Writers Ruth, Alex, and Herman and photographers Per-Åke and Phil are at the UK's largest punk festival in Blackpool, catching as many bands as they can!
Blackpool, UK locals always welcome the annual arrival of punk fans from across the globe to Rebellion Festival! This traditional seaside resort’s streets fill with people (and even dogs!) sporting rainbow spiked hairdos, studs, chains and every punk band shirt imaginable, in early August each year.
Held in the extensive and iconic Winter Gardens, Rebellion’s four-day extravaganza boasts an impressive lineup of over 300 punk and alternative acts across eight electrifying stages. From the newest bands on the Introducing Stage, to the big headliners in the Empress Ballroom, to the latest book releases and informative interviews on the Literary Stage, it’s a haven for the punk community. Nowhere else does the spirit of punk, ska, goth, and spoken word converge in such a riotous celebration of counterculture!
On a mission to rock until we drop, the Punktuation team bring you daily reports from Rebellion Festival 2025:
Day two – Alex Goose’s Report
If there were any cobwebs left in anyone’s brains, The Kowalskis soon make short work of them during their Casbah stage slot. The NYC band are fronted by the ball of charisma that is Kitty Kowalski, and with a sound pitched somewhere between Blondie and the Ramones, they were never going to fail today. Just like those two legendary bands, they come across as a gang in the best sense of the word, and from the moment they kick off with the insanely catchy ‘First Date‘, you wanna join them. Even on a song called ‘Depression Overdrive‘, they sound like they’re having a blast, and so are we.
Desperate Measures‘ entire set is a giant middle finger to the idea of mellowing out with age. “Soldier of the working class/Coming here to kick your ass” growls vocalist Eugene on a vitriolic ‘The Rich-Tual‘, clearly relishing the challenge of the larger Opera House stage, and frequently venturing past the stage monitors to bellow into the front row’s faces. There’s something wonderfully sinister about this lot, and although their closing cover of ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog‘ would surely get Iggy’s seal of approval, their own tunes shine just as brightly. Have you checked out their ‘Sublime Destruction‘ album yet? It’s ace!
Riskee & The Ridicule clearly haven’t made any musical rules for themselves, and isn’t that ultimately what punk is all about? Riskee demands crowdsurfers for the all-conquering ‘Our Time‘; we’re not quite there yet, but there is an outbreak of mass bouncing, and deservedly so. A touch of hardcore riffing, some rapid-fire grime vocals and THAT hands-in-the-air chorus of ‘Kaboom!‘ is the closest that the Empress Ballroom gets to a rave of sorts, and we’re all absolutely on board with that.
Kudos to In Evil Hour vocalist Alice for turning in a belter of a performance whilst heavily pregnant! The Darlington quartet remain tight as hell, and there’s a real urgency to their Arena set today, as if they’d explode without the band as an outlet to rage against this fucked up world. This is prime-quality melodic hardcore; think along the lines of early AFI, early Offspring, early Rise Against – and then be thankful that In Evil Hour don’t seem to be losing their fire in the way that those aforementioned bands arguably have. They deserve a larger crowd, but then they always do.
I really should be more familiar with MDC by now, given my love for the Dead Kennedys (the bands shared a hometown and similar musical style), but it soon becomes evident that their Casbah stage set is a good time to say hello. The anarcho-punk veterans play as fast, loud and raw as you’d expect, and play what is certainly the fiercest and most frenzied set we’ve seen since Circle Jerks‘ Thursday night semi-demolition of the Empress stage. Songs like ‘I Hate Work‘ and the closing ‘John Wayne Was A Nazi‘ are – alas – still as relevant as ever in today’s world, and when played with this much conviction, they sound utterly essential.
Well, how best to introduce The Damned?! True punk originals, and given recent health troubles, that they’ve made it to Rebellion at all is a triumph. Truth be told, tonight isn’t quite them at their rabid best; ‘Ignite‘ is unnecessarily drawn out, and towards the end, Rat Scabies performs what sounds worryingly like a drum solo (although thankfully a short one). For the most part, however, classics like ‘Love Song‘, ‘I Just Can’t Be Happy Today‘ and (of course!) ‘Neat Neat Neat‘ sound as great as ever, not least when everyone in a packed out Empress Ballroom knows them back to front. This band – and their songs – are embedded in punk’s DNA, and by the time they close with ‘Smash It Up‘, it’s clear that they should be treasured whilst they’re still around. Great stuff.
Day two – Herman De Tollenaere’s Report
For me, the second Rebellion day started in the Pavilion; where CoVid 21 from Telford, UK played. They are three women, on vocals, drums and keyboard; and two men on guitar and bass. They name as influences Crass, Conflict, Subhumans, and Flux of Pink Indians. The COVID 21 singer wore a T shirt saying ‘Covid 21 everythings fucked’. On the bassist’s
T shirt was Cramp; not Cramps.Their drummer owns a Damned T-shirt as well, and sometimes plays a reggae-ish rhythm. I liked the tempo changes and Crass and reggae influences. So did the already full Pavilion hall.
