Marty’s Fake Family – devizine.com

Easter 2026: I could speculate The Three Crowns was still the place to be in Devizes, but thought it best to check! I’m not the gathering-shit-from-Facebook type journalist, pal, I’m the milkman who needs an unwinding cider or six on a Saturday. I took matters into my own hands; things I must endure for the cause of investigative journalism!

Three-piece Trowbridge punkers Marty’s Fake Family were second on the new south-facing stage, The Reason rocked it first, on Friday. Landlord Simon explained the sound now projects into the carpark causing it to be less of a neighbourly nuance, but, while the space might be more confined, it gives lift and stance to the performers, and marks a boundary so equipment isn’t at risk. Waddies are spending money on this establishment, there is no reason to wonder why when you attend.

Marty’s Fake Family know which buttons to press; they’ve played here before, and what they do fits like a glove. They kick off as they mean to go on, fiery rock with embers of their metal and punk roots, and giving it 200%. Though, they mellow early for Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars, jesting it’s the only ballad they do. If we’re being eased in gently it remains loud and proud, though the crowd is slighter, and older; the age demographic dips at 10pm and the pub fills to bursting point. Millennials and Gen Z are economically conditioned, I guesstimate taking advantage of Spoons’ prices and moving on to where the action is when sufficiently wobbly.

And The Three Crowns know exactly how to play it. A young friend of my family perfectly summarised; “there’s nowhere else to go in Devizes.” Technically there is, yet the Crowns appease them with an efficient cashless bar, and comfort food, appetising burgers and wings. But the central attraction is a lively covers band to which they can sing along to timeless pop classics, loudly, and party surprisingly civilly compared to youths of previous generations. Some take Scissor Sisters’ advice and take their mammas out all night, but age is meaningless for Three Crowns regulars, the vibe fits all.

Marty’s Fake Family absolutely rocked the crowd with bells on. They’ve been doing similarly proficient shows locally for eight years. If you want your venue/event to be a library-esque original music appreciation society, avoid them as they’re living and loving it in the cover band moment, and Marty’s Fake Family needs 1.21 gigawatts of electricity to operate their flux capacitor; great Scotts, what a night; The Three Crowns can produce the power requirement!

Like Busted and McFly, bassist Dan confirmed their namesake relates to Back to the Future, and explained they started with metal intentions but, tongue in cheek, wanted to do Abba songs. “The rest of the band thought it was a shit idea, but it stuck,” he told me… before running off to the loo at breaktime.

Their repertoire spans like the Tardis, anything from any era crowd-pleasingly loud, and they do it with zest and punk passion. So, tunes like American Idiot and Teenage Dirtbag need no adaptation, Blur’s Song Two, All Sit Down by James, and The Cranberries’ Zombie guaranteed to excite, alongside eighties rock, ZZ Top, Sumner of ‘69, et al. But they’ve rabbits in their hats as the evening progresses; punky versions of Abba, Eurythmics meld into Noah Kahan’s Stick Season, and return to Sweet Caroline proclaiming to walk 500 miles and every other crowd-pleaser you’ve no need to request; there’s even a rock n roll medley finale. They tick every cover band box, stamp their authority, and certainly seal my approval.

Seems the Three Crowns retains their everyday staple entertainment status quo in Devizes, has been top of their game for some time, and show no sign of letting up. Perhaps we need to award at least one more crown to its name for sustaining this dominion; four, five or even six Crowns maybe?!!