Review: The DeRellas – Slam Bam Brighton!

Steve DeRella – new vocalist and guitarist for The DeRellas

The DeRellas are:
Steve DeRella
Luca DeRella
Timmy DeRella
Mark Bishop

Its been a while since I was last in front of the mighty DeRellas live. But, here I was, and was lucky to be around to watch and listen to the pre-show sound check. I heard the DeRellas playing from outside the venue as I approached it from Brighton Station – these guys are loud! I had a look around and saw everyone, but no Luca. Luca had been rushed into hospital that afternoon and everyone was very concerned about him. I then saw a tall blonde fella – this was Steve DeRella, the bands new vocalist and guitarist, replacing Robbie Tart who left the band earlier in the year. He must have been about 6 foot tall, blonde and draped in a leopard print jacket. He certainly looked the part for the band.

Timmy DeRella

Timmy, Mark and Steve were all worried about Luca and this was their first show with the new line up which included the recently confirmed drummer Mark Bishop – “Bish”. First gig of the tour and the band were a man down…

Timmy bounded onto the stage with his monster of a bass guitar slung around his neck like a wild west gunslinger, checked his leads and announced – “Hey, we are The DeRellas!” Bish took a last few puffs on his e-cig, removed his T Shirt and counted the band in with “Everything’s Jaded”.

The DeRellas nailed it from the get go! Steve took to the front hammering his guitar dragging out those vicious DeRella guitar chords and stepped up to the microphone. Everyone waited for the vocals – anticipation heavy in the air… Brilliant! Here was the new vocalist – and he’s got it, that DeRellas magic ingredient. He fits right in! The audience reacted and threw themselves forward. Well done Steve.

Mark Bishop – Bish – on Drums.

Next up the single “She’s a Pistol”. Timmy counted in and Mark giving everything to his drum kit and delivering his incredible wall of percussion with the fire cracker that is Timmy DeRella on bass. Steve, again on point, two songs in and you could see he had relaxed into it. The DeRellas were going for it! Next song was “Got something to say” followed quickly by another hit single “Rock and Rollercoaster”.

Timmy had explained to everyone that Luca had been unwell and was unable to join the band. Timmy and the audience, with a “get well” cheer, wished him a speedy recovery. There was a lot of love for Luca in the room. Luca is such a presence on the stage, and is a big part of The DeRellas and was missed by everyone. Many bands may have considered cancelling, you have got to hand it to The DeRellas – they didn’t. They, professional musicians, were going to put on a show for the audience.

Watch the exclusive video of The DeRellas new front man Steve on their first show!

Next up was the cover song from the Slam Bam album and the track was “Be My Baby”. There was a rumour that The DeRellas were working on a covers album. I chatted to Timmy about that and he said they had put that idea back as they were looking to get working on a new album of new songs! Great news.

Timmy and Steve blasting it out in DeRellas style!

The DeRellas deliver a dripping slice of glam rock tunes all infected with a sleazy rock and roll edge.  They have quite a history as a band and as individuals. Timmy in his battle scarred  leather jacket, all with a hint of black eye-liner and those guitars all cranked up and switched to over drive. The band put up a great sound and played as tight as you could imagine. The DeRellas continue to be a great looking and sounding band on stage.

The band played tracks from both albums Hollywood Monsters and Slam Bam. The songs capture the spirit of punk, 70’s glam and some damn fine rock and roll, all delivered with gusto. The audience lapped it up, every blistering note.

The DeRellas tearing it up

Other songs included “Dont Go”, “All Fired Up” and “Looking for You”. Each song about 2 minutes in length and you wish they lasted a bit longer! Perfect punk, Glamtastic Punk delivered with style, a fistful of attitude and meaning. Go Go DeRellas!

Sadly we arrived at the last song of the set “Stick it to the Man” again another track from Slam Bam. Mark hammering out the intro. Bish works so hard. I saw his sticks after the set – they looked as if they had been through a wood chipper! Steve and Timmy drawing in the crowd with the Glitterband sound and style chant of “Hey…. Hey”. I grabbed my camera and jumped in! I never do that! I caught the band perform this song from the crowd. Timmy spraying the audience with his bass, Steve thrashing out the closing chords and Mark belting it across his kit to bring the set to a close.

Phew! Everyone was exhausted!

Timmy and Bish DeRella

Chatting with Timmy after the show, he was still there – on stage, as adrenaline was still pumping, “I could have kept going all night” he told me.

I hope its not to long before we meet again, with the full line up, and there is the possibility of that all new album from the  one and only Glampunktastic DeRellas – Pogo! Pogo!!

The mighty Luca DeRella

Happy to report Luca DeRella recovered and has joined The DeRellas on the rest of their UK tour dates. The DeRellas are playing shows across the UK – go see them live!

Merchandise Stall
A great selection of T shirts etc at great prices. A band logo T – black with white logo or Slam Bam would set you back a very reasonable £10.00. A new colour T again a reasonable £14. Badges and CD’s and Vinyl also on sale. Timmy DeRella was on hand after the show at the merch stall which is great so people could go and say “hi”.