Young Rebel Set

YOUNG REBEL SET were, and there is no better word for it, a phenomenon.

The band's story can of course be romanticized and nostalgically glorified in retrospect, but that's how it was. Seven friends in their early 20s form a band in the KuBar in Stockton-on-Tees, in the north-east of England, and write their first song, called "If I Was". And through rock'n'roll magic that can no longer be traced back today, it finds its way to Swiss concert promoter Martin Schrader. He knows exactly who needs to hear it next and sends it to Danny Simons, who books the concerts for Grand Hotel van Cleef in Germany.

The fire is lit. A short time later, Thees Uhlmann flies to Newcastle to see one of the band's first concerts. He meets the band, and that very night the deal is made. In early 2010, YOUNG REBEL SET play their first concerts in Germany and a first EP with the band's first songs is released via Grand Hotel van Cleef. The shows are wild, unpredictable, hedonistic and sometimes chaotic. The debut "Curse Our Love" is released in April 2011, and the band is signed to Ignition Records (including Oasis, Primal Scream, Hard-Fi, ...) in the UK. Of course, the Internet already existed, but "hype" worked differently back then. Through music, through concerts. Through word-of-mouth propaganda, the concerts got bigger and bigger and by the end of 2011 there were already a good 1,000 fans in front of the stage in Berlin and Hamburg when singer Matty Chipchase and the brothers Parmley and Evans took to the stage.

The second album "Crocodile" followed in 2013, and the story ended in 2015 with an indefinite break. The last five years have been intense, perhaps a little too much so. It will be four years before Matty Chipchase gets his gang back together: New songs are already in the drawer, reunion concerts are being planned. In December 2019, Matty died at the age of just 35 and the concerts never happened. In September 2024, on the day Matty would have celebrated his 40th birthday, his bandmates perform at the KuBar in Stockton with the support of the local music scene. They celebrate Matty's lyrics, their shared songs, their friendship. A fire burns again. And so founding members Andy and Chris Parmley and Luke Evans decide to get the gang back together after all: With other former line-up members and companions, YOUNG REBEL SET toured Europe again in September 2025, playing not only their indestructible songs "If I Was", "Lion's Mouth", "Walk On", "Measure of a Man" and what they're all called, but also tracks from their new EP "Sun", which was released to coincide with the tour.

Matty was unfortunately no longer there, but the magic was. Sold-out concerts in Hamburg, Berlin and Cologne, happy faces everywhere, voices hoarse from singing along and wet T-shirts. The band's current line-up includes brothers Andy and Chris Parmley (guitar and drums), bassist Luke Evans and Andy Bensley, who not only used to record demos for the band or take care of the live sound, but has also toured with them as a guitarist. Alfie Annable sits at the piano. Liverpool singer Tom Blackwell takes over the lead vocal position.

The band comments: "No one can replace Matty. He was unique in every sense of the word and we still feel his loss immeasurably. When the idea of rewriting the end of Young Rebel Set, adding a chapter, it was clear that the microphone position would be the most difficult to fill. We knew we had to find someone who wouldn't just copy Matty, that's impossible, but someone who we respected as a musician and who could bring their own style and voice to our songs. With Tom Blackwell we found exactly that person: He's originally from Liverpool, and we met him a good ten years ago in London when we were recording our second album. We spent a lot of time together and he recently married a good friend of ours and moved to live near us in Teeside. We love Tom's voice and his own songs as a solo artist, he will also be supporting us on the September shows and couldn't be happier to have him on the mic for us on this tour."

Mark Evans, Luke's brother, the band's original second guitarist, won't be joining us on tour, but there's no bad blood: "Of course Mark initially toyed with the idea of coming on tour with us, but as the plans became more concrete, he decided to concentrate on his own album instead. We recorded many of his solo songs together, which will be released soon. The record sounds great, keep your eyes peeled!"

Any worries that the acclaimed comeback tour in September 25 was a one-off experience can be wiped away: YOUNG REBEL SET are back in Germany in May 2026 and have another absolute GHvC live powerhouse in THE DEADNOTES as support.

THE DEADNOTES

The term 'rock 'n' roll' has become a kind of punchline, a musical synonym for dusty gender roles, old-fashionedness and wide-legged muckraking. So, as in so many things today, it's high time for a complete overhaul - THE DEADNOTES call their third album "Rock 'n' Roll Savior", giving the vague catchphrase a contemporary, long overdue update.

The destructive power of rock 'n' roll is well-documented and both of them know it well enough, but Darius Lohmüller and Jakob Walheim prefer to focus on the intangible, yet always tangible, power of the music.

Because despite all the clichés, there is also this fundamental truth: the songs that are too loud, the nights that are too long, the lyrics that are too true at the right moment - all of this can save you, no matter what. Anyone who has felt this knows that it's true. THE DEADNOTES have written songs that want to do just that for you.

The new single "Jesus Christ! (I'm Sick And Tired Of Falling In Love)", following the album intro "December 31st", which has also already been released as a video, opens the doors to "Rock 'n' Roll Savior" - a record that is not a concept album in the conventional sense, but nevertheless tells a story in ten snapshots that is ultimately about the music in all things. Songs about not wanting to compromise on anything.

With a guitar riff that sounds like the title melody to the whole album, an 80s drum sound recreated with great attention to detail, saxophone played to the hilt and an unbridled joy of playing, "Jesus Christ!" stands like no other song for the freedom that THE DEADNOTES have achieved in recent years.

"This song was the first one we wrote for the new album. I was in an incredible hole and was desperate for some kind of kick. Fortunately, I found a place in therapy at the end of 2022, which stabilized me. We wrote this song, and it was only after that that I discovered artists like Huey Lewis and Tom Petty - and suddenly a whole new world opened up for me," says singer and guitarist Darius.

On "Rock 'n' Roll Saviour", THE DEADNOTES confront the harshness of everyday life with a romanticism that is not naïve, but is aware that sometimes things have to get worse before they get better. But it will get better.

In March 2025, THE DEADNOTES will play the first German tour in support of their new album, which will be released on 21.02.25 via Grand Hotel van Cleef, as a quartet with drummer Felix Overhoff and multi-instrumentalist Paul Hofer-Bottomley. And anyone who knows that the band has already been on stage over 600 times throughout Europe since its foundation also knows that it won't stop at just the previous shows.