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 three – Herman De Tollenaere’s Report
My third day started in the Empress Ballroom with The Dollheads from the USA. They describe themselves as a “sibling punk powerhouse hailing from Las Vegas, Nevada.” Angela Avery (lead guitar, vocals), Samantha Avery (bass, backup vocals), and Austin Avery (drums) have been making music together since 2017. They officially formed The Dollheads in 2021. They first played at Rebellion on the Introducing Stage last year. They said this was the first time they’d played in such a big, well-filled hall. They sounded a bit like speeded up Cockney Rejects played by the Rejects’ younger sisters and little brother. The furious raw vocals by Angela and Samantha went down very well with the audience.Look out for their second full length album, ‘Adol-essence‘, coming out on August 22nd on Fat Mike’s new label, Bottles to the Ground. A great beginning to the third Rebellion day!
Then, upstairs to the Literary stage for the Anarcho Punk Discussion Panel III. In the panel: Mark Wilson (The Mob); Steve Lake (Zounds); Andy ‘Marnie’ Burndon (Alternative/The System); Andy Coward (The System). This was the third time there was an Anarcho Punk Discussion Panel at Rebellion. Steve said he was uncertain about the future of Zounds, as guitarist Don was illegal in the UK, but fortunately Steve had not lost his sense of humour or his hat. He told us that Crass Records did not want the second Zounds record. They then went to Rough Trade who immediately booked studio time. Mark told how both the Mob and Zounds met Crass because of car trouble.
Next, interviewer Bev interviewed Lily Hopkins, guitar and vocals of two-person band The Meffs. When Lily had been interviewed in the Netherlands, she named as influences X-Ray Specs and Rancid. Today, Lily told us she had been in other two person bands before The Meffs. She had no music education. Joan Jett was an inspiration; not in playing guitar like her, but as a personality. The Meffs very much enjoyed touring with Alice Cooper.
all anarchopunk concerts.
After this panel, I went to the Opera House. As did Steve Lake, as Zounds played there. Steve is now the only person left of the 1980 Zounds line-up with whom we toured then in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Since 2023, their line-up is Steve Lake – guitar and vocals, Joe Davin – bass, Paul Gilbert – drums, Dom Perez Silva – guitar. The Opera House was jam-packed and enthusiastic. Steve still had his hat on! Their guest guitarist played well. Their last songs were; ‘War‘ with the lyrics changed to inculde Gaza, and ‘Subvert‘, to much applause. Unfortunately, the future of the band is uncertain.
The next band in the Opera House were The Mob. In the same line-up as when I interviewed them for my fanzine in June 1979 during their first tour in the Netherlands. The Mob did not play all of their songs in the same tempo. Sometimes, they sounded somewhat like Joy Division, with more assertive vocals. Again, it was a jampacked enthusiastic Opera House.
Finally, Club Casbah, for one of the last concerts of Conflict after the passing of Colin Jerwood, with Fi on vocals. Five minutes before the band started, the hall was mostly empty, but as Conflict played their first notes, both the hall and balcony were packed. On both sides of the stage, banners with Colin’s saying ‘to live on in hearts means not dying’. Fi sang loudly, with much righteous indignation, getting a highly deserved response from the audience.
The video below is of Conflict’s new single, released this week on Mortarhate/Cadiz, from the album ‘This Much Remains‘. On this recording are: Colin Jerwood – Vocals, Fiona Friel – Vocals, Gav King – Guitars, Fran Fearon – Bass, Stoo Meadows – Drums. You know what to do!
Day three – Ruth Rae’s Report
The sounds of aeroplanes roaring overhead at the Blackpool Airshow added to the glorious noise of the weekend on our third day at Rebellion Festival!
