Rockaway Beach 2025 @ Butlin's, Bognor Regis, UK, January 3-6, 2025 | Under the Radar Magazine Under the Radar | Music Blog for the Indie Music Magazine
Saturday, February 8th, 2025  

Ride

Spiritualized, Ride, Leftfield, SPRINTS

Rockaway Beach 2025 @ Butlin’s, Bognor Regis, UK, January 3-6, 2025,

Jan 13, 2025 Photography by Shaun Gordon Web Exclusive

Rockaway Beach returned to Bognor Regis Butlins for its tenth instalment, celebrating its big birthday with a huge wave of headline acts including spaced-out psyche rockers Spiritualized, trance legends Leftfield and shoegaze sensations Ride. Our favourite festival once again offered an eclectic mix of cutting-edge artists, vital legacy acts, wild pool parties and compelling Q&A sessions. But this year the growing popularity of the first festival of the year saw Rockaway expand into the huge Studio 36 arena space, reflecting both the surging numbers of attendees and the ambitions of the promoters looking to the future.

Spiritualized
Spiritualized
Ride
Ride

If you want to discover your new favourite breakthroughs destined to shape the sound of 2025, Rockaway is the best place to be. The three days offered a bounty of bands and artists bursting out of the underground, ready to take over including renegade Irish punk producer Meryl Streek. Armed only with a mic and pre-programmed tracks, this one-man army channels the energy and aggression of Atari Teenage Riot, Sleaford Mods and Benefits as he decries the crimes of the Catholic church and venomously attacks the rich and powerful.

Meryl Streek
Meryl Streek

When he isn’t pacing the stage like a caged animal, Streek is leaping into the audience to gouge the crowd in half and screaming his truth right into their faces. Ominous beats meet blazing guitars and Irish folk-inspired rhythms as Streek glares at the enthralled audience with his signature blanked-out contact lenses. If you want righteous indignant rage, you’ve come to the right place.

Nottingham-based three-piece Bloodworm are already masters of the brooding banger and next-gen goth never looked and sounded so fucking cool. Singer-guitarist George Curtis offers an evocative mix of forlorn vocals and melodic yet raw fretwork which has echoes of Johnny Marr. His scratchy guitars are met with Chris Walker’s rock-hard bass lines as Euan Stevens absolutely pummels the drums as the trio entrance Beach bums on the Centre Stage.

Bloodworm
Bloodworm
Bloodworm
Bloodworm

Their doom-laden anthem “Clairvoyance” packs one hell of a punch and has hit written all over it and there are screams of delight from their pre-existing fans (who call themselves “Wrigglers”) as they climax with “Cemetery Dance”. Under The Radar has been eagerly watching Bloodworm grow into a cult band and this performance proves they’re ready for the next level. Our feverish expectations for their first album (even a debut EP would be nice!) grew throughout 2024. And now, we’re more desperate than ever.

And the best new discovery goes to The Itch. Formed by former Regressive Left members Simon Tyrie and Georgia Hardy, the Luton crew offers a sharp and sexy take on electroclash with definite nods to Depeche Mode and LCD Soundsystem.

The Itch
The Itch

Rockaway always dares to provide a platform for the weird and wonderful, and it doesn’t get any stranger than the stunning sound of The Jonny Halifax Invocation. Haunting and wildly experimental, the unhinged ensemble is led by the aforementioned London-based songwriter Halifax who improvises tribal influenced acid-drenched blues rock guaranteed to blow your mind.

The audacious quintet, including The Telescopes’ John Lynch on drums, build from mere murmurs of drone into colossal walls of sound and epic cacophonies sure to send your soul screaming through the cosmos.

The Jonny Halifax Invocation
The Jonny Halifax Invocation

The Jonny Halifax Invocation
The Jonny Halifax Invocation

But if you’re looking for something more grounded, then you can’t do better than The Dirt. The politically charged pairing sees Jack Horner leaping like a madman and screaming like a possessed preacher whilst Sachiko Wakizaka shreds psyche-inspired garage rock riffs.

Eager to show off material from their upcoming album Monkey Punch, the spouses initially burst onto the stage with more energy than a Duracell battery. But it takes its toll, with Horner moaning midway “I’m knackered. I’m a middle-aged man trying to dance like a twenty-something!” But by the end of the set, he’s almost totally lost his voice. What they lack in numbers, they certainly make up for in passion and they never fail to provide one hell of a show.

The Dirt
The Dirt
The Dirt
The Dirt

There was dancing non-stop thanks to the likes of Georgia playing indietronica tracks from her latest LP It’s Euphoric plus the critically acclaimed Seeking Thrills. It’s incredible to watch her beating the electronic drums whilst flitting between synths and samplers, finally culminating with a killer cover of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”.

