Now the smoke has cleared (along with the hangovers) Vive Le Rock's Bruce Turnbull delivers his blow-by-blow account of this year's Rebellion....
DAY ONE!
Let’s face it: There is no better place to be as a punk than Rebellion, and this year the Winter Gardens are rammed with a rapturous bunch that have been scrambling for tickets in the run up to the doors opening, leading to a sold-out fest that sees bands like Sham 69, Cock Sparrer and The Stranglers take centre stage. I love the big name bands as much as anyone, but what really lights my fire is seeing the new blood bands we’ve featured in the mag drawing bigger crowds than ever before. And that’s why I kicked off the first day with Yur Mum, who hammered through a hard, gnarly set in the Empress Ballroom, proving a distorted bass is just as heavy as a guitar and, in the hands of Yur Mum, twice as lethal. Similarly, power-pop punk botherers Cyanide Pills (pictured) blasted Club Casbah with their patented blend of highwire riffs and infectious refrains, a perfect appetiser before a tasty main course from Peter Bentham & The Dinner Ladies, a band that know how to have fun whilst also sending a message about diversity and acceptance. A sharp blast of melodic hardcore from Belvedere proved that old Offspring/Authority Zero shtick never goes out of style, while The Meffs made it look so easy with a slick set that blew the Empress to smithereens.
The Drowns pulled off a blistering set of melodic punk tunes before I got my ears sheared off by Subhumans, a band that never misses the mark, and I closed my first day at Rebellion with two bands it has been a pleasure to watch grow into titans: Cockney Oil! bruisers Tear Up sounded monstrous in the Arena, packing the place to the rafters with their violent, hardcore Oi! refrains. Proper gangster-geezer punk, it’s just what the Winter Gardens needed. Finishing up with father/daughter team Voodoo Radio, who have more sass and riffs than you can shake a stick at; it’s easy to see why they are winning support slots left and right. There’s far too much to catch at Rebellion, but if you coast between the stages enough, there’s tons of undiscovered treasure to be found.
DAY TWO!
Sun blazing down, waking up dehydrated and half dead, seagulls screeching like loons at the crack of dawn, could it be anything but the day after the night before at Rebellion? Thursday was mega, but Friday offered up the most surprises so far, starting with some highwire, emo-tinged pop-punk from melodic trio Slackrr in the Casbah. Massive choruses and hyper positive lyrics really made these guys stand out among so much wonderful noise pollution, a total breath of fresh air that made me feel young again. It was almost enough to make me break out my Brand New and The Starting Line CDs. After Slackrr, I caught a bit of screechy riot grrrl action from Girls Like Us, and then it was all elbows and knees as I pushed my way to the front of the Ballroom for Maid Of Ace (pictured). Fresh off supporting Green Day at Wembley, MOA absolutely decimated the Ballroom with their raw, slashing punk anthems. Destructors 82 were up next with their superb guitars and wild choruses, then I made the rather foolish decision to go up front for hardcore Oi! bruisers The Chisel, who might have just put out a rather artful second album, but their live show was anything but. Loud, thuggish, and brutal, they had the most dangerous pit at the festival thus far, but by hell, was it exciting.
Over in the Pavilion, thrashcore newcomers Jawless went hell for leather with a slam-dancing set full of breakdowns, yowling vocals and chugging riffs, closing proceedings with a moshtastic Beastie Boys cover that was strangely one of Friday’s highlights. Infa Riot brought a lot of classic Oi! fun in the Casbah, while Split Dogs put on one hell of a show in the Pavilion. With their acidic approach and charismatic performance, it’s easy to see why people are proclaiming them the next big thing. Anti Nowhere League always deliver, and Friday was no exception, but I ducked out after a few songs to check out California’s Stalag 13 in the Arena. Actual dyed-in-the-wool positive straight-edge hardcore, their fast, pelting set made mincemeat out of the other acts I saw in there today. Bloody brilliant. Fans of MDC and 7 Seconds need to check them out pronto. With such a noise-filled day/night behind me, I closed Friday out with a bit of Toyah, who was in fine voice in a packed out Opera House, proving she is worthy of the icon award that we gave her at the VLR Awards back in April a million times over. Two days down, two days to go…
DAY THREE!