Inspirational Italian Ska-Punks Los Fastidios were invited to perform on the Empress stage this year. After releasing their thrilling 13th studio album ‘Lovesteady’ in early April, the band have been touring relentlessly across the world to bring their infectious music to the masses. Coming on to ‘Back To Blackpool’, they were very vocal with their anti-war, andti-fascist, anti-racist messages. ‘Skabillyboogie‘ and ‘Why Don’t You Eat Your Cat?‘ from their new album went down riotously well. The floor was rising and falling by several centimetres due to the enthusiastic skanking! Next up, “a song for those fighting sexism” led by ‘Rude Girl’ Elisa had many supportive hands in the air. We all kept dancing to ‘Skankin’ Town‘, and a resounding ‘Antifa Hooligans‘ shouted out by the massive crowd made for a superb finish to their set.
The meteoric rise of The Molotovs, aka sibling duo Mathew and Issey Cartlidge, is a phenomenon I’ve followed closely for the last few years. They’ve been invited to play with just about all of the biggest names, as their music has such universal appeal. ‘More More More‘ people flocked into the cavernous Casbah – word had obviously spread about this band – you can even hear this stage from the street outside its walls! Promoting their upcoming debut album, ‘Wasted On Youth‘, set to drop at the end of January next year, The Molotovs treated to several glorious rocking tracks from it. Issey is known for her amazing and colourful stage costumes – this time her glittery red bandeau wasn’t staying up as well as it should – but she managed to secure it!
The Bar Stool Preachers acoustic set is another that has to be held in the larger capacity Opera House, due to the band’s popularity. Mass crowd singalongs beginning with ‘Trickledown‘ and ‘All Turned Blue‘ had frontman TJ McFaull smiling approvingly. The love continued with the band’s first ever song ‘One Fool Down‘, the “woah-oh-oh-oh” chorus of ‘Flatlined‘ and a heartfelt ‘Lighthouse Keeper‘, performed beautifully only by TJ on vocals and Alex Hay on piano. TJ spoke of his enjoyment of returning in his Rebellion Family, something he’s done for over 20 years, but being the lad he is he also took the piss out of the beer prices and bag policy! After hearing the vast crowd all singing along, he quietly said “That’s incredibly humbling.” TJ finished the set by saying “We have to enjoy our lives while we have a chance to” then the band launched into their anthem ‘Bar Stool Preacher‘ to end a show which actually had the Opera House floor bouncing with everyone jumping so much! Afterwards I treated myself to one of the Preachers’ limited edition 7″ singles, recorded “between 11pm and 3am” at the legendary Sun Studios.
Young Italians Spleen made their Rebellion debut on the Introducing stage this year, which was wonderful for me to see as an early champion of theirs! Drawing in a good sized crowd, the band soon got them dancing, and heads bobbing. These boys are getting better each time I see them. First single ‘Dystopic School‘ sounded great, and their banging cover of XTC‘s ‘Making Plans for Nigel’ went down very well with those in the crowd who hadn’t yet heard Spleen’s version. This is another band who undoubtedly deserve a return invitation!
The iconic TV Smith is another Rebellion favourite, and it was great to see a packed-out Opera House as he played his solo set. He discovered there was one of his song he’d never played here before – The Adverts‘ ‘Fate of Criminals‘ – which was duly remedied! Check out the video below! He also included some rarely performed songs, such as ‘Last Words of the Great Explorer‘ – a 1981 song by T.V. Smith’s Explorers. “What if you became taken over by your own clothes?” he wondered, before playing ‘The Suit’, then ‘Burning Rain‘ from ‘Channel Five‘, the record he made solo after The Explorers, which has finally been re-released this year after some very bad luck with record companies! Skipping forward 45 yrs to his latest record ‘Handwriting‘, the climate crisis was discussed in the powerful ‘One Minute To Midnight‘. TV Smith said “We have a right to protest, we can do something about it – hope is not lost” before finishing with the album closer ‘Children Of A Dying Sun‘.
