When: 5th, 6th and 7th January 2024
Where: Butlins, Bognor Regis, UK
For many musos across the UK, one of the best ways to kick start the New Year is a trip to Rockaway Beach; an indoor Boutique Music Festival, in Butlins, Bognor Regis, featuring an illustrious core of indie legends and a banquet of new music. It’s the place where many find their new favourite band ahead of the curve, and see their musical heroes in an intimate space. January 2024 is the festival’s eighth edition and it looks like the curators have hit the musical jackpot again with the announcement of the first wave of artists.
They said, “We are thrilled to announce the first wave of our 2024 line up, featuring 20 incredible artists, including two of our headliners: the dynamic voices of a generation, Sleaford Mods, and the original two-tone pioneers, The Selecter. A third headliner and plenty of top-billed acts are still to be unveiled.“
Rockaway Beach said that they were delighted to welcome these iconic bands to Rockaway for the first time, “after having them on the wish list for years.”
Rockaway founder Ian Crowther says, “Sleaford Mods are a model of unmitigated artistic integrity. It’s a brilliant thing to be able to book acts at Rockaway Beach that speak to us, and our audience, and engage – with tremendous poetry and musicality – on issues and subject matter that we hold dear.
Almost no act touring today is an uncompromised as them, so they’ve been top of our list for a while to get hold of. They’ve performed huge shows to audiences of 10,000 people, so it means the world that they’re bringing their unique live experience to our more intimate setting.”
On The Selecter’s performance, he adds, “We’ve always been such big admirers of two-tone and new wave music across our music programme, and there’s few artists as legendary as Pauline Black and The Selecter who were there at the pivotal dawn of that UK movement. Their performance will be a huge moment for us at Rockaway Beach, and a real celebration of the ska scene.”
In addition, the unique weekend is excited to present a lineup of the most brilliant names in alternative music, including vital punk protagonists Bob Vylan, exhilarating garage-rock trio Dream Wife, beloved Madrid indie-poppers Hinds, and Creep Show, the remarkable collaborative project of John Grant and Wrangler.
David McAlmont is one of Britain’s greatest singers, and Hifi Sean Dickson formed forward-thinking 90s indie bands the Soup Dragons and the High Fidelity. This year, the producer-singer duo reunited for more dance-leaning soul in the form of their new album, “Happy Ending.”
As always, Rockaway have scoured dancehalls to find you the best hand-picked emerging acts, including Enjoyable Listens, offering glimpses of faded British glamour from a suited pop prince, and Big Special, sending up a flare for working-class music and poetry in the vein of Sleaford Mods, with a beautiful Birmingham brutality.
There is a lot to explore in the first wave announcement, which includes: Big Special, Bob Vylan, Chris Hawkins (DJ), Creep Show, Desperate Journalist, Dream Wife, Enjoyable Listens, Frozemode, Ghost Car, Hifi Sean & David McAlmont, Hinds, Japanese Television, JOHN, M(h)aol, Sleaford Mods, Snayx, The Nightingales, The Selecter, The Unit Ama and Trupa Trupa.
As ever, the festival will offer a fully curated programme of experiences, complete with iconic and emerging live acts, film screenings, a swimming complex, spa, Q&As with artists, guest DJs, record signings, a record fair, album playbacks and listening parties, late-night takeovers, silent discos and pub quizzes along with the various attractions of the Butlin’s site itself all included in the weekend ticket, alongside accommodation and restaurant dining with a choice of on-site accommodation options, from hotel rooms to chalets from £90pp for three days of live music and accommodation.
See here for more details: www.rockawaybeach.co.uk.
For more information on live music weekend at Butlin’s, visit: www.bigweekends.com