In the Pavilion, the successors to CoVid 21 were Two Tonne Machete. They are Emily (vocals/guitar/keyboard), Ro (bass), Thibaut (drums) and the recently added lead guitarist Mark. Emily sparkled with her pink hair and silver mini-dress. She sounded loud and raw. She sang the third song through a loudhailer.
Then, to the Opera House for the set by Molly Vulpyne Band from Ireland. Molly’s singing reminded me a bit of Pauline Murray. Also, some song structures had some similarity with Penetration. Which is not bad at all! Molly Vulpine’s debut solo EP ‘Amortise‘ is fabulous – make sure you give it a listen.
I then took the escalator to the upper floor to hear Dave Barbarossa from London on the Literary stage. He used to play in Adam and the Ants and BowWowWow, pioneering Burundi-like drumming. Dave writes about the music industry. “Malcolm McLaren“, he said, “was cruel to some people and kind to others. Why did he kick Adam out of the Ants to found BowWowWow with the instrumentalists? Malcolm thought: Adam is already a star, so no use for me. While he could do stuff for the three others. He was kind to me. Now, it is much more difficult for young people to get ahead in the music industry than it was for me, because of capitalist vultures.”
Still at the Literary stage came Charlie Harper. Over 80 years old now, and still the singer of the unforgettable U.K. Subs ever since 1976. First, clips were shown of a new film about the Subs, called ‘Another Kind of Blues‘. In February 2026, it should be in cinemas. Then, Charlie spoke about his autobiography. He grew up not far from the setting of the Winnie the Pooh books. He originally wrote 800 pages, it took Charlie two years to trim it to 400. He had started writing it in 2016.
He said the COVID pandemic was a great time to progress with writing. “Before rock, great singers like Frank Sinatra sang crap songs. Then Elvis and Little Richard came. Later, Prince Buster in London meant a lot to me.” Deservedly, the Charlie Harper interview lasted longer than the other ones.
After Charlie on this stage came Joe de Lorenzo from the USA, the tour manager of the Damned. Including, when the Damned played in Amsterdam last year. At 15 years of age, Joe went to a concert of the Ramones, and Stiv Bators and the Wanderers. That was in 1981. This was the beginning of a long involvement with Stiv, and later with Brian James. “A few months ago I was in a pub with Rat Scabies. Then, Brian’s wife called us: Brian had died. We both cried. Originally I was tour manager of a succesful middle-of-the-road band. But I changed gladly to the Damned. Less money, more fun! The Damned now are great, they’re on fire!”
Then came a panel, with Chumbawamba band members Dunstan Bruce, Mavis Dillon, Lou Watts, Harry Hamer, Boff Whalley, Alice Nutter and Danbert Nobacon. This was the first time in 30 years that these people were together on a stage. They are often considered anarchopunk. But we were a bit older than most 1980s anarchopunks, inspired by early punk like The Slits and The Raincoats. They said “Crass was an inspiration for us as a DIY collective. Later, EMI Germany offered to sign us. We sent them a proposal which we were certain they would refuse… To our amazement, they accepted everything. Then, we discussed for hours. We knew that many anarchopunks would hate us for accepting.”
Here is a video of their probably best known song, ‘Tubthumping’:
The next interviewee was Pauline Black, lead singer of ska band since the 1970s The Selecter. There are big mutual links between 1970s punk and the 1970s ska revival. Pauline still lives in Coventry, as she did when Two Tone started. “At Selecter gigs, far rightists did nazi salutes. There was so much racism then, now as well. So, a movement like Two Tone now would be great. By the way, most skinheads who I know are not far right.” The interviewer asked: “A choice. Punk or reggae?” Pauline thought intensely, then said “Ska!” to great applause!
Next, to the Opera House, for the Swell Maps C21, From the Swell Maps who I interviewed in 1979, only bassist Jowe Head is left. Before the Swell Maps played, Mick Rossi’s Gun Street were in the Opera House, playing songs like ‘Boston Babies’ and ‘Born to Lose‘. This time, Gina Birch did not sing with the Maps. Their only female member was Chloe, playing flute and keyboard. The audience liked their songs, applauding voraciously.
Day two – Ruth Rae’s Report
Punk poet Cherry B prompted my first visit to the Literary Stage. If you haven’t heard her hilariously tongue-in-cheek, bitingly witty punk poems, you’ve missed a trick! Last Rebellion she released her excellent crime thriller ‘Back To Square One‘, a real treat for music lovers, based around the infamous The Square music venue in her hometown of Harlow. She did read a poem that was featured in the book, but started with her classic favourite ‘Punk Mum’, then read us a spot-on poem about the betrayal of Tory-voting punks. Her new poem ‘You Don’t Look Disabled’ is about the struggles of hidden disability; it was prompted when a man told her she should have a walking stick when she was queuing at the disabled loo! “I may not be carrying a stick, but if I did I’d hit you quick!”
