REBELLION FESTIVAL 2009

REBELLION FESTIVAL
Blackpool Winter Gardens
August 6th-9th
5/5



There's never a better catalyst for punk rock than a bit of global economic meltdown. Nearly 8,000 from the four corners of the globe invaded Blackpool’s cavernous Winter Gardens for 200 bands, five stages and four days of drinking to oblivion - it was rightly hailed the most successful in the annual event’s history by the promoters. Some are crazily suggesting next year’s lasts a week but, hey, that will actually kill us!! With a humungous merch and market area, a quite brilliant punk art exhibition from tons of well-known punks including Gaye Advert, Charlie Harper and Knox, and enough bars to keep George Best happy this years Rebellion could just be the festival of the year.
Rebellion, as always, was a case of so many bands and so little time but a few more highlights that worked for us included the mighty DAMNED, the theatrics of Monkey and his ADICTS crew, the rabble rousing GOLDBLADE complete with virtually every female in the place joining them for the encores, the carnage of NAPALM DEATH, the re-emergence of SEPTIC PSYCHOS after a hiatus of over 20 years; the gathering storm that is CUTE LEPERS, UK SUBS legend Charlie Harper still performing with more balls than bands a third his age and the ability of guitarist Jet's unfeasibly high quiff to stay up throughout the set, feisty horrorpunks PINK HEARSE having no balls but putting on a great show, the no holds-barred carnage of DRONGOS FOR EUROPE and the work-hating acoustic antics of one PAUL CARTER, the VIBRATORS’ KNOX and CHARLIE HARPER’S acoustic ‘Warhead’, the DUEL actually turning into a pretty good band, CHRON GEN playing ‘Outlaw’, newcomers CONTROL pulling a huge crowd for their first major show, ABRASIVE WHEELS’ new stuff sounding like AFI (!) the STRAWBERRY BLONDES, SONIC BOOM SIX,THE RABBLE,MORAL DILEMMA and RANDOM HAND bringing the new blood, MAD SIN keeping the psychos happy, THE BEAT doing a great job, THE EXPLOITED beating the bastards, the ‘Young Ones’’ ADRIAN EDMONDSON perhaps rethinking his move into punk, ARGY BARGY bringing the street to the Olympia, PICTURE FRAME SEDUCTION and SICK ON THE BUS keeping it strictly old school, plus a brilliant cast of hundreds including great sets from LOVE AND A 45, TEXAS TERRI, JAYA THE CAT, New York’s THE BLAME (nice guy), LEFTOVER CRACK (get some clothes!), 999, ANTI NOWHERE LEAGUE, PETER AND THE TEST TUBE BABIES, SHAME ACADEMY(not getting crowd they deserved) and the FREEZE, AGNOSTIC FRONT and the ADOLESCENTS flying the USA flag in brilliant style. Oh, and the STUPIDS just about being the best reformed band ever!
KILLING JOKE front man Jaz Coleman - punk rock's answer to Nostradamus – was making his debut at the event and performed as though his life depended on it. It did - he predicted the end of the world in December 2012. The band were at their most blistering as they raged through driving early eighties anthems like 'Requiem' and 'Wardance' - songs that were sounding as fresh in 2009 as they were when they first hit Thatcherite Britain in the early 1980s, thanks to the band reverting back to their original line-up with Youth back on bass, Paul Ferguson pounding the skins and Geordie on guitar.
They were in stark contrast to jokers of a different kind – THE DICKIES. The enduring West Coast outfit have been off the Rebellion roster for the past couple of years and their set - spanning frenetic early chart hits like 'Banana Splits' right through to more up to date madness like 'My Pop The
Cop' from the 2001 long-player 'All This And Puppet Stew' - sparked one of the maddest pogo-fests in the history of Rebellion.
BAY CITY ROLLERS definitely got the prize for most random act on the menu at the weekend: one original member (Eric Faulkner) and far more sprightly looking backing band that looked more suited as on-stage members of Placebo.

They were joined on the apply named Bizarre Bazaar stage by KUNT AND THE GANG - a man that knows absolutely no shame and pervades a style or humour that can only be best described as 'very wrong' and had various female audience members leaving in shock. And in between downing beers on the pier with Blackpool’s pensioner population we staggered off into the sunset looking forward to next year. Bring it on Darren!

Words: Neil Anderson/Eugene Big Cheese
Photos: David Brown/Lucy Pryor


FOLLOWING PHOTOS COPYRIGHT DAVID BROWN


Anti-Nowhere League


Killing Joke


Killing Joke


The Adicts


The Adicts


The Damned


The Exploited


The Exploited


FOLLOWING PHOTOS COPYRIGHT LUCY PRYOR


Agnostic Front


Deadline


Goldblade


Leftover Crack


Mad Sin


The Rabble



FAN TOP 5s OF REBELLION FESTIVAL
Sent in to info@vivelepunk.net

1 anti nowhere league
2 killing joke
3 chron gen
4 goldblade
5 resistance 77
angie x

1. the Adicts
2. killing joke
3.Koffin Kats
4.the Subhumans
5.pink hearse
dod

1.UK Decay
2.The Cute Lepers
M Foster

1.KILLING JOKE
2.THE EXPLOITED
3.RUST
4.LOS FASTIDIOS
5.ARGY BARGY
Billy McConnell

1.CHRON GEN
2.THE RABBLE
3.UK SUBS
4.ABRASIVE WHEELS
5.THE BEAT
Andy F Scotland

1.KILLING JOKE
2.SHAME ACADEMY
3.THE BLAME
4.SICK ON THE BUS
5.U.K DECAY
AL london