RUTS DC – DUST, BRIGHTON 28.11.25
It came as quite a surprise to learn that Ruts DC were going to be performing a full live electric set at Brighton’s intimate and compact Dust venue, which is located at the seaward end of East Street. Back in the day when the outfit originally formed in 1977, as The Ruts, this would equate to them performing at Xtreems aka The New Regent, which used to sit near the bottom of West Street opposite the Top Rank Suite (now PRYZM). Although that long lost venue disappeared decades ago, the club’s layout is etched into my mind and although the Dust performance room is located beneath street level, (with Xtreems being at street level), the layout is very similar to The New Regent. The bar runs along the right hand side, the stage is at the end of the room, and the band’s changing room is located to the left of the stage. There’s even a small space where to stand by the stage on the left. It’s uncanny.
Back on 18th May 2023 (Review HERE) Ruts DC were headlining the 650 capacity Concorde 2, and yet this evening’s set is in a venue that holds between 200 and 300 souls. It’s therefore not surprising to learn on entry to the establishment that the place is rammed. Virtually the first person I see whilst in the venue is Theatre Of Hate/Spear Of Destiny/The Pack frontman Kirk Brandon, who was here with the rest of us expecting a great night out. It’s not a long dragged out affair tonight, on account of there not being any support bands! I think this is a shame, as it might have given a new up-and-coming local punky-reggae act some wider coverage. But I guess that the mainly mature punters in tonight only really want to see the headliners anyway.
Before we get into the ins-and-outs of tonight’s set, here’s a brief history on the band. Whilst still at school in Hayes, (which was then in Middlesex, but now resides as part of west London), Paul Fox met Malcolm Owen and Paul Mattocks and formed a prog rock outfit going out under the name of ‘Aslan’. After this Fox joined a ten-piece funk band called ‘Hit & Run’ alongside Dave Ruffy. The music scene at the time had dramatically changed within a short space of time and so prog was out (yipee!) and funk was somewhat slightly sidelined, but punk rock was the new flavour of the day. Historically, in the early days of punk, there weren’t enough relevant sounding records to play, and so the club DJ’s, like Don Letts (aka Rebel Dread), would supplement the fast paced in-yer-face records with some classic reggae tunes! Clearly Fox, Owen and Ruffy were aware of this and in August 1977 The Ruts were born with their reggae-influenced punk rock sound. Thus there was Fox on guitar, Owen on vocals, Ruffy on drums and they were joined by John “Segs” Jennings on bass.
The Ruts eventually released their debut single, ‘In A Rut’ on the People Unite label of Misty In Roots in 1979 and it fared well and they fell under the John Peel and John Walters radar, where they were (in their time) to record a trio of sessions:
‘Savage Circle’ / ‘Babylon’s Burning’ / ‘Dope For Guns’ / ‘Black Man’s Pinch’ / ‘Criminal Mind’ (first broadcast 29 January 1979)
‘S.U.S.’ / ‘Society’ / ‘You’re Just A…’ / ‘It Was Cold’ / ‘Something That I Said’ (first broadcast 21st May 1979)
‘Staring At The Rude Boys’ / ‘Demolition Dancing’ / ‘In A Rut’ / ‘Secret Soldiers’ (first broadcast 18th February 1980).
Interestingly, there was actually a fourth session where The Ruts were backing Cuban-Jamaican “Godfather of Ska” Laurel Aitken (22.4.1927 – 17.7.2005). This was first broadcast 12th May 1980 and featured the tracks:
‘Big Fat Man’ / ‘Rock Me Baby’/ ’Caledonia’ / ‘Rudi Got Married’ / ‘Jessie James’.
The Ruts name was truly out there and they were not surprisingly snapped by Richard Branson’s Virgin label and The Ruts next single, ‘Babylon’s Burning’, was a huge UK Singles hit (No.7) and three of their next four singles also went on to have success: ‘Something That I Said’ (No.29 in 1979), ‘Staring At The Rude Boys’ (No.22 in 1980) and ‘West One (Shine On Me)’ (No.43 in 1980). The one that got away was 1980’s ‘Jah War’. The debut album, ‘The Crack’, fared very well as well, rising as high as No.16 in 1979. A compilation album, titled ‘Grin & Bear It’ followed the following year.
Success and fame brought the evils of the music business and frontman Malcolm Owen was depressed and addicted to heroin, which worsened after he separated from his wife. Tour dates were cancelled and Owen was briefly let go by the band, but returned to endeavour to carry on, but unfortunately he died by accidental drowning in his bathtub on 14th July 1980, at the age of 26, with heroin being the major factor. The Ruts had to start again “from the beginning” (the Italian musical term meaning “da capo” aka DC, thus the band became Ruts DC with Paul Fox taking over the vocals, but they only lasted until 1983.
