Top acts descend on Butlin's Bognor Regis for Rockaway Beach festival

And here they were at Bognor Regis for the weekend's three day Rockaway Beach festival at Butlin's.

The audience was aged anywhere from 20 to pensioners and there was something for everyone, whether they were there to reminisce, see some of the latest hot tickets or find out what's new and up and coming.

One man in his 60s in the audience for Yard Act explained to me why he was there rather than watching OMD - the one big clash of the weekend - 'they are from years ago but this is the future'.

And that was the wonder of it. Some of the guys up on stage are grandads but they can rock it just the same as the new acts.

Take one of my highlights - Peter Hook and the Light. Hooky is 65. He was a founder of the legendary Joy Division and also New Order.

There he was, full of life, belting out all the hits of both bands in an incredible set that I'm sure left a full age-range audience buzzing into the next day, like it did me.

From Disorder through Shadowplay and Transmission to Perfect Kiss and Blue Monday and ending with Love Will Tear Us Apart, it was all there.

It was the same with The Undertones. Four out of five on the stage had been performing together since 1976.

Singer Feargal Sharkey has been replaced by Paul McLoone who has all the punk attitude and stage presence of that era.

And all the favourites were there - Teenage Kicks, My Perfect Cousin, Wednesday Week, Jimmy Jimmy, Here Comes the Summer - along with some newer creations.

From a different music genre came The Beat. Ranking Jr said he promised his father Ranking Roger on his deathbed at the age of just 56 he would continue flying the flag for him.

He's doing a fabulous job of it.

Mirror in the Bathroom and Too Nice To Talk To were joined by some new tracks about Boris and lockdown and a touching tribute to Ranking Roger.

Having failed to get a ticket when Yard Act played Brighton last year, it was great to see them in the festival line up.

In a very entertaining set, the boys from Leeds who formed the band in 2019 got the crowd going with tracks from The Overload until singer James Smith announced he was bored.

"You know the words," he said picking someone out from the crowd. "You've got three minutes to do what you want."

Sadly their set clashed with OMD on the other stage but I was able to get there in time for the great Enola Gay and the encore tracks, which included Electricity.

Other notable performances through the weekend included Bristol's Scalping who brought some incredibly danceable industrical techno, with video imagery, to proceedings.

Self Esteem also went down a storm with an audience of all ages.

Rockaway Beach is one of Butlin's Big Weekenders running throughout the year with a range of themes. Tickets include a stay over and many of the usual attractions on offer at the resort.

Tickets for next year's Rockaway Beach are now available on the Butlin's website.