Sunday 4 August @ Winter Gardens, Blackpool
The final day of the best weekend of the year is always one to savour, but it’s also one tinged with sadness, as you know it’s nearly over for another 12 months.
This year is a bit different, as the entire Rebellion Introducing Stage has been handed over to the feminist DIY collective LOUD WOMEN for a full day of female and non-binary-powered bands.
It’s where I head first, and first footers Playing Alice, who I confess I’ve never heard of, prove to be hugely enjoyable with their brand of queer disco punk.
The highlight of the Brighton four-piece’s set is a cover of Gossip‘s Standing In The Way Of Control, but to my disappointment they don’t have any music available to buy, and don’t appear to have anything on Bandcamp either (though they do have a couple of live rehearsal tracks on Soundcloud here). They create a great vibe to kick off the stage, and they’re a name I’ll definitely be looking out for.
Opening the Empress on this final day are another band I’ve never seen, The Attack, who are from Orlando, Florida, and not to be confused with ’80s No Future band Attak.
They remind me of one of my all-time favourite Rebellion bands, the much-missed Street Dogs, and the fact they play to a huge backdrop of Blackpool seafront show how much it means for them to be here, and on the main stage.
I don’t know any of their songs, but head straight to the merch stand after their set to snap up a couple of their albums. They’re a good band, pull a good crowd for so early in the day, and I hope they’re asked back, as I’ll know their songs next time
Next I’ve got one of their quandaries which Rebellion throws up maybe half a dozen times a weekend. Do I head to the literary stage to listen to an interview with artist Paul Raggity, whose work I love, and some of whose prints adorn my walls, or is it almost acoustic for punk & poetry duo Cherry & Peesh?
It’s Cherry & Peesh who win the coin-toss (though I do buy some Raggity postcards from the somewhat impoverished art exhibition), and watch an enjoyable half-hour of the Northumberland/Harlow duo, who get their political and personal songs across with humour and passion.
Down in the Arena, Aussie four-piece Convict Class are going down a storm. They’re another band I hadn’t heard before, but their old-school UK punk sound – a cross between the Sex Pistols and Anti-Nowhere League – is both hard-hitting and irreverent, and not at all what I was expecting. Their cover of Martha & The Muffins’ Echo Beach is cracking, and who could dislike a song called Wank Sock?
After a quick browse at the stalls on the way to the Opera House, it’s time for one of the highlights of any weekend: a Ruts DC acoustic set. It’s hard to believe this ‘extra’ set by West London’s finest exponents of punky reggae started out in the bar where the almost acoustic stage was sited for years, as the place is packed, upstairs and down.
A Ruts DC acoustic set has a very different vibe to their full-on electric set, as Seggs, Ruffy and Leigh strip down some of their classic songs from over the years and present them in an entirely different format, and they still sound immense.
Their set mixes oldies like Something That I Said, the sublime Jah War, Babylon’s Burning, and In A Rut (which segues into Neil Young’s Rockin’ In The Free World), with newer material like Music Must Destroy and Kill The Pain.
They throw in deeper cuts like Human Punk, and even a new song, Bound In Blood, from ElectrAcoustic Vol 3, their third set of reimaginings of one of the best back catalogues around. It’s one of the sets of the weekend, and makes up for the fact I missed them last night due to the clash with Cock Sparrer.
From punky-reggae legends to one of the best modern ska-punk bands, it’s down to Club Casbah for East Anglians Faintest Idea, whose latest album, The Road To Sedition, was one of my favourite records of last year. The echoey sound does the seven-piece few favours, but their enthusiasm and energy are infectious.
Unusually, the four-piece brass section take centre stage, and songs like Kill Em Dead, Bull In A China Shop and Stomp Them Down hit the spot nicely, and quickly get the footsore crowd moving.
After a break for food, we wander back into the Pavilion, which is hosting Fraulein, a London-based grunge duo consisting of Irish singer Joni and Dutch drummer Karsten. I like what I’m hearing, but sadly their set only lasts one song, as Joni chips a front tooth on her mic and can’t continue. I hope organisers Daz and Jennie Russell invite them back, as they deserve another go!
Down in the Arena, The Gakk are a band I saw for the first time on the RIS stage a few years ago, and they’re back on a bigger stage, where their spiky but tuneful ’77 sound, which includes bits of ska as well as punk, is going down well. I once saw them play in front of less than 20 people at a pub, so it’s good to see them in front of a far bigger audience.
Songs like Charge Of the Light Brigade and Off The Fags & Booze slip down nicely as we prepare for the final few bands of the weekend. Go to see The Gakk if they play near you – they’re tight as a gnat’s chuff, and mean it maaaaaan!
