Day three dawns and it’s another day of big hitters for me at Rebellion Festival 2026, with some of my favourite acts strutting their stuff.
The day starts with a visit to the Almost Acoustic stage in the Spanish Hall, where Jonny Robson from Gimp Fist is playing what’s turned into an annual solo set. It’s only a 30-minute slot, but he manages to fit in some lesser-played songs alongside a few classics, as well as a Leatherface cover, Not Superstitious. A good old stripped-down street-punk singalong gets me in the mood for the full band set later.
Down in the Arena, Diaz Brothers are a must-see band for me, as although four of them are from Sunderland, a few miles away from where I live, their fifth member lives in Worcester, and they don’t play that often. I’ve never seen them before, and I’m immediately impressed by their melodic hardcore.
Their two-guitar attack makes them a powerful proposition, and they sound great as they plough through a half-hour set culled from their self-titled 2020 debut album and last year’s stonking follow-up The World Is Yours (reviewed here). Towards the end of the set they wheel out their immense cover of mod revival outfit Secret Affair’s 1980 hit My World, which sounds tremendous. Suitable blown away by my first Diaz Brothers live experience, I’m straight over to the merch table after their set to buy vinyl copies of both albums.
Back upstairs on the Almost Acoustic stage, Cherry & Peesh are performing a set of punk and poetry which makes you laugh as well as making you think. Peesh is the frontman of Ashington pop-punk band LoGoZ (who somehow have never played Rebellion), while Cherry B (or Bev, as friends know her) is a punk poet from Essex, but you’d never guess they live 300 miles apart, as their act is tight and well rehearsed.
Next up is a first visit of the day to the Empress, where one of my very favourite bands, Gimp Fist from Bishop Auckland in County Durham, are about to tear it a new one with their singalong brand of street-punk. Or that’s the plan anyway, but the sound’s shit, the worst I’ve heard in the Ballroom in a while.
Jonny’s guitar is buried beneath the rumble of Chris’s bass and Mike’s drums, and the vocals are a bit muffled too, so it’s just as well I know the songs, and I have a good ‘dance’ down the front as they power through a set which includes new songs like Never Had Much alongside classics like The Place I Belong and Working Class, before ending with traditional closer Here I Stand. Gimp Fist have become a Saturday afternoon staple of Rebellion as they get the masses in and drinking while enjoying a good old singsong – long may it continue.
Back upstairs, Rev Peters, frontman with The Drowns, is playing his first-ever solo gig on the Almost Acoustic stage, and it’s another must-see for me, as I love the Seattle punk rock ‘n’ rollers. He doesn’t disappoint, and it’s great to see Andy and Jake from the band down the front for moral support and singing along.
It’s a very different set from the one the band played on Friday, with stories accompanying most of the songs, and there’s a first outing for 3rd & Pike, from the forthcoming new album Harsh Reality, which drops in October. My favourite moment though is Rev’s heartfelt rendition of Look What We’ve Become, my favourite Drowns song, and one I’ve never heard played live, as it doesn’t really fit in their usual set.
Time for a spot of stage hopping, and it’s down to the Arena, where I listen to Irish band The Gakk while demolishing a pizza and a pint.
After that it’s down to the Ballroom, where Chron Gen have pulled a big crowd for what’s billed as their last-ever show. It’s packed downstairs, so we find a vantage point on the balcony as they take me back to my teens with a set including Reality, Mindless Few and Puppets Of War.
They sound good, and I have to be dragged away from reliving my youth to see a few songs by Grippers, a female-fronted punk band from Madrid who are down in the Arena. We need to be elsewhere so I make a note to check them out further.
Elsewhere on this occasion is the Opera House, where Ruts DC are playing their acoustic show, which for me has become even more essential than their electric set. It looks packed, though the entry system which only allows people in from the back of the room means there’s plenty of room on the far side.
