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 one – Ruth Rae’s Report
A band I was highly impressed with last year when they played the Introducing Stage, Twat Union returned due to opular demand, this time to the impressive Opera House stage! They introduced ‘punk line dancing’ during ‘Little Pink Drill’, which most of the audience sadly didn’t seem up for, although expecting the middle-aged crowd to do slut drops may have been optimistic! Red flags were distributed and waved through the audience for ‘Red Flag’, and singer Kate changed into a variety of colourful costumes to highlight the songs played in their set, including flame pants for ‘UTI‘. Part punk gig, part comedy show, they certainly kept us all enetertained! Vibrator as a guitar slide anyone?
I managed to catch some of the rousing and rhythmic set from the biggest and best punk band in Guadeloupe – The Bolokos – upstairs at the Acoustic stage. Océ Cheapfret on acoustic bass and & Edy Caramello on acoustic guitar ensured that our feet could not remain still, while our hearts were filled with their sublime vocal harmonies, as their unique blend of traditional creole and modern punk stunned us all!
Another Northeastern band, Hi-Fi Spitfires, were an appropriate choice for the aircraft hanger-like stage that is Club Casbah! Steve Straughan (until recently with UK Subs) on lead vocals & guitar, Tony Taylor on bass & vocals, and Dean Ross on drums & backing vocals had no problem filling the vast space with their trademark high-energy punk rock noise. Third album ‘Off The Radar‘ came out last summer, to well-deserved acclaim, and we enjoyed a powerful performance of many tracks from it during the band’s thunderous set, with barely a pause between numbers!
Rebellion Festival wouldn’t be the same without the legendary UK Subs packing out the Empress stage every year! With Charlie Harper’s autobiography ‘An Anarchy of Demons’ out now, there was plenty of buzz around the hall as eager fans came to pay homage to their Punk King. Getting off to a stirring start with ‘Emotional Blackmail’ followed by ‘Rockers’ Charlie remarked “This is fucking full-on!” as the mosh pit in the rammed ballroom exploded. Charlie asked the crowd “How’re you doing?” which was met with huge cheers “We’re diddling along – whatever that means!” he replied! The first crowd surf I’d witnessed happened during ‘Down on the Farm’, which opened the floodgates – I swear I saw one guy go over the barrier about 5 times!
New guitarist Marc Carrey was totally nailing it – smiles from his bandmates and an approving whistle from Charlie said it all. Alvin Gibbs’ bass thumped through your chest, while Stefan Häublein’s drum fills and rolls had everyone pogoing, ‘Warhead’ echoed loudly from every throat throughout the hall, a riotous ‘Riot’ and mosh pit madness to ‘Stranglehold’ kept up with the band’s frantic pace. There was some serious guitar and drum skin shredding on the stage in ‘Guilty Man’, and favourite ‘C.I.D.‘ was also echoed loudly by the masses. A stunning and triumphant set!
Another Rebellion stalwart, the mighty Ruts DC finished off the evening’s entertainment in the Opera House. Following a knee replacement operation just weeks ago, 73 year-old drummer Dave Ruffy walked unaided without his usual stick to his kit, to massive cheers from the fans, which he then proceeded to play with a new lease of life. His bassist bandmate and long-time friend Segs Jennings was clearly proud of Ruffy’s speedy recovery – but as the man said, “You’ve got to do the exercises!” We’d been promised some surprises this year, and Segs delivered – ‘Backbiter‘ was followed by a real curveball, ‘Formula Eyes‘:
Those of us still with a bit of fuel in the tank headed to the Casbah stage after midnight, for Maid Of Ace‘s late hour mosh pit! The four Elliott sisters from Hastings have been playing as a band for 20 years (they still don’t look old enough!) and recently released their first new music in 5 years, single ‘These R the Days‘ from their forthcoming fourth studio album. We all rocked out to this one, plus their other gritty numbers including ‘Made In England‘ and ‘Minimum Wage‘. A punktastic end to the first day!
Day one – Alex Goose’s Report
Memo to self: come up to Blackpool a day early next time, and soak up the atmosphere before the music starts! Oh well, as it is, I’m fresh off the train, full of caffeine, and straight into a surprisingly full Empress Ballroom for Rebellion kinda-veterans The Drowns. They hail from Seattle, and keep things enjoyably raw-edged, particularly with the whiskey-soaked vocals of Aaron ‘Rev’ Peters, a man clearly having a blast as he solos away in the front row’s faces. If the likes of ‘Ketamine And Cola‘ don’t at least make you shake yourself about a bit, you really should check your own pulse, and a closing cover of the Dead Kennedys‘ ‘Nazi Punks Fuck Off’ is a welcome surprise.