Georgia
Georgia

Also, Acid Klaus Soundsystem Takeover was an exhilarating late-night DJ set mixed with live singers and MCs. Provocative innovator Adrian Flanagan (The Moonlandingz, Eccentronic Research Council) blends such disparate sounds as classic Northern Soul, New Order and Blackstreet’s “No Diggity” whilst also taking the piss throughout. Plus, who can forget our very own Dom Gourlay teaming up with the previously mentioned John Lynch for their closing party? The pair also veered wildly between indie classics, cheesy pop and awesome Motown. It’s a collision of genres and unabashed love of music that truly captures the Rockaway spirit.

Acid Klaus Soundsystem Takeover
Acid Klaus Soundsystem Takeover

Rockaway went big on the headliners for the tenth instalment, starting with Spiritualized who seduced the audience with their gospel-inspired and country-inflected euphoric space rock set with a hazy lullaby sound. Playing a set that leans heavily on their last three albums, the sheer brilliance and musical tautness of the band is dedicated to taking every single song to dizzying hedonistic heights. Jason Pierce sat on the sidelines to further emphasise that Spiritualized is a real collective rather than an ego-led project, and each expertly executed track was a joy to experience.

Spiritualized
Spiritualized

Saturday saw the holiday resort into a techno and trip-hop club, bringing the 90s dance underground to Bognor, thanks to dance pioneers Leftfield and a pretty impressive laser display. Their appearance was a welcome reminder of the time before dance became commodified and homogeneous. Back when it was dark and dangerous and only found in the sort of places you really shouldn’t go without a recent tetanus jab.

Anyone expecting to hear their hit single “Open Up” was left disappointed. And it did seem like a wasted opportunity as sampled vocals were used on various tracks plus an MC was employed to enhance the live experience. But the real highlight was the brooding bass of “Phat Planet” (who many of a certain age will remember from THAT surfing Guinness ad) which certainly got Bognor raving. The huge size of the newly employed Studio 36 works perfectly, opening the door for more dance acts in the future.

Leftfield
Leftfield
Leftfield
Leftfield

And for many, the main experience of the weekend was getting to see British alt-rock veterans Ride whose importance to the currently resurging shoegaze scene can never be understated. They’re the perfect headline choice for Rockaway, having an impressive back catalogue to cherry-pick from plus recently recorded material.

Mark Gardener may keep apologising for his voice, returning to the stage after battling the flu bug but we certainly couldn’t tell whilst floating on the mammoth waves of reverb. We were too busy enjoying the new offerings like “Monaco” and “Last Frontier” taken from their latest album Interplay before blissfully drowning in the nostalgia of classic tunes like “Taste” and “Vapour Trail”.

Ride
Ride

The on-stage chemistry between all four band members was there for all to see, ensuring Ride delivered a near-flawless performance despite a slight hiccup during the closing number “Chelsea Girl”.

But looking beyond the headliners, our favourites of the weekend include Arab Strap whose idiosyncratic mix of dirge indie rock, bleak beats and embittered punk poetry was utterly enthralling. Sure, there’s a massive dour streak to their sound. But there’s something addictive about the Glaswegian gang placing a spotlight on the darkest corners and holding up a mirror so we can see a reflection of our dirty souls.

Arab Strap
Arab Strap

Band of the moment SPRINTS may be relatively young, but they proved they have both the energy and the anthems to become future headliners. Karla Chubb and co. only released their debut album Letter To Self a year ago, but they already have a sizable fanbase thanks to such raucous bangers as “Feast” and “Heavy”.

Chubb clearly relishes her position as frontwoman, instigating circle pits and striking the perfect rockstar poses. Fans are then treated to yet-to-be-released new songs and the singer jokes “Feedback is not welcome” but she need not worry. The first new track is a huge leap forward, really showing off the power of that colossal Dublin voice. The second is a slow burn, building to an incandescent roar. Chubb then yells “Let’s have some fucking fun” before ditching the guitar and leaping into the crowd to be raised aloft during their last track “Little Fix”.

SPRINTS
SPRINTS
SPRINTS
SPRINTS

And who doesn’t love BODEGA? The Brooklyn band kicked off with a Ramones cover of the festival’s namesake (maybe the first ever act at Rockaway to do it!) before unleashing their wicked track “Doers”.

There’s something so effortlessly cool about the quintet which embodies the edgy and intelligent NYC counter-culture art rock scene. They’re a melting pot of B52s, Talking Heads, Pavement and Fugazi as Nikki Belfiglio bashes at a snare drum, shrieking over Ben Hozie’s biting drawl. Do yourself a favour and go grab a copy of last year’s Brand On The Run, you won’t regret it!

BODEGA
BODEGA
BODEGA
BODEGA

So happy birthday to Rockaway Beach! Once again, you’ve put together an inspired lineup that lesser festivals dare not even dream of. We have often said that Rockaway is a sneak peek, revealing the exciting sounds of the year ahead. But the Butlins-based festival has also proven the importance of choosing truly compelling acts over passing fads and fleeting popularity. Instead of chasing trends, Rockaway has secured its future by building a community of loyal beach bums who know they can trust their choices. It’s been a wild ten years, and it looks like the best is yet to come.

Miki Berenyi Trio
Miki Berenyi Trio
Ruts DC
Ruts DC




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