Having taken a LONG break in his music career, ex-The Damned guitarist Roman Jugg began to play live again last year. I was fortunate to see that very first show, which was similar to his acoustic performance today. Joined by guitarist Matt Boulter (who didn’t know he was going to Rebellion, Roman just told him he had a gig!) and cheery percussionist Vom Ritchie, they started with a couple of Damned numbers; one of my favoirites ‘Is It A Dream’ and ‘Edward The Bear. ‘Gigolo Aunt’ by Syd Barrett was lifted by The Damned for their song ‘Gigolo‘ – we got the Syd version! Continuing with the covers, they played ‘Morning Dew‘ by Bonnie Dobson, who Roman told us recently released her second record at the age of 94! ” This is one I wrote with the pasty faced singer” explained Roman, as Matt played slide guitar on The Phantom Chords‘ ‘Loveless & the Damned‘. Ending with two more from The Damned – ‘Alone Again Or‘ and ‘Grimly Fiendish‘, the band exited to deserved cheers and applause.
The legendary Girlschool were guaranteed to take the roof off the Opera House! A 1978 original all-female rock band, this was their first time playing Rebellion – why did it take them so long to book this amazing band? Starting with a hard-rocking ‘Demolition‘, the people pouring in to hear them were soon enjoying a fantastic set, including ‘C’mon Let’s Go‘ and ‘Out to Get You‘. The strong vocals and rhythm guitar from Kim McAuliffe, dynamic drumming from Denise Dufort (which nearly broke the kit!), excellent guitar work from Jackie Chambers and booming bass from Olivia Airey proved these ladies can rip it up with the best of them! The bass was making the walls shudder.. Kim and Denise are the orignal members, having been together for 50 years, a fact Kim was startled by! The top tunes continued with ‘It Is What It Is‘, ‘Screaming Blue Murder‘, ‘Race With The Devil‘ and ‘Emergency‘ – what an incredible show!
Final band of the night for me, from the Northeast of England, Heed Case were a particular treat. Comprised of former long-time Angelic Upstarts guitarist Newts Newton, Northumbrian psych rock bassist, Si Cadelik, and newest recruit Mr Dusty on drums, the band came about after Newts & Si decided to continue working together, having first met on another project. Their excellent debut album ‘All the Rage’ hasn’t been out of my CD player since I received my copy! It explores the themes of gaslighting and narcissism in modern society, and it’s an absloute banger. They did not disappoint, playing all my favourites from the album. Newts told me after their set that he was worried about singing in his own accent, but then he though “Fuck it!” I told him I’m glad he does because it sounds perfect. Can’t wait for their second album, ‘Audiotism‘, coming out soon!
Day three – Alex Goose’s Report
Bloody hell…I knew that Rebellion is something of a musical marathon (with this many bands it couldn’t be anything else), but I didn’t expect to be this tired only halfway through! Oh well, nothing to be done but to head back to the Empress Ballroom for a typically full-throttle Split Dogs set.
“Here’s one you can boogie to!” That’s livewire vocalist Harry Atkins, before a raucous ‘Monster Truck‘; they give 150% (probably just as well, as in my state, I can only give about 30% right now) as always. We’re in danger of turning into something of a Split Dogs fanzine here at Punktuation, but when they continue to feed the sound and spirit of ’77 through a hardcore blender as well as they do today…then what else are we to do except continue to sing their praises? Check out their ‘Here To Destroy‘ album – you owe it to yourself.
“Here’s one you can boogie to!” That’s livewire vocalist Harry Atkins, before a raucous ‘Monster Truck‘; they give 150% (probably just as well, as in my state, I can only give about 30% right now) as always. We’re in danger of turning into something of a Split Dogs fanzine here at Punktuation, but when they continue to feed the sound and spirit of ’77 through a hardcore blender as well as they do today…then what else are we to do except continue to sing their praises? Check out their ‘Here To Destroy‘ album – you owe it to yourself.
Svetlanas have received the nod of approval from Kiss vocalist Gene Simmons, but let’s not hold that against them. Clearly on a mission to turn the Casbah stage into one big party, they throw out black balloons to the accompaniment of some great street-level anthems, but alas the sound isn’t great – with the bass too often reduced to little more than a rumble. A shame, as the likes of ‘Coca-Cobra‘ usually conquer all before them, but today we can’t help but wish they were playing in a more intimate space.