Wind the clocks forward to 16th July 2007 and Ruts DC reformed for the first time in 24 years. The reason for this was that Paul Fox was diagnosed with lung cancer and clearly one more ride out was desperately needed. Thus the one and only Henry Rollins of Blag Flag fame stood in for vocalist Malcolm Owen for this special benefit gig, which saw the band supported by Tom Robinson, the Damned, Misty in Roots, UK Subs, Splodge (Splodgenessabounds), John Otway, and the Peafish House Band. Fox passed away three months later on 21st October at the age of 56.
Jennings and Ruffy decided to carry on and 14 years ago this very evening (28th November 2011) Leigh Heggarty officially joined the band as their guitarist. Regular gigging and the recording of Ruts DC studio and live albums have followed ever since. And so to this evening at Dust….
“Yeahhhh evening” is stated at 8:17pm by the trio of John ‘Segs’ Jennings (vocals, Fender bass), Leigh Heggarty (Gibson guitar, vocals), and Dave Ruffy (drums, Roland drumpads, vocals) as they take to the stage! The fans are up close and personal and are clearly now up for some live music action, after quite a few dubby tunes that had been blasting the joint prior to the band’s arrival on stage. They are all sporting headwear with Ruffy sporting a cap, and the other two sporting now trademark black hats. Throughout the 23 track set, the trio share jolly banter between themselves and it’s evident that they enjoy each other’s company as well as performing together.
They kick off with The Stooges-esque ‘The Vox Teardrop’ which is from 2016’s ‘Music Must Destroy’ album. After which ‘Something That I Said’ from ‘The Crack’ album was warmly greeted by the punters. The atmosphere here this evening is pleasant with no-one moshing and barging into others, just all standing, watching, singing and applauding. In fact, on two separate occasions Ruffy actually states that this evening is “The best gig of the tour”, and adds that Brighton is always special to him, and that he has now moved out of London and is resident in East Sussex. Lead vocal duties more often than not fall to ‘Segs’, but Heggarty and Ruffy certainly don’t shy away from their mics.
There’s a kick of the drums and Ruffy leads the lads into 2013’s ‘Mighty Soldier’ which is a reggae tune found on their ‘Rhythm Collision Volume 2’ record. The good thing about Ruts DC, is that it’s not a case of white boys playing at reggae, as that sound was there in the fabric of The Ruts from the very start! Their reggae numbers are all credible offerings, it’s just a shame that VS298 (‘Jah War’) was mainly overlooked by the record buying public back in the day. The trio are back on proto-punk territory with the arrival of another cut from ‘The Crack’, this time around it’s the solid ‘S.U.S.’. The next offering was ‘Demolition Dancing’ from the ‘Grin And Bear It’ compilation album, which we are informed is a rare outing by ‘Segs’ who adds “I didn’t think we would be doing that one, especially after the heart attack!”. He then dedicated the track to Malcolm Owen and Paul Fox.
The trio then delve into their ‘Counter Culture?’ album which dropped in 2022. These two cuts being the rockin’ ‘Too Much’ followed by the reggae protest number ‘Born Innocent’, which is rather good and features enjoyable bass riffs and echoey guitar. After which we get the singalong ‘Back Biter’ from ‘The Crack’ with its easy to learn repeated chorus of “Backbiter, you’re a loser; Backbiter, you’re a user”. After this they return to ‘Counter Culture?’ with the album’s speedy and bouncy title track, which is actually spelt as ‘Counterculture?’. Ruffy then explains the history of the next tune, ‘Love In Vain’, which was only really finished on the very morning they were due to record it, and it came out of a jam session. He was referring to the B-side of 1980’s ‘Staring At The Rude Boys’ single, with the last minute lyrics speedily penned by Owen. They say they are proud of the recorded version and I totally agree and it was wonderful being able to hear a tune with this late 1970’s reggae vibe, a sound that you don’t often come across these days. It has that ‘Police And Thieves’ (Junior Murvin) vibe about it and was very much a set highlight for yours truly this evening, and on par with a tune which was to be played in eight tracks time! They then segued into ‘Give Youth A Chance’ from the ‘Something That I Said’ single, which is very much along the same lines with its dubby beat! Ruts DC have performed acoustic sets as an idea, but I honestly reckon that they could and should put together a whole set of their reggae style tunes and tour with those as a novel idea…over to you lads!
