Rebellion Festival – Thursday 7th August 2025

It’s that time again, for many of us the first weekend in August is as indelibly marked in our calendars as any national holiday. When we first attended Rebellion Festival many years ago we were of course drawn in by the sprawling line up of bands old and new, but over time the Rebellion family has become as much of a draw as the music. There are people who often we only see in the flesh at Rebellion and who have become friends, there are traditions, often involving alcohol, there are places we eat & drink, sights that are weirdly there every year, local characters who seem to turn up with an uncanny clockwork reliability and of course there is Blackpool itself, which seems to be locked into it’s own bizarre time warp. Speaking of which, even though we upped our game accommodation-wise due to utter disaster we booked last year, this is Blackpool and we still find ourselves in an oddly dated hotel and are left looking a bit bewildered as we have three plug sockets for all of our assorted devices, the struggle is real.

But back to the music, if you are a punk of any description then Rebellion has got you covered, there are vintage bands who are regulars here each year, but there is also Hardcore, Pop Punk, Street Punk, Oi!, Ska Punk, Post Punk, Indie Punk and pretty much any iteration of the punk scene out there, as well as a bands from related scenes and styles. With well over 300 bands from across the globe on offer it’s doubtful any two people here this weekend will have the same experience. That’s before you mention the art show and the acoustic, literary and old vic stages that offer something more decibel friendly. And it’s all under one roof, and a roof is an always a welcome factor given the unpredictably of the English summer. 

We kick off our weekend with in the Empress Ballroom and this is when the main stage gets its opening for the festival, and who better to do this than Slalom D, a band that has worked their way up the ranks over the last 3 or 4 years. How do you prove that you deserve to be the band to open the main stage? Well, you hit the crowd with songs that include Waltz Into Anarchy, Red and Final Girl, and you deliver them with power, passion and presence. We walked away knowing that this was a moment to remember, and listening to people around us saying the very same things.

Claiming to be ‘on the poppy side’, Stay Safe have undersold themselves. Melodic punk pop from Manchester with bags of great tunes and an engaging presence. These guys are great and a perfect kick off to the Rebellion Festival. The Introducing Stage should be everybody’s goto stage because you’re going to get gems like this, we hope they’re back next year and like them a lot already. Pop Punk might be an overcrowded genre, but when you hear bands that play like this and stand out from the crowd it’s always a pleasure. Exiting the Introducing Stage, it’s a first, but not the last, sighting of the indestructible UK Subs frontman Charlie Harper, without which no Rebellion experience is complete.

With the Opera House having hosted Britains Got Talent recently it is now ready for some real music, this came in the form of the uncompromising Twat Union who are wiping out the bad memories created by disposable entertainment and are “taking over the world one set of pants at a time”. This was a band with Riot Grrrl energy but with the added bonus of a sense of humour. We then return to the Empress Ballroom for the welcome return of Florida’s The Attack. Now Rebellion stalwarts, The Attack deserve a later slot in the Empress and their fiery no nonsense straight ahead anthemic punk has drawn an almost full house. No shortage of energy here. Empress sound gremlins strike, but any lack of definition is more than compensated for by sheer exuberant energy. Top stuff from a top band. As ever we try to cover something on every stage and we’re off to The Old Vic, the smallest stage at Rebellion, for another welcome reunion.

We’re in The Old Vic for an acoustic set by former Delinquents frontman, and currently with The IOU’s, David Delinquent. As is now the tradition we deliver him a shot pre set, which is greeted by “whit the fuck is that”. The informal solo set gets an enthusiastic crowd chorus on tracks such as You’re So Boring You Make Me Wanna Die and Time Of My Life, which he states is a “bit Bon Jovi”, I can’t hear it myself but it’s his show. He dedicates Sharp Dressed Cunt to his boss, the chorus is “you’re an insufferable cunt”, we’ve all been there, and of course we get Fuck You from his Delinquents days. He’s now part of our annual Rebellion experience, David Delibquent is an amiable staple of Dundee’s punk scene and our reunion is another early highlight of this year’s Rebeliion. 

