It’s the day thousands of punks have waited for since the 2025 soiree finished – their annual pilgrimage to Blackpool for the Rebellion Punk Music Festival.
To say this one was eagerly awaited is something of an understatement; 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the festival, which began as Holidays In The Sun in 1996. It’s also the 50th anniversary of punk, from the UK’s year zero of 1976.
It was a sell-out in February, with all weekend and day tickets snapped up by music lovers from around the world who didn’t want to miss out.
Blackpool is a faded seaside town which has seen better days, but it tries hard, and you know it’s going to be a special weekend as you arrive to spot the familiar Rebellion logo on a flag flying on top of the famous tower. Blackpool loves the punks, and the punks love Blackpool, for all its faults.
With over 300 bands playing on eight stages over four days in the magnificent Winter Gardens, there’s something for every taste, and if you don’t like the line-up or can’t afford it, there’s always the fringe, which is taking place in a host of pubs a few minutes’ walk away from the main event.
For the first time the festival organisers put on run-up events too, with daytime acoustic shows followed by gigs headlined by Adam Ant and Neville Staple on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
I’ve been going to Rebellion with my sister since 2012, and for the third year in a row we head to Blackpool a day early, and take in a gig on Wednesday night. This year it’s The Meffs at Bootleg Social, a basement venue with a capacity of 330.
Last year they pulled a crowd of 2,000+ in the Empress Ballroom, so it’s no surprise it’s sold out. What’s more surprising is that a band so obviously on the rise – they played Rebellion for the first time in 2022, and are tipped by some as future headliners – aren’t on the bill at all this year.
Whether that’s because of the much-vaunted ‘ban’ on bands from the main event playing the fringe I don’t know, but if so it’s Rebellion’s loss, because The Meffs are on fire, and I can’t wait to hear their second album proper, Business, which is released in September.
As Thursday dawns, excitement levels begin to rise and there are punks everywhere as we make our way to the Winter Gardens to see the band given the honour of opening the festival.
We’ve seen some great bands as openers in previous years – from Scumbrians in 2018 to Crapsons in 2024, so it’s straight into the Pavilion to catch Thrown Away, the first band on. They’re entirely new to me, but the young four-piece from central Scotland impress from the off with their blend of UK82-style punk, street-punk, and Oi!.
They only have half an hour to make their mark and certainly do that, hinting at one of their key influences with a fine cover of The Partisans’ Killing Machine. They do healthy business at their merch table afterwards, and when I snap up a copy of their 2025 debut album Better Late Than Never I’m delighted to learn a follow-up is on the way. Check them out at their Bandcamp page HERE, or better still go to see them live – they kick arse.
Next, we head down to the Casbah stage for the welcome return of Birmingham five-piece The Liarbilitys, who haven’t played Rebellion for a few years. I loved their 2018 debut album Antagonisms, and the follow-up Vandalheart, which came out last year, is even better. Read our review HERE.
The sound in the cavernous room is notoriously echoey, but the lads make a decent fist of it, and smash through a set which ends with their best song, Two Against One. Check them out on Bandcamp HERE.
After a quick look into the Empress Ballroom to catch a few songs by South Korean death-punk disco band 18 Fevers, who are opening the main stage after working their way up the bill in just four years, we dash back to the Casbah for our first must-see act of the day.
Dog Rotten from South East London combine punk and rap in an intoxicating blend, and they’re another band you really need to see in the flesh. They’ve released two albums and a handful of EPs, but they don’t really capture their live swagger.
Vocalists Michael and Jordan prowl the stage spitting out lyrics as the guitar, bass and drums explode behind them, and things are turned up another notch when they’re joined by Riskee And The Ridicule frontman Scott for Dead from their 2024 EP No Comply. Find that and their other releases on Bandcamp HERE or support grassroots music by going to see them in a venue near you.
Face Up! are a five-piece from the West Midlands who play metal-tinged hardcore, and having seen them a couple of times in a small pub venue setting, I’m keen to see how they adapt to the big Empress stage.
They take to it with ease, with frontwoman Roxy clearly relishing every second of their 35 minutes of fame, even joining the circle pit for one song. They sound a bit clattery in a room which hasn’t filled up yet, but have earned what’s probably their biggest gig to date. Check them out on Bandcamp HERE, or, even better, you know the rest…
Time for a complete change of pace, and it’s up to the absolutely bonkers Spanish Hall for the welcome return of In Evil Hour to the Almost Acoustic stage. After becoming festival favourites with their full-on electric set, they made a stunning debut there last year, stripping down their melodic hardcore to its basics.
