Rebellion Festival 2026: Part 3

It’s day three and we’re still upright and mobile, we head back into Blackpool town centre and have the inevitable and welcome reunions with old friends, along with a few beers to mark the occasion, and head back into Rebellion Festival for another stacked day. It seems the Winter Gardens micro climate is set to high summer as the sun beats down on the glass roof of our Victorian second home, so it’s going to be a hot one today and there are no prizes for guessing how we’ll cope with high summer arriving.

We kick off the day with an all too brief set from Bite Me Bambi on the Almost Acoustic stage, and they get the award for first accordion of the weekend. Despite only getting a brief fifteen minute set it makes us wish we’d caught them in full effect late last night. They kick off with an upbeat Do The Damned, which then dips into a mellow (almost) acoustic brace of ska punk including a cover of Prince‘s When You Were Mine and Girls of Summer, before ending on an upbeat note with Hot Lava that concludes a micro set which is some compensation for missing last nights late night / early morning set. 

We’re straight outta Bite Me Bambi and onto the Introducing Stage to see Bambees. If they were charging to get in, it would probably be too dear (we’re sorry). The Introducing Stage crowd must know something we didn’t. It’s packed and the band are on one from the off, pummelling the crowd with their energetic punk. Welsh industrial alt rock is alive and well. Not to everyone’s taste, but loud, in your face and vitallly alive. A great set from a confident and scarily lovely combo.

Being a few bands in already and in total this is our 4th day, the energy levels have only been kept going by a good breakfast, plenty of alcoholic refreshments, but most of all absolutely great music. This continues in The Opera House when Heathen Apostles hit this huge stage thats attended by a heaving crowd. This Americana Gothic outfit have a sound that can only be described as one-of-a-kind, with founding members Mather Louth (Radio Noir) on eerie yet heart warming vocals, and Chopper Franklin (The Cramps) giving the guitar a life of its own, that brings you down into a dark and all consuming world that touches the soul.  The set grows not only in stature as it moves on, this in not just Bloodgrass for the gothics, its protest songs that have just as much angst as any pure punk band, we left not just feeling lifted, but also enlightened.

Having been fully energised again and set on seeing some great music all day at Rebellion it was now time to see yet another international band, Dead Pollys from Sweden were half way into their first song as we entered the Arena Stage and already its sweaty and loud in here. This is a band I’d missed on so many other occasions as they toured with a friend’s band, so making up for lost time was the order of the day. How could you describe this band and their style, well melodic heavy punk rock that’s anti fascist and pretty much anti everything else that’s of that ilk. The lead singer Niclas shows just how much he loves his audience and just how bringing them fully into the experience is a huge part of this bands ethos, by spending the whole set in amongst said audience.

A brief stroll down to the front we catch part of the airshow, and run the risk of getting a suntan, before heading back to catch Belfast veterans The Outcasts. Quality asssured old school punk from Northern Ireland and main man Gregg begins by haranguing the crowd about late comers. Two songs later we get ‘Self-Conscious Over You‘ which is a well -established crowd pleaser. After that, it’s a dash through the catalogue with machine gun bursts of good-natured but acidic banter among the band. Greg is a funny and self-deprecating front man. It’s great to hear ‘The Pressure’s On‘, by Belfast OG’s Rudi, and then ‘The Cops Are Coming‘, (which is a sorry tale of murder and necrophilia), and ‘You’re A Disease‘. Punk 101 from the Province’s punk pioneers, so it is.

Dropping into the Introducing Stage is something thats always gotta be an important part of any Rebellion Festival experience, so when you hear the twang of guitars, the thump of the drums and the check 1 2 of a sound check, then why not hang around and see who’s next. The time around it turned out to be The NaNaz, who you wouldn’t be mistaken in thinking were the inspiration for the BBC drama Riot Women, which came first? Truth is, it doesn’t matter, what actually matters is that this is an band of women who are over fifty that can riot just as hard as any Grrrl! The NaNaz prove that so-called “older” women have fire, fury and fun to bring to the stage, and remind you that punk has no age limit.

Fresh out Brighton via Leicester comes Grebo mainstay Anderson who is keeping the Crazyhead torch burning bright with the assistance of his backing band The Hedonists. Together Anderson & The Hedonists deliver a set culled from their recent album that contained a hefty chunk of revisions of Crazyhead’s early material and their debut album Desert Orchid, along with a selection of well chosen relics from the garage that inspired the first wave of punks, and obviously Crazyhead. Not for the for the first time we get a more than welcome flashback to the late 80’s.