Over in the Opera House, Continental Lovers wear their hearts on their sleeves, promising to play “a bunch of tearjerkers” for the hopeless romantic in all of us. They’re drinking from a similar well of inspiration to Punktuation favourites The Speedways, albeit with more of a glam edge, and boy do they look the part too, with their low-slung guitars. ‘Wedding Ring‘ is the pick of the bunch for us, but there are no dips in quality throughout their set – which seems to fly by, and is witnessed by a small but appreciative crowd.
Over on the Arena stage, MC16 sound restless, as if they’ve spent rather too many sleepless nights ruminating on the state of this fucked up world. Their guitarist criss-crosses the stage angrily, like a caged lion, and even jumps into the photo pit at one point. The likes of ‘Burn It Down‘ and ‘Sleeping On Cardboard‘ (the latter dedicated to HM Forces veterans who’ve fallen on hard times) are replete with barbed-wire guitars and barked vocals; make note, folks in punk bands, THIS is a prime example of how to channel your righteous anger.
Also on the Arena stage, Mannequin Death Squad seeriously raise the stakes. Yeah, there’s only two of them. No, you wouldn’t know if you closed your eyes, so huge and feral do they sound today. The Australians are armed with recent new album ‘Wise And Dangerous‘; a great mix of melodic punk and grunge influences, and although their set doesn’t get the seething pit it deserves, it’s heartening to see the Arena get increasingly packed. Did your parents get it on too late for you to be able to attend early UK gigs by the likes of Nirvana and Mudhoney? Yeah, mine too. But from what I’ve heard, those gigs had the same gloriously chaotic vibe that Mannequin Death Squad shows do – so go see them instead.
Raygun Cowboys play superb brass-laden punk rockabilly, and they take no prisoners live. The Canadians’ songs sound like they’d be the ideal soundtrack to hurtling down the freeway, trying to evade the law with a hefty consignment of illegal moonshine whiskey…or maybe that’s just us. Anyway, the Arena once again gets increasingly full and sweaty, with a decent contigent of wreckers in the pit and a group of dancers to the side – the band are clearly delighted at both! Whether raging against traffic (‘Fast Machine‘) or for indigenous Canadian rights (‘We Want It All‘), these guys are born showmen – a fact underlined by their trumpet player standing (and playing!) atop the double bass for a closing sprint through ‘Break These Chains‘. Essential
When Circle Jerks were confirmed for the Empress Ballroom, our first thought was how on earth the legendary Los Angeles hardcore punks were going to fill an hour-long set when all their songs are so short? By playing nearly 30 of them, it turns out! Oh, and vocalist Keith Morris has a few great stories to tell too. It’s getting late, but when hit this hard with pure hardcore ragers likes ‘When The Shit Hits The Fan‘ and ‘Wild In The Streets‘, what’s a man to do but get down the front and go crazy? This is revitalising stuff, and frankly, we can’t get enough of it. A win for the old guard.
It’s strange to think that when Millencolin started out in the early 90s, their sound was very much at odds with Holidays in The Sun‘s (Rebellion’s predecessor) focus on old-school punk; fast forward thirty-odd years, and the Swedish skate-punk quartet are headlining the Thursday night of the event! They start a bit late and initially struggle to match the energy of Circle Jerks’ explosive set, but when armed with this many bangers, they were never going to fail tonight. They sound great; they’re clearly stoked to be here; those harmonies on ‘Bullion‘ and ‘Fingers Crossed‘ still hit the spot, and a closing ‘No Cigar‘ is no less enjoyable for being predictable. Shame there aren’t more folks present to watch them, but overall, a triumph for both the band and Rebellion.
Day one – Herman De Tollenaere’s Report
My 2025 Rebellion started at 11:45 in the Pavilion hall with Those Fucking Snowflakes, from Preston, Lancashire. They describe themselves as ‘a vibrant clash of left wing punk, noise rock and jazz tinged math, a band formed as a means to scream out the dread and horror faced in these terrible times of our modern society. From the current mess of the UK political system to the intolerance of, well, everything.’ Tom Robinson, well-known musician since the 1970s, is a fan.
The band members are Troisnyx: drums/vocals who hit the cymbals enthusiastically. Barreh: guitar/vocals, Cybs: guitar and Sam: bass. Their lyrics included “Fuck Boris Johnson, Fuck Nigel Farage.” The Pavilion was already full, from a 7 year old girl to people in Their Seventies. This video is of their songs ‘No Sky For Rishi’ about former British Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and ‘That’s Pretty Shitty Priti‘ about his former Home Secretary Priti Patel:
Then, to the Opera House for Viki Vortex and the Cumshots. They were founded in 2008 by Steve (ex-Spurts, guitar) and Viki Vortex (bass, vocals) in Catalunya in Spain. Later, drummer Theo (Long Tall Texans, who played Rebellion in 2023) from Brighton, UK joined. Among their influences are 1970s punk and 1950s rockabilly. Viki looked striking with her red hair and a tartan miniskirt. Peter and the Test Tube Babies joined them for their last song.
