Rebellion Festival @ Winter Gardens Blackpool 9th August 2026
All too soon the final day of Rebellion is upon us! We’d better make the most of it then.
Shades On and Volume Up
The day starts with Mikabomb in the Empress Ballroom. They’re notionally a four-piece comprising vocalist Mika Handa, guitarist Mel Roxy, bassist Emiko and Debbie on drums. However, live they have an additional guitarist.
They take to the stage all wearing shades. Those don’t last too long though. One of the guitarists is having trouble with her sound, but that’s sorted during the second song. Bassist Emiko has a Mad Hatter hat, whilst Mika is waving a fan. This band are nothing if not stylish.
The music is fast but tuneful and the musicianship is impressive throughout. Highlights are Super Sexy Razor Happy Girls, Contact Tokyo and set closer Heart Attack. The band are Japanese but based in London, so hopefully there’ll be opportunities to see them again before too long.
LOUD WOMEN Takes Over
Promoters LOUD WOMEN have taken over the Rebellion Introducing Stage in the Pavilion today, so I’m seeing a lot of the bands there. LOUD WOMEN have a great track record for finding interesting bands, so more power to their collective elbows.
The first band that I see here is Hex Poseur, who are from Nottingham. Hex Poseur is the pseudonym of singer and guitarist Harri Bettsworth. Her band is completed by bassist Holly Osborne and drummer Jacob Wakeling.
They’re what used to be called a power trio, and opener Be Quiet is fast and angry. The venue is very hot and Hex hopes that we’re not as sweaty as they are. Well, it’s probably a close-run thing!
Spike is in 3/4 and is reminiscent of early PJ Harvey. One section of the song is quite tender, but a squall of guitar feedback soon puts a stop to that. The verses of Witch Hunt are very fast, but the choruses are much slower.
For the last song, Skunk, Hex switches from her Les Paul Junior to what looks like an Ibanez. It has a fantastically dirty sound! The song starts with a drum solo and has a slight feel of Nirvana about it. Hex’s screamed vocals would give Kurt Cobain a run for his money.
It’s been a scorching set, if a bit too short.
Strings Attached and Thatcher Monsters
I return to the Pavilion – I have to eat, you know! – for THWACK! They’re described as “an orchestral punk band”, and quite frankly are unlike anything that I’ve seen or heard before. This is a very good thing, incidentally.
They consist of Charlie Wood on lead vocals and guitar, Chlo Spinks on bass and vocals, Mal on cello and vocals, Blake Shortt on drums and Natalia Gruca on violin.
The opening song is about “my body, my soul and my mental health”, probably the three most important things that any of us possess. The second song – titles seem to be a bit thin on the ground – features an absolutely searing violin solo that any lead guitarist would be proud of. Come to think of it, so would Warren Ellis from The Bad Seeds!
For the third song, which is about the social rules regarding neurodiversity, Chlo Spinks discards her instrument and sings lead. There are some elements of jazz at play here.
Margaret Thatcher Blood Snatcher is the real joybringer of today’s set, however, with lyrics such as “bing bong the bitch is back” and “the lady’s not for burning”. Somebody comes onstage dressed as a Thatcher monster. This would give children nightmares! Chlo Spinks once again relinquishes her bass and violinist Natalia Gruca plays it.
They end their set with a cover of Katy Perry’s I Kissed a Girl. It’s a good version, but it could really do with a guitar. That said, THWACK! are one of the weekend’s most interesting bands.
They play LOUD WOMEN Fest at London’s Rich Mix on 5th September and support The Toxhards at O2 Academy2 Islington on 18th September.
The Kids Are More Than Alright
Next up are Mona Freaka, a teenage four-piece from Woodstock, New York, comprising vocalist and guitarist Roxy Bollé, lead guitarist Gemma Holstein, bassist Jill Sofro and drummer Shea DeLisio. They’re too young to drink in the venue’s bars. Indeed, bassist Jill is only thirteen!
Roxy has written most of the songs and founded the band, so to a degree it’s her show. At one point she shares a mic with Gemma Beatles-style, so she obviously doesn’t mind sharing the spotlight.
For the fourth song, which is actually the first song that she ever wrote, Roxy comments that it’s “so hot” and takes off her dress. She’s still perfectly decent, but bearing in mind that she’s a teenager and much of the audience is considerably older, the moment feels a little uncomfortable to me. Still, no matter, Roxy carries on and jumps off the drum riser.
The band in general are very energetic. They all get down on the floor and all jump up. Probably the most important aspect of the band is that all of the songs are different without being too eclectic. The band’s material very much has its own character.
