Live Review: Rebellion Festival – Blackpool Winter Gradens, Saturday 5th August 2017

The continues to shine on Blackpool and it’s already the penultimate day of Rebellion Festival, a day that tends to encourage greater levels of excess amongst those I have come to know at the festival, so my recollections may be hazy and I’m just glad I took notes. Its an early start as Wreck-Age are opening on the Introducing Stage and I manage to avoid the worst of the queues when the Winter Gardens opens to ensure I get in on time. Wreck-Age boast an impressive line up born of past and present members of First Wave, B-Movie Britz and Hi Fi Spitfires, despite one of their number being stuck in traffic they take to the stage regardless, maintaining their DIY and punk rock spirit to deliver an impressive semi improvised set.

 

Over on the Empress Ballroom The Kut are delivering a bruising set of punk rock inspired by the riot grrrrl scene, which makes them the perfect band to precede Hands Off Gretel who have catapulted themselves from the Introducing Stage to the Empress Ballroom in 12 months. Hands Off Gretel have expanded back to a four piece since I last saw them, their impressive set that is culled largely from their Burn The Beauty Queen album and sees the full rage of Hands Off Gretel restored, and we have an early contender for band of the day. Over on the Casbah Stage the Rhythmites are delivering a set of laid back ska in the blazing afternoon sunshine, and back inside on the acoustic stage I catch Fuzzwah being joined on stage by the legend that is Charlie Harper for an impromptu rendition of the classic UK Subs single, Warhead.

 

Chaos 8 deliver their intense industrial punk rock to am absolutely packed Introducing Stage, and you can see why as Beki Straughan is a formidable front woman, and she’s backed up by a powerful line up that hammers home the impact of their dystopian industrial punk rock to incredible effect, and this is another band that I would expect to see make the leap to one of the larger stages in the coming years. Former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock is playing acoustically and sharing anecdotes in the Pavillion Stage to an appreciative crowd, and over in the Opera House The Lurkers are sounding like it’s still 1977, but when they bemoan recording new material it strikes a slightly sour note with me, as it’s new bands and new material that keeps the punk scene vibrant and progressive, so it’s onward and upwards.

 

Department S are a band who have consistently moved on, rather than relying on their well known hit single, Is Vic There?, they’ve developed a loyal following and I owe a debt to the duo that convinced me to go and see them. The evening now has me stage hopping as Louise Distras is playing a set with her full band, her first after her crowdfunder successfully hit it’s target to make her sophomore album a reality, and as ever she plays with all the passion and fire that fuels her songwriting. The Anti Nowhere League are ploughing through their usual chaotic and offensive set over in the Empress Ballroom, and after all this time would we have them any other way? Their classic songs such as So What, Woman and For You are delivered to a booze fuelled audience who know every word and profanity.

 

Over on the Casbah Stage Neville Staples is bringing a distinctly mellower ska influence to the Rebellion Festival, tracks such as Monkey Man, and Message To You Rudy are perfect for the sun drenched evening, but the highlight is skanking version of The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum that sees the politicallly relevant chorus echoing across the Casbah Stage, and a closing trilogy of Gangsters, Guns Of Navarone and Ghost Town closes an incredible set of ska and two tone. The Ruts DC hit the Casbah Stage with the blend of dub and punk rock that carries a strong message of unity. Their set is culled mainly from the legendary debut, The Crack, and their last releases, Music Must Destroy, and the Ruts DC are an example of a band who are as good now as they ever were and are writing music that remains relevant, just as they did when they first emerged on the punk scene. They throw a few curve balls into the set, David Bowie‘s Suffragette City is delivered mid set and an excerpt from Pink Floyd‘s psychedelic jam, Interstellar Overdrive, creeps into In A Rut, and they close on with Psychic Attack rather than their classic single, Babylon’s Burning.

 

Following two phenomenal sets on the Casbah Stage a dash inside means I go full circle and I catch the end of a triumphant acoustic set by Louise Distras who is playing to an absolutely packed Almost Acoustic Stage, afterwards she’s greeted by a enthusiastic fans old and new and speaking to a few of those who were present it’s clear that Louise Distras is an empowering figure in the modern punk scene. Finally it’s over to the Opera House to catch one of the original Northern Irish punk bands, The Defects, who are another of the first generation of punk bands who have returned for the Rebellion Festival and their charm and irreverent humour are as much an appeal as the chance to hear them play live. The evening ends with an appearance by The Vapors, a welcome return from a band who are known by most people for the classic Turning Japanese single, whilst it’s good to have them back when compared to the acts that preceded them their set seems a little flat, and the final day of this years Rebellion Festival beckons.

 

The review of the Sunday at the Rebellion Festival 2017 will follow shortly on The Punk Site.

 

The Rebellion Festival wesbsite is here

 

Unofficial live photography courtesy of Froggy, Lindsay Peebles and Eloise Coone

 

You can click on any of the photos to view a slide show of the images