Then, to the Literary stage for an interview. Recently, Iain Key published his first book: All the Young Punks: A People’s History Of The Clash. He told us how his older sister first got him interested in the band. His book has 300 testimonies of people who heard the Clash.
Unfortunately, no questions were allowed from the audience.
Still at the literary stage for Fiona Duncan, singer of Slalom D from Sunderland, and an artist as well. Her blog is here. Fe joined Slalom D at almost 50 years of age. She had been involved in music before, but not as a band member. Cherry B started the interview with a poem about Fe. Fiona had on her T shirt ‘When injustice rules, rebellion is duty’. Great news – there will be a sequel to her new book. Here is a Slalom D’s ‘Harbour Walls‘ music video:
Next at the Literary stage, an interview with Mick Rossi. He was guitarist in Slaughter and the Dogs, he was in the Heartbreakers, and now is singer/guitarist in Gun Street. John Robb asked the questions. Mick told how before punk, Mick Ronson was his inspiration. Playing with the Sex Pistols in 1976 was life-changing for him.
Next, a panel about RIS and the Future of Punk. RIS stands for Rebellion Introducing Stage. It means bands who play Rebellion for the first time, on the Pavilion stage. Jonny Wah Wah (R.I.S. manager) was the interviewer. In the panel: Cassie Fox, bassist in I, Doris, and active in the Loud Women organisation. And Millie Manders, vocalist in Millie Manders and the Shut-Up.
Other panel members: Mimi, lyrics, singer, bassist and sometimes guitarist with SNM. Formed 2023 in Brighton. Scotty, she is guitarist and vocalist in Slackrr. They are pop punk/melodic punk from Southampton UK. Fabio and Ane, who are Yur Mum. They are originally from Brazil, but live in London now. Scotty and Cassie are both daughters of Clash fans.
After the panelists left the Literary stage, Gaye Black, artist and formerly Adverts bassist, succceeded them. There is a new book by Leonor Faber-Jonker from the Netherlands. Gaye Advert’s Punk Memorabilia. It is about the objects which Gaye Black has kept as souvenirs from the early punk years 1976-1977, from the rat sticker stuck on her bass to Iggy Pop’s dog collar. Only earliest Adverts years are in the new book.
Gaye spoke about being at Rebellion with her art since 2008, and her passion for animal rights.
The next interviewee was John McKay, the 1977-1979 guitarist of Siouxsie and the Banshees. John has not played guitar on a stage since the 1980s. But this year he founded a new band, John McKay’s Reactor. John apparently had guitar lessons, but they were a disaster. He did not want to play blues chords, as everyone else was already doing that. He had bought ‘New Rose‘ by The Damned. But unlike Siouxsie, Steve and Kenny, he had not been in punk from the very beginning. When asked to join the Banshees he thought it was a joke. Writing music went well. Only once, Siouxsie said “No, that sounds like Queen!” But she still used that music for ‘Mother‘ later. On the second album, he was no longer mentioned in music credits. That contributed to the break-up of the Banshees.
After John came Penelope Houston, singer of United States band the Avengers, founded in 1977. The Avengers had played Rebellion in 2022, and Penelope had then also been on the Literary stage, in a panel on women in punk. She became interested in Patti Smith in 1974. Later came the Ramones and UK punk. She loved opening for the Sex Pistols. When the Avengers reunited, she felt the teenage rebel girl inside her rising again. She now plays mainly in Europe “because of the fucking Trump administration.” She believes the rise of hardcore undid some early punk progress for women in the USA.
I went to the Opera House for Slice of Life. For me the first time I heard this semi-acoustic band, but they have been playing ever since 2013. They are Steve Ignorant, ex-Crass singer who I had heard first in 1978; and his Steve Ignorant Band bandmates Carol Hodge on keyboards and vocals, and Pete Wilson on guitar. Lucas Martin is their upright bass player. They play songs which Steve wrote after Crass. This time, Lucas played bass guitar. Steve’s loud punk voice contrasted interestingly with the often not-so-punk music.
Then to Club Casbah for Infa-Riot. They originally played 1980–1985, and reunited in 2011. They are often called an Oi! band. They played loud and fast to the large audience in the hall and the balcony.
Finally, my last Rebellion first day highlight: in the Opera House John McKay’s Reactor. With of course John on guitar, and all-women punk band The Priscillas members singer Jen and drummer Jola, and Billy King on bass. They play both 1977-1979 Siouxsie and the Banshees songs, and stuff which John wrote later.
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