Another new poem was about veganism – Cherry B is sick of ‘Meat-splaining’ to people who question her choice not to eat animal products. Getting more serious, she recited ‘The Watermelon’, a poem about the genocide in Palestine. We got our promised filthy poems too – ‘Corbyn Crush’ with the sound man holding a Jeremy mask on his face and gamely joining in with some actions, then ‘Porno Pam’, which led to plenty of hilarity in the room!
Reading heroes The Deckchairs have been writing new songs (what took them so long..?) and they graciously brought some of them to the Casbah stage, alongside their well-known madcap and irreverent tunes! Vocal local support was in evidence, with some of us already wearing the band’s ace new single ‘No Shit Sherlock’ T-shirts! Fan favourites ‘Bracknell’ and ‘’Wanker in an Audi’ had us all singing along – and doing the appropriate hand gestures! The Deckchairs played their tribute song to Lemmy for their finale, after their more customary ‘We Were Shit’ nearly brought the house down!
Hard-gigging Brazilian duo Yur Mum have had an phenomenal year, touring their latest studio album ‘Duality‘ which dropped in 2024. Encapsulating the band’s essence as a fusion of contrasts – Female meets Male, Europe meets South America, and Rock meets Brazilian music, it has gone down a storm everywhere! Filling the expansive Casbah with their immense talents and sounds, they started the best mosh pit I’d seen yet, and the Rebellion crowd loved their set!
Back on the Opera House stage, this time for their acoustic set, Ruts DC once more proved how talented they are in tackling the challenge of playing their tremendous songs in a different way. With three ‘ElectrAcoustic‘ albums under their belts now, Segs, Ruffy and Leigh were more than capable of making this set a marvel for the capacity crowd.
Opening with the lively ‘Something That I Said’, followed by the beautiful tribute to their bandmates Malcolm and Foxy ‘Too Much’, then a rousing ‘Kill The Pain’ – something many of us were feeling after the amount we’d done yesterday! Joking once more about their fan club (the band con’t believe they have one), ‘Pretty Lunatics’ was dedicated to us. The rarely played ‘H-Eyes’ was a treat! After many thanks to the crew, and a few wisecracks, ‘Society’ was played especially for top fan Mark McCulloch, who has recently aquired some of Ruffy’s own collection of Ruts memorabilia.
Reading’s newest punk band Skinhawk took to the Introducing Stage early evening. “We’re not a political band” stated singer Niki, “we just sing about monsters..” This was only their 15th ever gig and they smashed it! (I got a T-shirt with all their first year dates on it afterwards, most of which I’ve been at!) Drawing a big crowd into the Pavillion for a new band, who danced and moshed like mad, Skinhawk more than deserve a return invitation! Their debut single ‘Killer Robots‘ dropped last Monday, and there’s an EP on the horizon this November.. watch this space..
Immediately followed by another young Reading band – Skunkworm – the Introducing stage was the place to be! All twirling limbs and indie-rock riffs, with a heavier punk rhythm section, they debated being considered “not punk enough.” Today’s full-on performance should put that notion firmly out of people’s heads!
The Meffs were rightfully back in the Empress, having packed it to the rafters last year! You couldn’t fit a slip of paper between the folks in the crowd – this is only their 4th year at Rebellion (same as me!) and according to singer / guitarist Lily Hopkins, it’s her and drummer Lewis Copsey‘s favourite festival. A vast circle pit formed for ‘Everything’s Gone‘, and ‘Stand Up Speak Out‘ was shouted out by many of us, echoing around the ballroom like a war cry. Lily introduced, ‘Wasted on Women‘ a song about being inclusive, which this festival is. She played her guitar in the middle of the circle pit during it. ‘Broken Britain‘ is another protest song -“We’re all pissed official about people still being homeless & starving in this country” emphasised Lily, and the song was cheered & clapped along to. The building walls actually shook during the storming ‘Clowns’, which saw the pit explode, and the crowd surfers going for the record, keeping security constantly busy hauling them over the barrier!
A band who are absolutely guaranteed to ‘Thrill you every time”, The Undertones made a very welcome appearance on the main stage. The ballroom floor was bouncing high as the crowd jumped along to a huge set of their lightning fast hits – and there were many of them! I didn’t think the hall could be even more rammed – but it was! Billy Doherty‘s drumming on ‘When Saturday Comes’ was exceptionally good. Thousands of voices singing ‘My Perfect Cousin’ in unison with the band filled the hall, which then echoed even more loudly to final song ‘Get Over You’!
Young Salisbury band Carsick, who I first saw supporting The Meffs, took their turn on the somewhat smaller Pavillion stage late into the night. Bringing their blistering guitar-driven punk to the punters, nobody was going to sleep during their sick set! “Who are The Damned anyway?” they said, referring to this unfortunate timing clash, “We are The Damned, but younger and better!” Joking about not being good at gigs, they introduced ‘Gig Tax’. The video is of ‘Runner’ from their 2023 EP release ‘Drunk Hymns‘. Plenty of good-natured banter between the band mates was funny, and they even sparked a small but enthusiastic mosh pit, and a circle pit around The Flying Crutchman! Make sure you catch their new EP ‘Tough Luck‘ – out 5th September!
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I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
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