Before this years Rebellion Festival, listening to the playlist was always a great marker for bands you may not of heard before and wanted to see live at the festival. Deadline were just one of the many bands that caught the ear, so heading into the Club Casbah to catch them had to happen. I’d heard from from reports that this was an Oi band who have been going since around 2000, but listing to the set as a fresh listener Oi isn’t what came to mind, but then again maybe they have mellowed over the years. No matter, this was a great indoctrination to this band, and guitar tech issues aside the set was definitely a singalong thing.

Second wave favourites from the early 80s Chron Gen and still on fine form as a giant Empress Ballroom crowd will attest. We’re treated to what some will call the classics. For all of their thunder, and speaking as someone who saw the band play the same songs a long time ago, I’m missing the fire of the young Chron Gen. it’s still great stuff and you can’t go back. What does remain is Glyn Barber‘s sense of menace and his songs of urban fear and personal breakdown sadly still resonate today. ‘Puppets of War‘ remains particularly apt. On the lighter side, Alice? who the fuck is Alice?

Continuing the second wave theme, GBH are up next in the Empress Ballroom. They seem to have found the energy missing from the room earlier but their sonic assault is lost in a poor mix that lacks any definition between instruments. It must be better up the front as there is frenetic moshing. With this level of devotion, every song is a winner anyway and GBH commune with the faithful. The introduction of diminutive guest vocalist Pascale for one song is a bit bewildering. Otherwise, as authentic as it gets these days as time takes its toll. Rousing and still vital.

Not going to lie, only called in to get one photo and catch just one song from this curve ball addition to the iconic bands from the 70’s at Rebellion Festival in Club Casbah, The Wurzels were said band. We all remember ‘Brand New Combine Harvester’, the parody of the Melanie song ‘Brand New Key’, or at least those of us who remember the 1970’s do. Apparently even the likes of the Anti-Nowhere League were on the side lines watching, we didn’t hang around to hear the hit, or hits, but it seemed very full in there.

Let’s be clear. The UK has no comprehension of just how massive Die Toten Hosen are in their native Germany. They are playing multiple nights in stadia across Europe so this Rebellion Festival show is a minnow in that scheme of things. Consequently, a huge contingent of German fans are here to witness what is, in reality, an up close and personal show as the band run down a stellar career, and it seems that the business end of Empress Ballroom contains the largest contingent of German citizens outside of their home country. Watching a band who normally play huge stadiums and football stadiums in a small (by their standards) venue is a privilege. When they last played it was very much an all star affair with Die Toten Hosen indulging their love of British punk with an endless parade of guest musicians, today we got a full blooded sample of the set from their farewell tour that is currently spanning Europe and South America. There is a sole concession to their borderline obsession with British punk when V2‘s Mark Standley takes the stage for Man In The Box, aside from this and a timely cover of The Clash‘s I’m So Bored With The USA, this is a blast through Die Toten Hosen‘s history, including our personal favourites Bonnie & Clyde and Hier Kommt Alex, that is guaranteed to live long in our memories.

Reasonably late on, and just before the headliners get going in the main stages, RIS After Dark in the Pavillion are ready for their headliner to start and this was one not to miss. PussyLiquor are another of those bands that I’ve missed on too many occasions at festivals and other gigs, so missing this I was not. Riot Grrrl seems to be a go to when describing female Punk bands. However, this is a band that have transcended all of this, they have grown their own tear it up and have fun style which feels indebted only to being angry at patriarchal values, and just rage in general at the state of societal life, so yeah ok Riot Grrrl it is then. Truth is, they played music that had us all dancing and feeling like you were not just another face in the crowd. 

Manchester’s The Chameleons are playing down in the cavernous Club Casbah and as we hobble down the stairs the Mancunian legends are already onstage and playing The Fan & The Bellows, maybe we should have hobbled faster. This is a set that largely turns the clock back with classic material from back in the day, including the early singles In Shreds and Swamp Thing and deep cuts from their classic albums. Whilst there is an acknowledgment of their recently released Arctic Moon album this blends seamlessly into the set rather than feeling like a moment to go and hit the bar. It’s no exaggeration to say this is the best set I’ve seen by The Chameleons in a while, and there’s a good chance I’ll be reliving this experiencer at their annual Home Is Where The Heart Is shows at the end of the year. As Bite Me Bambi eased us is into the day, The Chameleons ethereal set of post punk sends us out into the night. Tired, happy and slightly over refreshed, we call time on the the final day of the 2026 Rebellion Festival and head off into the night in search of fried food. 

The Rebellion Festival will return between the 5th and 8th August 2027 and tickets are now on sale here, with early confirmations for 2027 including The Only Ones, UK Subs, DOA, Street Dogs, The Undertones, The Meffs and more.

Words and photography in varying quantities by Mark Cartwright, Peter Hough and Phinky.