With far-right protesters marching in Blackpool, the threat of violence was in the air, but thousands of punks were ready to go head-to-head if necessary. Turns out there were far too many cool bands to check out, and thankfully not many were hurt, although rumours persisted, as they will. I started the day by catching up with one of my favourite bands, North-East melodic hardcore crew In Evil Hour (pictured), who opened up proceedings on the Almost Acoustic stage. I wasn’t sure how their sound would carry without a wall of amps, but turns out I had no need to be worried, as their anthemic, sticky hooks are in safe hands with Alice and the crew, and they played a blinder in front of a packed out room. I ran over afterwards to catch Lady Rage bringing their metallic, riot grrrl punk to the Empress, getting me amped up for Pizzatramp’s hilariously entertaining set in the Casbah. This Welsh trio are one of the best crossover bands in the business, even if they did look as dead as half of us felt. Aussie hard rocking punks Rust were up next, commanding the stage with power and might, not to mention a fistful of riffs that were one part Rose Tattoo, one part Angelic Upstarts. A bit of pop punk from newcomers Missing The Scene set the stage for Oi! trio Knock Off, who are turning out to be one of the most exciting bands on the circuit, and certainly the most reliable.
Later on, I caught a fist-raising set from French street punks Lion’s Law, who had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hand, while Crown Court had people queuing out the Arena for a bruising set of hardcore 80s-style Oi!. China’s The Noname were up next, a band that act like a filter for all punk styles travelling to the East, with pop-punk, hardcore and even a bit if ska giving their set an eclectic electricity. You can’t go wrong with a bit of Millie Manders, who filled the Empress to bursting point, giving us a hell of a show that proves she really is the new queen of punk. A late addition, the superb Wonk Unit gave the Arena what for, a set I enjoyed immensely, while Deaf Devils hammered out 20 minutes of action rock before they almost combusted into flames.
Over in the Casbah, GBH tore the place apart with a blistering performance of UK82 savagery, gearing me up for a bit of Cock Sparrer with El Presidente. Sparrer whipped the entire Ballroom into the biggest singalong of the festival, but it was time for something smooth and sweet to end the evening on the perfect note, hence Ruts DC, who always raise the bar to a new level of professionalism and instrumental panache. Blackpool did indeed spend the day burning with anxiety, but thankfully it was only the bands that were on fire.
DAY FOUR!
Sunday morning at Rebellion. No worse feeling than Monday morning, when we all have to pack our bags and leave Blackpool for another year. People were slow to rise, moving like zombies through the streets, clutching take out coffees and cigarettes in an effort to get ready for one last assault on the Winter Gardens. First up was The Attack, who brought their classic US punk to the Empress, drawing a significant crowd. Melodic refrains and plenty of energy really lifted my spirits after a night of no sleep, but I was lagging to be sure, so I parked myself at the Pavilion for an afternoon of varied carnage from the Loud Women event. With bands like Playing Alice, The Empty Page and The Dollheads representing women in revolt, some truly exciting new bands staked their claim.
After a while, I ducked out to the Opera House to check out some classic ska from Rhoda Dakar (pictured), who was in fine voice; the smooth strains of Terry Edwards' saxophone carried marvellously, and she offered a nice change from the constant attack of the other stages. In the Arena, London post-punk duo The Duel made the most of things with a minimal set up, while in the Ballroom Dirtbox Disco had the whole room singing and dancing with their humorous pop-punk antics. Definitely the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen them pull. A huge surprise for me was psychedelic pop-rock legends Love in the Opera House. They were so cultured and well put together, they proved that sometimes less is more, a shining example of letting the music do the talking. Another thing that shocked me was how many people crammed into the Empress to see The Sweet. They were certainly impressive, but I couldn’t help but feel they were out of place, probably more suited to Hard Rock Hell or Wacken. But, the audience is always right, and they loved every minute.
Jackie Chambers and her power-pop crew in Syteria performed with heart and soul in the Opera House, a much stronger performance than last time out. The way they stack their vocal harmonies is so impressive; I’ve never heard four-part harmonies so well rendered live before. Definitely check them out.
As the night wore on, I caught some killer street punk from Crim, a hard and heavy act that took no prisoners, before watching Cockney Rejects take the Ballroom by storm. Closing the evening out with a bit of Stiff Little Fingers, who were snarling and melodic all at once, I felt myself about to crash and decided to duck out before the last few songs. In all, another great year at Rebellion, one in which thousands of countercultural misfits took on a fascist mob and won. And that is punk as fuck.
YOUR TOP 3 REBELLION BANDS!!!!
We had over 50 replies but here’s just a handful of them….