The Drowns return to the Empress Ballroom in the wake of their freshly released Live At Rebellion album. This is another band that have been a stalwart of the festival for many years, a band that really do live up to the saying “you really need to see and hear them live”.  If you’re a fan or new to them, we guarantee you won’t regret ever seeing this band smash it outta the park every time they play. This performance was no different, we witnessed the first crowd surf and an active mosh pit despite the early slot.

Six acts in and we’ve visited four different stages, so we’re already half way to our goal of visiting every stage. This time we descend into the cavernous Club Casbah stage for a set of lively Punk Pop from Southampton’s Slackrr. Their supercharged set seems a bit lost in the big space, their uplifting and confident melodic punk would be more more at home intimate setting. We like Slackrr a lot but the muddy sound isn’t doing their tuneful energetic output any favours. Inexplicably, there’s a man in a Bloodhound Gang monkey suit. We then briefly encounter Guru Honey Badger as we pass The Old Vic on our way to our next destination, this is the antithesis of Slackrr‘s crowd friendly melodic tunes. As we stop to try and work out exactly what is going on, a man who resembles Jesus passes us with a look of utter incomprehension on his face. Rebellion; always expect the unexpected!

Dropping into the Introducing Stage was always going to be a big theme of this year, and when street punk band Phat Problem hit you with their Rubella Ballet look and music that speaks truths in a way that you’ll not forget, you can understand why this stage is so great and deserves so much attention inbetween the bigger venues. This is an angry band who carry it off with enough constraint as to draw you in and not scare living shit out of you, which is exactly how we felt they meant it to come across.

Back at the Opera House again, we catch the attitude and swagger of Continental Lovers, a band that throw you right back to when the likes of Hanoi Rocks and The Dogs D’amour walked the earth. Their set was a pure indulgence of Rock, Glam and some pretty damn good nods to mid 70’s Heartbreakers. We’re already racking up the step count as we head back into the Empress Ballroom for something sinister. Evil Blizzard are best experienced in daylight if you can because there’s something unsettlingly unsavoury about their heavy, throbbing assault. It’s a grinding, pulsing communion with the Rebellion cognoscenti. A band who only play by their own rules and are adored for it. An acquired taste? Maybe, but hypnotically compelling when you’re exposed to it. Heavy, with a capital H and recommended.

Meanwhile Bullitz 23 were the next band that caught our attention in the Introducing Stage, this band are quite simply 70’s punk personified, music that has Buzzcocks melody blended with Stiff Little Fingers anger. Their rasping Scottish vocals that let you know that this band mean exactly what they say, if your ever wanting to sing along and just enjoy your music to the full, this is that band.

Still racking up the steps we head back over to Club Casbah for the welcome return for Hi-fi Spitfires and a thundering set in the sweltering space that is normally the Winter Gardens car park. A straight out, balls out belter of a performance ecstatically received by the Rebellion crowd. Old school punk of an exceptionally high standard delivered by former UK Sub Steve Straughan and the crew. Superior quality punk rock and a better sound than we’ve come to expect from this venue. Aces. We then retreat to Dirty Blondes (not a strip joint) for cocktails and pizza before returning to the Winter Gardens for he unlikely combination of The Baboon Show and The Priscillas.

The day seems to be flying past, that’s what meeting friends old and new, and of course drinking reasonable amounts of alcohol do to you, anyway it’s back to the Empress Ballroom again for a band we have looked forward to seeing again since their appearance last year. The Baboon Show is something to behold musically, they don’t fit into any box, they play Swedish punk, but in a way that has every audience pulled in and feeling like they belong as part of the show fully. This was no different, even this big stage couldn’t keep them from making it feel like a sweaty barroom stage with full on entertainment and energy.