Songs like Soft City Lights from their excellent 2016 album Music Must Destroy slip down just as well as Ruts classics like Staring At the Rude Boys and Love In Vain, and there’s deeper cuts like Dangerous Minds from 1981’s under-rated Animal Now album, before we end with the inevitable Babylon’s Burning.
Sadly I’ll miss their main set due to the worst clash of the weekend, so this was a wonderful set (as well as a much-needed sit down).
Spunk Volcano & The Eruptions said they were taking a break at last year’s Rebellion, but surprise, surprise they couldn’t stay away, and pull a big crowd down in the Casbah, where songs like Nobhead, Hanging Round The Shops and XR3 appeal to those who don’t take their punk rock too seriously.
He’s a busy man this Volcano fella, with a queue out of the door of the Arena to see his new ‘supergroup’ Gatecrash yesterday, a big crowd for SV&TE here, and a headline slot for Dirt Box Disco to close the Casbah on Sunday night.
Upstairs in the Spanish Hall it’s time for an SLF-singalong with Henry Cluney, who takes us an enjoyable journey through the first two Stiff Little Fingers albums. It’s part karaoke, part comedy show, and I do wish he wouldn’t piss about so much when the crowd are just starting to let loose, but there’s genuine affection in the room, particularly when he brings Gordon Ogilvie, the manager who co-wrote many of the songs, on stage, to warm applause.
Downstairs in the Empress, German punk rock legends Die Toten Hosen are laying waste to a packed room, and sounding superb – probably the best sound of the weekend so far. I’m ashamed to say I don’t know any of their songs, even though they’ve been around for more than 40 years, but talking to people afterwards they’re the highlight of the weekend for many. Another one to add to the Spotify list.
Florida street-punks The Attack are down in the Arena, where they pull a good crowd, despite the rival attractions of The Chameleons and Spizz Energi, and they don’t disappoint. For me they’re a similar band to Street Dogs, who have already been announced for Rebellion 2027, full of working class pride and some superb singalong anthems like Twilight of Vagabonds.
We stay until the end of their set and pick up some merch before heading back to the Empress, where we’ll spent the rest of the night. Cockney Rejects are in full flow, with Jeff Turner shadow-boxing his way back and forth across the stage as the refreshed line-up breathe new life into the classics.
We Are The Firm, Power And The Glory, I’m Not A Fool, Join The Rejects, Bad Man and much more prompt much drunken flailing, shouting and dancing before they end with the song that gave a movement its name, Oi Oi Oi. I’ve loved the Rejects since I was 13, and that’s not going to change now.
Finally, despite the counter-attractions of Skids and Penetration, it’s Cock Sparrer time. I’d never seen these East End boys before I first clapped eyes on them at Rebellion 2013, and now I don’t miss a chance to join the Sparrer family, because that’s what it is (even if one or two dysfunctional members think it’s OK to barge folk out of the way so they can get to the front).
You know more or less what you’re going to get at a Sparrer show, from the intro music to the opening salvo of Riot Squad, Watch Your Back and Working to the closing one-two of England Belongs To Me and We’re Coming Back.
The bits in-between have changed a bit since I first saw them, thanks to two excellent albums, 2017’s Forever and 2024’s Hand On Heart (reviewed here). Between them they provide half a dozen of the 18 songs played here, including the excellent singles One By One and Here We Stand.
It’s the old stuff that really gets the crowd going though;songs from the classic Shock Troops album like Take ‘Em All and Where Are They Now?, which are sung back at at them with huge gusto, and later classic like Suicide Girls and Because You’re Young. Rebellion loves Sparrer and Sparrer love it back. Long may they reign.
A quick count shows I’ve seen 15 bands today, four less than yesterday, but more full sets, and only three new to me. It’s hard to pick six of the best, but here goes…
Saturday’s 6 of the best (in no particular order): Diaz Brothers, Rev Peters, Ruts DC, Die Toten Hosen, The Attack, Cock Sparrer.