Since then the Darlington outfit have taken time out while vocalist Alice and guitarist Gar had a baby, and released Permanent Record, 10 acoustic reinterpretations of songs from previous records. Our review is HERE.
Anyone familiar with their usual material will probably be surprised that it works so well acoustically, but this format gives Alice’s voice the space it deserves, and their set, which ends with their best song, Predators, goes down a storm.
I seem to be spending a lot of time in the Casbah, which is unfortunate due to its ropey sound, and Subalternos‘ bouncy Brazilian street-punk sounds a bit ropey in here, which is a shame, as frontman Alberto Rinaldi is one of the happiest people in the Winter Gardens, always performing with a huge grin.
There’s more grinning from Southampton trio Slackrr, one of the hardest-working bands in the UK, who seem to be constantly on tour. Their slick pop-punk, or south coast soft core as the backdrop calls it, slips down nicely as a mid-afternoon appetiser for great things to come.
We stay in the Casbah for part of the set by London ska/dub/punk band Popes Of Chillitown, but the room does them no favours, so we head to the Ballroom for The Courettes, who have made an enormous step up from the Rebellion Introducing Stage last year, when they packed the Pavilion out.
The Danish/Brazilian duo call themselves a wall of sound punk band, but to my ears it’s fuzzy garage rock, and they went down well in the busy room, with singer-guitarist Flavia ending the set by crowd surfing while playing.
Control were one of the bands I saw at my first Rebellion back in 2012, and I’ve seen them maybe a dozen times since, as their angry street-punk is right up my street. They released their sixth album, Kick Down the Doors!, a couple of months ago, seven years after the previous one, and it’s well worth the wait.
Even the dodgy Casbah sound can’t spoil their hooligan rock ‘n’ roll, and the band are clearly energising by the new material, which fits nicely alongside old favourites like Punk Rock Ruined My Life. Sadly, I missed frontman Iain’s 12-year-old son joining them for a song on guitar – he’s got his own punk band and is clearly a chip off the old block.
I leave Control early because they overlap with one of my Rebellion must-sees, The Bar Stool Preachers. I’ve been a fan ever since I caught the end of their set here after walking out of The Boomtown Rats back in 2015, and don’t miss a chance to see their high-energy live show.
Their 5.10pm slot is an unusually early one for a band who have been working their way up the bill, and have long been my tip as future headliners. They only have 45 minutes to impress, and slam straight into their set with the big singalong 8.6 Days (All The Broken Hearts).
Despite the early hour, the Preachers pull a big crowd, but drop an unwelcome surprise early on when frontman Tom McFaull says they probably won’t be here next year, after playing for 12 years in a row. It casts a bit of a dampener on things, but new song Pick A Side and a thunderous version of Doorstep soon pick up the mood, and they end with – what else? – Bar Stool Preacher.
They’re a band who are all about community and belonging, which is the very ethos of Rebellion, and I hope that whoever decide the Preachers should miss next year changes their mind, as Rebellion really won’t be the same without them.
After a quick bite to eat it’s back to the Pavilion where another of my must-see bands, Grail Guard, are making their Rebellion debut on the Introducing stage. The Coventry hardcore crew released their debut album, Still No Future (reviewed here) on TNSRecords in March, and it’s one of the year’s outstanding releases.
I’ve never seen them live before, and I’m delighted to say they’re even better than on record, laying down a blistering set of modern hardcore. You can tell frontman and lyricist Riaz, who grew up as a British Indian Muslim in a working-class town, really means it when he screams “fuck you, you fascist scum!” Go to see Grail Guard if you get the chance, they’re excellent, one of the highlights of the festival so far.
Meanwhile, a band who have become an annual highlight are taking to the Casbah stage. The Drowns are from Seattle, they play hard, fast street-punk rock ‘n’ roll , and they rock like a bastard. They love Rebellion so much that two years ago they recorded a live album here (reviewed here), and Rebellion loves them back just as hard.
