Grainger – drums
The DeRellas setlist:
‘This Is Going To Hurt’ (from 2025 ‘Trust Me, This Is Going To Hurt’ album)
‘Fake It Til You Make It’ (from 2025 ‘Trust Me, This Is Going To Hurt’ album)
‘Freak Show’ (from 2010 ‘Hollywood Monsters’ album)
‘Pressure Gonna Get Ya’ (from 2021‘Something’s Got To Give’ album)
‘Just Because I Smile, It Doesn’t Mean I Like You’ (from 2025 ‘Trust Me, This Is Going To Hurt’ album)
‘Empire Vultures’ (from 2025 ‘Trust Me, This Is Going To Hurt’ album)
‘Loveless Landslide Of Love’ (from 2025 ‘Trust Me, This Is Going To Hurt’ album)
‘High Rise Supersize’ (from 2021‘Something’s Got To Give’ album)
‘Night Time’ (from 2025 ‘Trust Me, This Is Going To Hurt’ album)