Full disclosure. Many years ago one of our number once found himself in Jen of The Priscillas flat drinking liqueur but it has taken this long to finally see the band live. The band wear their glam punk credentials proudly on their sleeves. You could say timeless, this is 60s tinged pop with a cutting edge. Theatrical and charming, the band put a tough rock twist their sugary harmony laden punk rock. Built for smoky bars, the distance between band and crowd is a bit of a disconnect but it doesn’t matter. Old school and fresh at the same and one to catch if you can. Their set grows and grows in confidence as it progresses until it nearly bursts with goodness. Jen was a neighbour and friend of Pete Shelley, so to end with Buzzcocks‘ Love You More‘ is fitting and no, there’s a tear in YOUR eye.

We’re back into the Empress Ballroom for the unexpected arrival of Elvana. From the opening fanfare, this is an Elvis show. One of us was married by an Elvis in Las Vegas and saw Nirvana in their early days. We’re qualified. Americana with cheerleaders, this is kitsch, this is cabaret. Iconoclastic, irreverent and probably disrespectful, neither one thing nor another, this shouldn’t work. But it surely does. Great fun and very silly but a big Empress Ballroom crowd is lapping up every note and fully invested. One to see once, maybe, but one not to miss. Meanwhile on the Arena Stage Raygun Cowboys deliver a set filled with double bass magic, brass section brilliance, and a good ol’ dose of Rockabilly Punk that just made you dance both inside and out, you could feel that this was a room full of happiness at what they were beholding.

By now the Introducing Stage has adopted its After Dark persona and we’re here for The Courettes who are making their Rebellion debut. The Courettes takes the stage to an absolutely packed and overheated After Dark stage, they could have easily packed out one of the bigger spaces. Not for the first time tonight we are seeing the essence of 60’s girl bands merged with influences that eventually spawned punk. The Courettes may appear to be mainlining their influences neat and uncut, however their shot is infused with an energy that cuts through the generations as the After Dark stage is beyond capacity after two songs. The Courettes deliver a storming set that resembles a 60s girl group kidnapping The Sonics, surely their return on a bigger stage can only be 12 months away. Complementing the Priscillas set perfectly they have both proved that going back to the roots may be the way forward.

Then it’s over the Opera House for our first flashback to the dawn of the punk scene, again it will not be the last, with John McKay’s Reactor. The former Siouxsie & The Banshees guitarist’s band is fronted by The Priscillas‘ Jen and a rammed Opera House is expecting a retro set, and the band doesn’t disappoint. Jen does a sterling job replicating Siouxsie Sioux‘s soaring vocal. But this is no feeble covers set. It’s sharp and vital, giving nostalgia a contemporary reboot and showcasing John Mckay‘s distinctive plangent playing style. Given the mixed reviews of Siouxsie‘s own resurgence, we recommend you catch this if you possibly can. Keeping the step back to the 70’s theme running TV Smith & The Bored Teenagers are revisiting The Adverts finest moments in the Club Casbah. To say this guy never ages might be a push, but to say he never loses that energy is not in doubt. As soon as they launch into No Time To Be 21 TV is hard to keep up with and the crowd must have felt four decades younger, at least they danced and sang like they were.

Millencolin are a band that if you ask any young or even established bands on the pop punk scene “who influenced them” this band is mentioned so many times. The Scandie Pop-Punksters weirdly have never played Rebellion before, so this was a moment to savour. A pretty damn full Empress Ballroom at approaching midnight is testament to how much draw this band still has. When you look into the wings and see so many of the other artists and bands standing watching this full on lesson in how to deliver 90’s punk rock. It’s now tomorrow, if you see what we mean, and in a few short hours we’ll be back for day two.

Rebellion Festival will return to Blackpool’s Winter Gardens between the 6th and 9th August 2026 for it’s 30th anniversary and tickets can be purchased here.

This year The Punk Site representatives who were furiously taking notes and pictures at Rebellion Festival were Mark Cartwright, Peter Hough & Phinky.