David Delinquent
1. The Chisel
2. Belvedere
3. The Meffs
Informal Complaint
Split Dogs
Faintest Idea
Bruise Control
Could name many many more tbh but they were definitely three of the top favourites from the weekend!
Kevin Scottie Hunt
Only 3 that's a struggle
So I'm going to choose 3 'smaller' bands that I loved on the weekend
The Human Error
Split Dogs
Slackrr
Dave Long
Clobber, Split Dogs, 18 Fevers
Karl Barratt
Paranoid Visions - Legends and always great
Lady Rage - full of raw energy
Creature Creature - recommended by a friend and they didn't disappoint
Scotty Ramone
Ramona’s Tea Party… X 3
l checked them out on the strength of their name… Definitely my band of the weekend. Infectious energetic fun and super catchy songs… I couldn’t stop dancing!
Steve Howdle
Slalom D, Bar Stool Preachers and The Mistakes
Lesley Scott Voice
London, Godfathers and Sweet.
Paul Murray
The Baboon Show, The Turbo ACs and Smoking Popes
James Sherry
Split Dogs, Death Of Guitar Pop, Hard Skin
Niall McGuirk
Hard Skin
Tom Robinson Band
Millie Manders
Anti-Vírus
Us, us and us....hahahahah....a lot of wonderful bands and wonderful new brothers and sisters, cant write only 3 bands......amazing Rebellion Punk Music Festival again
Ian Kay
Split Dogs, Deaf Devils and The Godfathers
Graham Cookson
Sham 69 - storming set, Pursey in full rock star mode.
The Neurotics - This Fragile life, a beautiful song.
Love- more Punk than most of the Punk bands.
Kent Nielsen
The Ruts DC, Voodoo Radio, Hard Skin
Lorrie Gobbey
The Old Time Sailors
Jake Martin
Subhumans
Ken Spe
SLF, Ruts DC, Stranglers and from RIS Split Dogs
Nigel Robbins
TRB, The Stranglers and Sweet
Lee Guthrie
The Baboon Show,The Queers and Dwarves.
Adam Salem
The Stranglers
Ruts
Love
Stuart Hipkins
Chipsum Gravy at the West Coast Rock Cafe with Splinter n Dafadildos
The Stranglers, The Sweet and Voodoo Radio.
Peter Brennan
Stranglers, SLF, London
Eck Fraser
SLF, Subs and Spunk Volcano and from RIS Panic Attak
Sid Cramp
Sweet
Indignation Meeting
Slady
Charlotte Lewis
Steve Ignorant official, Voodoo Radio, Subhumans
Gary Roach
Baboon Show, Voodoo Radio & Sweet. Also loved Yur Mum, Empty Page, Iconoclasts, MDM, UK Subs & Syteria. And as for SLF that was a blistering set to end the festival.
Steve Standard
Gogol Bordello, Los Fastidios and Rhoda Dakar.
Phil Mansell
The Stranglers, BSP and Sham 69
Desnie Cripps Hinson
The Stranglers, Ruts DC, Death of the guitar pop.
Martin Walters
Avoiding the big name bands I would say:-
Split Dogs
Yur Mum
Chemtrails
Mark Myall
Crown Court, Tear up, Resistance 77.
George Stephenson
Ruts DC
The Stranglers
Blyth Power
John Aston
Spizz Energi, Johnny Moped and the Vulpynes
Neil Trelford
Dakka Skanks
The Outcasts
THE DEFECTS
Nigel Crick
Old Time Sailors, Stranglers & Stiff Little Fingers.
Peter Jones
TRB, the Stranglers, Meryl Streek
Nutty Nürnberg
Slalom D, Slady Acoustic, Cockney Rejects
John Shearer
Sweet
Richard Roaf
Dirt Box Disco
Gimp Fist
Hard Skin
Simon White
The Pack
Heavy Metal Kids
The Tights
Malcolm Jupp
Criminal Damage , GBH, Split Dogs
Shanne Shannie Shanne
The Pack
Love
The Ruts DC
(Obviously The Men Men They Couldn't Hang and Johnny Moped since I played bass and sang lol Eugene Butcher ) I saw you Shanne! Eugene
Lee Evans
Was working arena so only picking bands off there
8 kalacas for sure. All the arena crew stood there open mouthed and it's been some years since I've been blown away like that. Public serpents. La inquisition
Check out the new edition of Vive Le rock for more Rebellion stuff - on sale here!