Getdown Services delivered a boisterous set at the Harry Styles-curated Meltdown Festival in London last night (Tuesday June 16), where they paid tribute to their host and told haters to “suck my farts from my fucking arse”.
It was announced back in April that Styles would be following in the footsteps of David Bowie, The Cure’s Robert Smith, Nick Cave, Patti Smith, Grace Jones, Christine And the Queens, Nile Rodgers, David Byrne, Yoko Ono, Little Simz, Jarvis Cocker and many more in handpicking artists to perform across 11 nights at the legendary venue in the capital.
After kicking off with Warpaint last week – and while Styles himself was delivering a stunning performance next door in Queen Elizabeth Hall with the Jules Buckley Orchestra – the Bristol dance-punk duo took to the stage in the Purcell Room to the rollicking opening music of Status Quo‘s classic ‘Whatever You Want’.
The recent NME cover stars frequently made light of the lecture theatre-esque venue being a seated room and “like Question Time without the questions”, telling the audience that they’d “literally picked the worst one to come to” away from their usual mosh-heavy setting.
In a bid to “help out the little guy” in accepting Styles’ invitation, they joked that either “someone in Harry’s team needs sacking” or he has “deeply concerning mental health” in selecting the band.
In a to and fro, the duo shared that Styles would not be joining them on stage but “no one gets a refund and we don’t get to meet Harry”, but that was fine because he “hates the RSPB loves ultra-nationalism”.
“I don’t know why we’re here,” shared guitarist and singer Josh Law, later adding that “was always more of a Niall Horan fan myself” before delivering a brief cover of Styles’ former One Direction bandmate’s ‘Dinner Party’.
Driven by banter and a party-starting ruckus, Law and singer Ben Sadler tore through electro-rock ragers from their 2023 debut album ‘Crisps’ and follow-up EPs, culminating in their explosive response to the “hate from people called Ian and Martin” they’d received from performing their recent single ‘Radiator’ on Later… With Jools Holland by telling their naysayers to “suck farts from my fucking arse” before a rapturously received encore-starting run through the track before the almighty closers of the Daft Punk-esque ‘Caesar’ and rollicking ‘Dog Dribble’. Despite the band’s fears, the sold-out crowd couldn’t help but spend most of the show on their feet.
Meltdown Festival will run until June 21 and will feature performances from Orlando Weeks, LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, Soulwax, Bar Italia, Jon Hopkins, Dev Hynes, and more. The run began last week (June 11) with a performance from Los Angeles’ Warpaint – the band’s first gig in nearly two years.
Styles kicked off his record-breaking stint at Wembley last week (June 12), paying tribute to the late artist David Hockney and looking back on his connection to the area and its links to his days in One Direction.
Getdown Services will release new album ‘Massive Champion’ on August 14 via Breakfast Records, in the midst of a huge year of touring including headline dates in the winter and a return to London at The Roundhouse. See full dates below and visit here for tickets and more information.
JUNE
19-20 – Mablis Festival, STAVANGER
24– Bristol Sounds Festival, BRISTOL w/ Super Furry Animals
JULY
17-18 – Spirit of Eden Festival, KENT
24 – Truck Festival, OXFORD
25 – Latitude, SUFFOLK
26 – Deer Shed Festival, YORKSHIRE
31 – Belladrum Festival, KILTARLITY
AUGUST
2 – All Together Now Festival, WATERFORD
7 – Boardmasters, NEWQUAY
9 – OFF Festival, KATOWICE
13– Parades de Coura Festival, PAREDES
15 – Øya Festival, OSLO
21 – Green Man, BRECON BEACONS
23 – Pukkelpop, BELGIUM
27 – Canela Party, TORREMOLINOS
29 – Wynthenshaw Park, MANCHESTER w/ The Courteeners
NOVEMBER
19 – Tramshed, CARDIFF
21 – Concorde 2, BRIGHTON
23 – Waterfront, NORWICH
25 – Boilershop, NEWCASTLE
26 – Galvanizers, GLASGOW
28 – Academy 1, MANCHESTER
30 – Project House, LEEDS
DECEMBER
2 – Vicar Street, DUBLIN
4 – Rock City, NOTTINGHAM
5 – Foundry, SHEFFIELD
8 – Roundhouse, LONDON
JANUARY
16 – Bristol Beacon, BRISTOL
17 – Bristol Beacon, BRISTOL