After shedding a guitarist they’re back to their original three-piece of Rev (guitar and vocals), Andy (bass and vocals) and Jake (drums), but somehow they’re just as powerful as they plough through a set of past and future bangers (new album Harsh Reality comes out in October, and a couple of tracks get an airing).
They’ve made a habit of throwing a classic cover into their set, and this year’s its Stiff Little Fingers’ Alternative Ulster, or, as Rev calls it, “one of the best songs ever written”. Who am I to argue? They finish with the anti-racist anthem Them Rats, and another standout set is filed to the memory banks.
We stay in the Casbah for The Adolescents, an early ’80s SoCal hardcore band I’ve seen three times over the years, and the sound’s never been great. Sadly, the same applies here, and I can’t take it for more than a few songs, so head off elsewhere in search of something where I can make out the words.
They weren’t on my list to see, but we wander into the Opera House and have a sit down to watch The Primitives. They’re indie-pop rather than punk, it’s their third time here, but my first time seeing them, and I enjoy them a lot, even though I fear for singer Tracy Tracy’s welfare as she stomps around the stage in huge-heeled boots. Their biggest hit, Crash, is an obvious highlight, as well as a rare outing for Secrets, whose video was filmed in Blackpool, but hasn’t been played live in the UK since 1989!
I seem to be spending most of today in the Casbah, and it’s back there for another ’80s US hardcore band, Washington DC’s Scream, who I know only as Dave Grohl’s first band. Vocalist Pete Stahl, one of three original members, is like a demented preacher as he stalks the stage, occasionally climbing the barrier to offer his mic to the front row to get them to sing. Shamefully, I don’t really know their music, although I’ve had 45 years to learn it, but they sound okay, despite the limitations of the room, and I make a mental note to check them out when I get home.
After another quick sit down in the Opera House to take in a bit of post-punk from the reformed Au Pairs (another band I hadn’t planned to see, but decided to check out, as I’ve never seen them), it was back to the sodding Casbah for Maid Of Ace, who I’ve seen umpteen times in venues large and small since I first came across them here in 2013.
The Elliott sisters always give it everything they’ve got, and have long been Rebellion favourites. They deserve a stage with a better sound than the clatterdome, and although it takes a while, but I manage to make out a few songs, including Made In England and Stay Away, before deciding to give my ears a rest.
The Arena stage used to suffer from similar sound issues as the Casbah, until some genius decided to shift it 90 degrees, from facing the stairs to facing the bar. It’s now one of my favourite stages, especially when a band as good as Riot City Radio are on it.
I first came across them in 2022 when they released their excellent debut album Time Will Tell (reviewed here) and I was blown away by them last year when they made their Rebellion bow on the RIS stage. They’re back with a new album, Spitting Teeth (reviewed here) and it’s another top-notch slice of street-punk.
The Plymouth lads differ from other oi! bands in that they have three vocalists, and they make the most of their 40 minutes with a superb singalong set, with On The Streets, Punk Rock Family, and Anchor In The Storm among the standouts. I love Riot City radio, and I hope they become Rebellion regulars.
The night is nearly done, and unlike most of the punters here I’m not bothered about seeing The Stranglers, who are headlining the main stage tonight. I’ve also given UK Subs, Steve Ignorant Band’s Crass set and Slaughter & the Dogs a miss, as the Empress will be rammed, so it’s back to the Casbah one more time (sigh…) for Millie Manders & the Shut Up.
The four-piece mightn’t be to everyone taste with their fiercely feminist, pro-trans, pro-Palestine politics, but I love their cross-genre ska-punk, which comes with a healthy side of post-hardcore. I’ve watched them grow at this festival and elsewhere over the years, and I’m delighted they’re headlining this stage, instead of one of the ‘heritage’ acts.
They get a full hour to get their point across, and do it in spades, with powerful ‘message’ songs like Silent Screams and Me Too rubbing shoulders with bangers like Shut Your Mouth, Your Story and Rebound. There’s even a cover of Limp Bizkit’s Break Stuff, and it’s a happy crowd which shuffles out into the night.
A quick tot-up when I get back to my B&B shows I’ve seen a frankly ridiculous 21 bands today, five of them for the first time. I blame first-day excitement, and it’ll never last.
Today’s 6 of the best (in no particular order): Thrown Away, Bar Stool Preachers + Grail Guard + The Drowns + Riot City Radio + Millie Manders And The Shut Up.