I, Doris are brilliantly unorthodox. There are five of them, apparently all called Doris, and they’re self-described purveyors of ‘mummycore’ – minimalist new wave-tinged songs about the trials and tribulations of womanhood and motherhood. On a weekend full of sweaty blokes shouting, their Opera House set is a breath of fresh air, and whether singing about HRT or reworking the Squeeze classic ‘Up The Junction‘ from the woman’s perspective, there’s never a dull moment. Not the loudest or fastest band here by a long shot, but certainly one of the most memorable.
Ramona’s Tea Party seem to write great (and highly danceable) indie-punk tunes as easily as I drink coffee – and the effects are similarly uplifting. Certainly, you’d be hard pressed to find a band having as much fun as these Norwegians, as they joyously pogo around the stage throughout their half-hour on the Arena stage. The likes of ‘How To Make You Fall In Love‘ and an epic ‘Fireworks‘ are addictive as hell, and it’s heartening to see the Arena get increasingly packed. A year ago, this band played the Rebellion Introducing Stage, and who knows where they could go from here? Watch them closely – we certainly will.
Back at the Empress Ballroom, you can always rely on anarcho-punk stalwarts Subhumans to bring the noise, along with some seriously sardonic and on-the-nose social commentary. They’re crowd favourites, for sure – that much is obvious by everyone almost drowning Dick Lucas‘s voice out on the “Drink, sex, cigarettes…” intro of ‘Apathy‘ – and a suitably volatile pit erupts the moment the band starts playing. Dick himself is as magnetic a frontman as they come; he’s got plenty worthwhile to say, and people listen when he says it. A late brace of ‘No‘ and ‘99%‘ really does it for us, but there are no weak links here.
We’re in the mood to dance now (hey, it’s Saturday night!) , so how handy that Neville Staple (The Specials) has come to deliver a ska masterclass on the Empress stage. Such is his confidence, he plays ‘A Message To You Rudy‘ only about four songs in, safe in the knowledge that the crowd are in the palm of his hand. It’s doubtful that anyone else at Rebellion gets us dancing as much as Neville does today, and whether going in all guns blazing on ‘Nite Klub‘ or stripping things back for a sublime ‘Do Nothing‘, he does fine justice to the memory of The Specials. Seriously, go see this man live – he doesn’t play any solo stuff today, but that’s great too!
Pity whoever has to follow that onstage! Still, if anyone can make it work, the smart money is on Hooky – a.k.a. Peter Hook & The Light. The tag ‘legend’ is thrown around a lot these days, but he deserves it more than most, having served time in both Joy Division and New Order. He and his band make an understated entrance, but everyone’s on board for a set of mostly Joy Division classics – with the metronomic beat of ‘She’s Lost Control‘ and the instantly recognisable bass intro of ‘Isolation‘ instantly sparking cheers of recognition from those present. The real treat is saved for the end, though – with a thrilling ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart‘ followed by a cheeky finale of ‘Anarchy In The UK‘ – dedicated to Mr Lydon, of course!
Always the antagonist, John Lydon seems to have become an ever-more polarising figure with age, so it’s with some trepidation that I stay at the Empress Ballroom for Public Image Ltd‘s headline set. Thankfully, he doesn’t ramble on too much, preferring to let the music do the talking – and post-punk anthems like the opening ‘Home‘ and ‘This Is Not A Love Song‘ do sound pretty damn mighty. Clad in a red trousers-and-shirt combo, he’s actually reminiscent of Jaz Coleman in the ‘vocalist as doomsday preacher’ stakes, and make no mistake – he means it (maaaaan). An epic late one-two of ‘Open Up‘ and ‘Rise‘ is followed by a somewhat drawn out musical goodbye, but it’s ok – tonight is in the bag, and we all know it. Till tomorrow, folks!
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In 1978 Herman co-founded Dutch Rock Against Racism and was a founder of Pin punkzine. He’s vocals/saxophone for Cheap ‘n’ Nasty and in 2021 co-founded the Punk Scholars Network, Netherlands.
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