Devizes Scooter Rally Rules, OK?!

If it’s been a fantastic weekend on Devizes Green with the orchestral Full-Tone Festival, further out of town scooterists, mods, skins and anyone else with a penchant for the merger of such retrospective subcultures gathered for an equally thrilling event, Devizes Scooter Rally 2024, backed by the shack of a soul boss, most turnin’, stormin’, sound o’soul….

You’ll have to excuse parts omitted and see this as an overall piece, because in trying to juggle both events there were times I was going between them, times I stopped home for my chips, and times when I generally slouched on the sofa contemplating getting my arse in gear! But what I did catch at Devizes Scooter Club’s most prestigious annual do, was off the scale brilliant; I expected no less based on their past rallies.

It might also be a smidgen inequitable on Full-Tone that I spent more time at the Rally. It’s walking distance from home, not having a scooter myself, and such is my right to satisfy what’s more my cuppa; the dirty down jollity of working class revelry! Note, then, despite eclectic tastes required to do this blog, my first music love will forever be ska and consequently reggae; it’s the offbeat, see? It’s that little jump, mek ya wanna skank up da riddim, not forgoing the heavy basslines or class brass. Unfortunately, it’s something we’re rarely blessed with here, so when it is in my neighbourhood, anything and everything else must get put on the backburner. 

And moreover, when we do get ska or reggae around these backwaters, it’s not usually of the quality we’ll see today at the Rally. And there lies my reason for savouring the opportunity against an orchestral happening elsewhere in town, fantastic as it was. The epiphany came with the finale of the Saturday, when London’s Goldsteppers stepped up to the challenge and truly blew me off my little dancing feet.

Band changeovers were quicker than the queue at the bar, which is no fault of the exceptionally hard-working bar staff, rather the given after navigating winding B-roads on a hairdryer on wheels, the punters camp up, and drink, they drink a lot!

After an electric set by Southampton’s Butterfly Collective, who had already raised the level with a varied melting pot of Kinks to Happy Mondays, and finishing on a reggae classic, I arrived back in the tent to be sublimely slotted into my comfort zone by these Gold-stepping Bobby Dazzlers. The beautiful sound of ska, seemingly attentive to original ska and rock steady, an often overlooked linkage between ska and reggae despite being the most creative period in Jamaican recording history, rather than the commonplace Two-Tone cover bands.

Alton Ellis, early Wailers songs and other cherry-picked rarities were given the Goldsteppers makeover, and it was something to behold. I could say this was the best ska band I’ve seen, but I’ve seen Desmond Dekker, Jimmy Cliff et al, so I think they’ll understand and be satisfied when I say this was the perfect and best homage to that golden era of reggae I’ve witnessed for many a year.

Staying true to the original compositions and delivered with an unmatched tightness, so accomplished were Goldsteppers, their own originals didn’t sound out of place, and were welcomed by the frenzied crowd. The archetypal Pressure Drop from The Maytals, the classics came brassy and bassy, with astute attention to detail, passion and pitched with perfect banter. And while we’re talking brass is class, it should be noted the enthusiastic frontman, who introduced himself to me as Sam, unless I misheard, also blew saxophone with incredible clout; legend! Dammit, if they even, for humorous effect, ska’d up a cover of Wham’s Edge of Heaven and made it sound like Justin Hinds & The Dominoes recorded it in 1964! 

But what Goldsteppers did for reggae greats, headliners on the Friday, All That Soul, did for The Motown and Stax years. I’ve seen this show before, The Scooter Club booked them for a gig some years ago, this time only furthered my conviction that there’s no better homage to sixties classic soul in the UK, currently, than All That Soul. They were divine, on vocals, timing and showmanship, creating a sensation impossible not to savour in awe. Are we on Soul Train in 1969 right now?! No, still in a field near Devizes!

You could say this would suit a function, like a wedding, and many function bands attempt classic soul covers, varying in quality; it only depends on the level of your alcohol intoxication in how enjoyable they are! But not with All That Soul; you could go stone cold sober and come up dancing, because there’s nothing commonplace about them, neither cliché; it’s a billion levels up from the best function band you could possibly book with any amount of generosity from your bank manager!  

I only caught the end of the Decatonics’ set, but they sounded bloody awesome too, guess I was caught chatting to all those friendly faces on arrival. Because Devizes Scooter Rally is so communal, so hospitable it borders on one big happy family occasion.

Aside from bringing financial gain to Devizes as scooterists putt-putt off on ride-outs and to explore town, it’s an asset to our locality through being a well-organised and respected event. Our blossoming Scooter Rally is an attraction midway between your average scooter rally, which can often be no more than a local cover band and a bloke flogging hotdogs while enthusiasts chat shop, and an over commercialised large scale and renowned rally which borders festival proportions and consequently losses its edge and appeal.

So, while there’s space to grow this event, it’s perfect the way it currently is, and damn, it’s one amazingly unforgettable weekend for locals with only a passing interest, as much as it is for all the national aficionados who gathered on the site with the winks of knowledge that they’ve discovered a secret rally on top of its prime right now.

Devizes Scooter Rally is set to rev into 2025 already, set on the 25th-27th July. Same time, same place next year then? You betcha life, from me, and you really need to experience it too, with me, on the dancefloor, with your boots and braces! We got three million miles to reach the moon, So let’s start getting happy now….

---