Selection twelve ‘Faces In The Sky’ from ‘Counter Culture?’ signals a totally different sound for the band, and if you gave me a hundred guesses who it is, I certainly would miserably fail, as it’s so unlike Ruts DC. For instance Duffy taps the Roland drumpads and the preset gives us a booming beat, and then ‘Segs’ delivers a talky rap vocal on the warnings of “AI”, whilst the guitar offers a mid 1970’s heavy glam rock vibe. This is very encouraging to see the trio spreading their wings and delving into other genres and I salute them for it! Heggarty kicks off ‘Secret Soldiers’ from ‘Grin And Bear It’ with a notable guitar riff and before we know it, they are diving into a new tune called ‘Bound In Blood’, which I think had its full electric debut at last year’s Rebellion Festival in Blackpool. ‘Segs’ refers to the track as being “Moody” but adds “Stay with it”. The moody reference I get, as it’s a slowie which sounds a tad gothy like The Cure, especially the guitar which has an echo.
The lads are back in speedy riff action with the arrival of their ‘West One (Shine On Me)’ 1980 single, which is followed by 2016’s punky sounding ‘Kill The Pain’ from ‘Music Must Destroy’ with its repeated “Kill the pain, kill the pain, kill the pain” chorus. They dip back into ‘Counter Culture?’ with the playing of ‘Poison Games’, with this evening’s intro sounding like it could have been lifted from a late 1960’s early 1970’s TV theme. The reggae vibe returns with the classic ‘Jah War’ for which ‘Segs’ acknowledges the recent passing of Jimmy Cliff (30.7.1944 – 24.11.2025). The lads then take us back to their first single, and ‘In A Rut’ which is always a fan favourite. After this there were four clicks of the drumsticks and the timeless classic ‘Babylon’s Burning’ from ‘The Crack’ was performed. This was brilliant as always, and this evening, for me, was only equalled by ‘Love In Vain’. They signed off the main set with ‘Psychic Attack’ off of ‘Music Must Destroy’, for which the Roland effects kicked them off, followed by the drums, then the bass and finally the guitar. There’s a feel of The Damned with this one, and ‘Neat Neat Neat’ springs to mind. I particularly enjoyed the fast outro drumming segment. The band depart at their own pace.
We bellow and stomp, for what feels quite some time and eventually the door to the side of the stage swings open and the trio are back with us. According to the setlist, it’s showing three more tunes, but sadly we get just two of these. They are ‘Pretty Lunatics’ from ‘Counter Culture?’ which ‘Segs’ tells us was “Written about pretty awful people”, and set closer 1980’s ‘Staring At The Rude Boys’ single with its famed guitar riff that isn’t that far away from the Skids sound. There’s a big rock outro and the lads are done. The omitted tune, for those who are wondering, was ‘Society’ from the ‘Babylon’s Burning’ single. Yet again it’s been a masterclass from these gents! What else can I say?
Ruts DC:
John ‘Segs’ Jennings – vocals, bass
Leigh Heggarty – guitar, vocals
Dave Ruffy – drums, vocals
Ruts DC setlist:
‘The Vox Teardrop’ (from 2016 ‘Music Must Destroy’ album)
‘Something That I Said’ (from The Ruts 1979 ‘The Crack’ album)
‘Mighty Soldier’ (from 2013 ‘Rhythm Collision Volume 2’ album)
‘S.U.S.’ (from The Ruts 1979 ‘The Crack’ album)
‘Demolition Dancing’ (from The Ruts 1980 ‘Grin And Bear It’ compilation album)
‘Too Much’ (from 2022 ‘Counter Culture?’ album)
‘Born Innocent’ (from 2022 ‘Counter Culture?’ album)
‘Back Biter’ (from The Ruts 1979 ‘The Crack’ album)
‘Counterculture?’ (from 2022 ‘Counter Culture?’ album)
‘Love In Vain’ (from The Ruts 1980 ‘Staring At The Rude Boys’ single)
‘Give Youth A Chance’ (from The Ruts 1979 ‘Something That I Said’ single)
‘Faces In The Sky’ (from 2022 ‘Counter Culture?’ album)
‘Secret Soldiers’ (from The Ruts 1980 ‘Grin And Bear It’ compilation album)
‘Bound In Blood’ (unreleased)
‘West One (Shine On Me)’ (from The Ruts 1980 ‘West One (Shine On Me)’ single)
‘Kill The Pain’ (from 2016 ‘Music Must Destroy’ album)
‘Poison Games’ (from 2022 ‘Counter Culture?’ album)
‘Jah War’ (from The Ruts 1979 ‘The Crack’ album)
‘In A Rut’ (from The Ruts 1979 ‘In A Rut’ single)
‘Babylon’s Burning’ (from The Ruts 1979 ‘The Crack’ album)
‘Psychic Attack’ (from 2016 ‘Music Must Destroy’ album)
(encore)
‘Pretty Lunatics’ (from 2022 ‘Counter Culture?’ album)
‘Staring At The Rude Boys’ (from The Ruts 1980 ‘Staring At The Rude Boys’ single)