From a band made up of, ahem, older gentlemen to probably the youngest at this year’s festival. The Dollheads are a three-piece made up of the Avery siblings from Las Vegas, Nevada. Lead vocalist and guitarist Angela is the eldest, bassist Samantha is in the middle and drummer Austin the youngest. He looks about 12, but is actually 14, and his sisters are also still in their teens (Angela 17 and Sam 16).
They first picked up instruments in 2016, started writing their own songs in 2020, and self-released their debut album What Teenage Angst in 2022. Their pop-punk is seriously catchy; I’m hearing a big Green Day influence, and the Ramones and The Donnas too, and they get a good reception from the crowd – many of who are of the ‘come on then, impress us’ age group. They do, even throwing in a cover of Circle Jerks’ Wild In the Streets to show they know their punk history, and they’ll be back, I’m sure.
From fresh new first-timers to a great example of how this festival can make or break a band. I first set eyes upon Dirt Box Disco at my first Rebellion back in 2012, and was immediately smitten. Their infectious glam-punk set has become one of the must-see sets of the weekend if you don’t mind a bit of fun with your punk, and the chorus of ‘hooray, hooray, it’s Dirt Box day’ bounce around the packed Empress Ballroom before they’ve even come on stage.
They’re a band for all the ages, and a huge feelgood vibe fills the room as everyone joins in with songs like I Don’t Wanna Go Out With You, Standing In A Queue, Up The Dirtbox and the closing My Life Is Shit. They’re a highlight of every festival, and this one is no exception.
I’ve got a decent spot down the front, so I stay put for the next band up, which is a real throwback to the days before punk even, but the size of the crowd they pull show how important The Sweet were to a whole generation of music lovers.
You couldn’t escape The Sweet when I was a kid, and I didn’t want to. Along with Slade and Mud, their glammed-up rock was the music of my pre-punk youth, and I still know every word of all their hits.
Guitarist Andy Scott is the only original member, and he’s 75, so there probably won’t be many more chances to see them. They’re a five-piece nowadays rather than the traditional quartet, and frontman Paul Manzi might be more heavy rock than glam, but he belts out faithful renditions of all the hits: Hellraiser, Teenage Rampage, Blockbuster, Fox On The Run, and, inevitably, The Ballroom Blitz. Fucking great!
I’m tempted to catch a few songs by Syteria in the Opera House or Svetlanas in the Casbah, but decide to stay put, have another drink to soothe my aching vocal chords, and enjoy another band from slightly later in my adolescence, Cockney Rejects.
Again, there’s only one original member left, vocalist Jeff Turner, after the rest of the band decided to call it a day, but he’s joined by something of a ‘supergroup’ consisting of Olga (Toy Dolls) on guitar, JJ (The Last Resort) on bass, and Ray from Argy Bargy on drums.
I don’t know what to expect, but they hit the ground running with Flares & Slippers, and smash through a 50-minute set of 45-year-old Oi Oi classics like they were written just last week. Stinky’s energy is a given, but his new bandmates seem to have the old songs fresh impetus, and they sound great.
He might be 60?, but he covers every inch of the stage as he shadow-boxes his way through Fighting In The Streets, We Are The Firm, Are You Ready To Ruck, The Power And The Glory, Join The Rejects, Bad Man and loads more, culminating in a blistering Oi Oi Oi! Long live the Rejects!
From an old favourite to one of the best up and coming bands around, there’s time to nip upstairs to catch some of Bruise Control opening the After Dark stage in the Pavilion. The Manchester garage punks’ debut album Useless For Something (reviewed here) was one of my Top 20 records of 2023, and I can’t wait to see them again.
They’ve pulled a big crowd and singer Jim is already stripped to the waist and wearing just the briefest pair of shorts imaginable by the time we get in. Their very modern take on punk is going down a treat, and songs like Bottom Feeder, Spinners Mill and Taxman leave the crowd impressed, but their set is short and sweet, and leaves you clamouring for more.
It’s almost time to go home, and there’s only one place I’m going for the last act of Rebellion 2024; back to the Empress Ballroom to see my favourite band, Stiff Little Fingers. They’ve packed the place out, as usual, and come on to Jake Burns’ usual greeting: “Good evening Blackpool, how you doing, alright? We’re Stiff Little Fingers!” before launching into Suspect Device.
Fingers have headlined here enough times to know exactly what the fans want, and proceed to roll back the years with a set full of tried and tested favourites, including, in no particular order, Fly The Flag (“44 years later and some fucking dickheads still get that song wrong”, At The Edge, Nobody’s Hero, Gotta Gettaway, and Wasted Life.
They even throw in a new song, Hate Has No Home Here, which could be the message of the whole weekend really, and finish with the classic Alternative Ulster, prompting a huge singalong and much crowd-surfing. As ever, I trudge up the stairs and into the cool night on a high, happy after seeing my favourite band again, but sad that it’s all over for another year. Roll on 2025.
