Its odd, but I’ve never been to the Rebellion Festival, I eventually got a ticket for 2020 but well, you know the rest. This year in the face of overwhelming odds the Rebellion folk manage to pull together a one day mini-festival and after being harangued by some friends I get a ticket on a whim.
Blackpool is a strange place, a party town full of Hen and Stag do’s, it has more than its fair share of social problems and if you walk out of the centre, deprivation is apparent in places. The prom is full of rollercoasters and slot machine palaces, facing the Irish sea were this rejuvenated promenade braves the waves assaulting it with each tide.
In the middle is a Victorian massive pleasure palace, the Winter Gardens. It is a few minutes from the sea and the massive Blackpool Tower structure. It started life as a place for holiday goers from all over the North of the country to celebrate their brief factory shutdown holiday (Blackpool is rammed with large terraced houses converted to B&Bs to accommodate holidaymakers). Here though the likes of stars of yesteryear such as Arthur Askey have given way to the current fave’s ‘Lets Dance’ type spectaculars.
Here, once a year for the last 25 years or so it's home to a massive punk music festival. You can look at the lineups they have had on every year (with a couple of exceptions lately for Covid reasons) to realise that this is big, as big as the venue/conference centre/party destination that the Winter Gardens has become.
I tour round the seafront, taking in the endless buildings with ‘happy hours’ and 2-4-1 drinks offers and this is just the Chippy’s. There’s a huge Scottish contingent of party people in the local pubs but the Winter Gardens has a hard core punk audience from all over the country and the world, there to take in this years offering of straight forward old school punk bands.
I stagger through the complex, not because I’ve had a beer but because its massiveness and Victorian complexity is still intact, great glass roofing on large corridors and finally enter the impressive Empress Ballroom just as Dirt Box Disco are winding up their final song. ‘My Life is Shit’ echoes from the rafters and the masked miscreants are making a huge and tuneful din so its bad luck I only catch this song.
I am though front and centre for the Bar Stool Preachers, I’ve seen these before at Liverpools Outpost and make sure I’m near the front. They delay their entrance with an Ennio Morricone soundtrack blasting around the place. The intro felt right, and it built up expectations before they hit the stage with some full on pop punk and ska infused songs. They carry me (and the audience) with them. They are full on, with lots of rock star mannerisms that show they deserve their place on this large stage.
I’m also at the front for GBH but find myself being moved slowly backwards by the impetus of the crowd. GBH for me are excellent, its heavy, fast, relentless, still containing a promise of violence after all these years. Newer and older material is mixed in and it is always uncompromising and hits the audience in the face. This was the band I had on my mental list of ‘must see’ and they are no disappointment, their edge for me makes them still a musical force, if I had to say they are nearer the Motorhead (classic era) sound than some of their contemporaries with a straight up edginess that I loved.
I take a wander around to the acoustic stage to catch Dave Sharp and he’s wringing emotion from his guitar and putting his all into the last couple of songs. He has a great voice and is a skilful guitar player so it was a pity not to catch more of his set.
I hit the large bar area next to the Empress Ballroom as the UK Subs start up. The organisers have put on a quality live stream that mates are already watching on YouTube and messaging me as they’ve spotted me in the audience (a clue, pony tail and camera amidst all the skinheads, not hard to spot maybe…) and so I finally grab a beer and watch a lot of Charlie Harpers set with excellent sound backed up by the roar of the real band only a couple of hundred yards away. I catch the end of the Subs set (a band I’ve seen well in the double figures count). Catching the end of their set makes me realise they are still a force in the punk world with no let up allowed due to age.
Its a long time since I’ve seen the Cockney Rejects but they still come out punching. Their swagger and politics are still to the fore, the songs are to die for sing-a-long stuff and the crowd appreciates every second of it. This time there’s no chance of getting near the front so I join the fringes enjoying this old school hard edged but melodic band. They grab the audiences attention and keep them jumping, dancing and smiling throughout their set.
I’ve not seen Cock Sparrer and they take me by surprise. These guys can really play. Some more punkier folk I’m in the company of resent (and take the piss) out of my comments that they are the Status Quo of the punk scene but Jesus, like Quo, they know how to keep the audiences attention (doesn’t matter if you hate Quo by the way, its a valid comparison). They are great musicians, their songs are melodic, instantly catchy and loud, they even do the back to back thing over some shuffle type stuff and I’m along for the ride happily and smiling.
I’m set for buying a ticket for next years full festival, with its promised more diverse range of music and the glow of enjoying every minute of this years smaller festival still in my mind.
Blackpool though, cocktails in the chippy, yeah.
Words and Photos: RBY
Rebellion Festival Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RebellionPunkMuskFestival
Dirtbox Disco Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dirtboxdisco
Bar Stool Preachers: https://www.facebook.com/thebarstoolpreachers
GBH: https://www.facebook.com/GBH.official
Dave Sharp: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100042555592524
UK Subs: https://www.facebook.com/UKSubs
Cockney Rejects: https://www.facebook.com/cockneyrejects
Cock Sparrer: https://www.facebook.com/cocksparreruk