American Actress is a notable highlight, but they save the best until last. For a song which may or may not be called Millennial Me, Roxy crouches to play lead whilst Gemma Holstein taps. It’s a spectacular way to end the set.
They’re a deservedly attention-grabbing band who I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more from.
Feral Punk from Adelaide
Witch Spit follow in short order. They’re a duo from Adelaide, Australia, comprising vocalist and guitarist Paige Geard and drummer Alex Hollow. They’re loud and a bit shouty, and their opening song is the delicately titled Have You Ever Seen a Pair of Tits? Presumably the song’s subject matter is ornithology.
Paige plays a black Telecaster like Wilko Johnson’s. Like Wilko’s, it has a red scratchplate. Presumably so the men can’t see the blood.
Charlie Harper from UK Subs is in the audience. Doubtless he will anoint them afterwards.
Some of their songs are as fast as Motörhead in their prime. Paige dedicates Scumbag Sister to her sister, which is very sweet. The guitar for Woof is monstrously distorted.
Paige needs to change a string but doesn’t take as long as the singer from Porridge Radio did at the Rockaway Beach Festival. I think the twenty minutes that she took must still be some kind of record.
Final song Pissed and Proud of It is as fast as f*ck and may owe at least a small debt in terms of subject matter to Peter and the Test Tube Babies. Witch Spit are not going to change the world, but this has certainly been an enjoyable set.
YAKKIE Bring the Fury
My final band of the day at the Pavilion Stage is YAKKIE, a London-based DIY supergroup comprising Janey Starling on vocals, Maeve Westall on drums, Robin Gatt on guitar and vocals, and Laura Ankles on bass and vocals. Between them they have been members of bands including Dream Nails, Petrol Girls, Colour Me Wednesday and others. Hence the ‘supergroup’ tag.
Janey is dressed as a cheerleader, which I guess is ironic. The second song, He Sleeps Alone, sounds remarkably like Pearl Jam. Robin’s guitar solo is pretty explosive and bassist Laura is playing chords.
Lean Out is about the fact that International Women’s Day is now run by corporations, which wasn’t what it was originally about. Musically it’s interesting too, with a couple of sweet tempo changes.
Right of Reply is about femicide and is fast, loud and rightly angry. Maeve Westall’s drumming is awesome. Rabbit’s Got the Gun is a quite complex song from the band’s new album Kill the Cop Inside Your Head, whilst Under the Pavement Is the Beach is about fighting capitalism.
YAKKIE are another really interesting band that I’ve seen for the first time at Rebellion. They play Signature Brew Haggerston on 27th August and support Petrol Girls at Downstairs at The Dome on 12th November.
Forty Years On and Still Ferocious
I head back to the Empress Ballroom now for the very mighty The Godfathers. I first saw this band forty years ago, and to this day they remain an extraordinarily ferocious live band.
Admittedly, vocalist Peter Coyne is the only remaining original member from those days, but he has become the soul and spirit of the band. Much of the current line-up has now been together since 2019. They still look as if you wouldn’t necessarily want to argue with them if you came upon them in a bar.
Whilst The Godfathers continue to produce new music, tonight’s set is one of old favourites. There are various things that stand out, such as the cracking harmonies in I Want You and Love Is Dead.
Also, despite the mention of Margaret Thatcher in Birth, School, Work, Death, in every other way the song seems chillingly contemporary. The band don’t forget their roots either, dedicating I Can’t Sleep Tonight to Ramones.
The Godfathers have no gigs booked at the moment, but if by some terrible oversight you have never managed to see the band, make sure you do next time they play.
Going Out at 900mph
This year’s Rebellion Festival finishes for me with The Dickies at the Empress Ballroom. I last saw them when they played here three years ago, when they headlined Club Casbah. At that time vocalist Leonard Graves Phillips had recently been ill, but nevertheless put in a terrific performance.
Tonight, though, he and the band are on top form. In terms of the set there are few, if any, surprises. The crowd get into the punk rock spirit of the occasion by chucking empty plastic glasses at the stage. That’s rebellion in practice, folks!
The band are still able to tear through Paranoid, Banana Splits (The Tra La La Song) and Nights in White Satin at 900mph, so everybody goes home happy.
I should point out, however, that it takes a lot of skill and stamina to do what The Dickies do, and it’s a credit to them that they’re still doing it as well as they did nearly fifty years ago. Hats off to them.
See You Next Year
Thus ends another Rebellion Festival. It seems to go from strength to strength year on year. It is now, without doubt in my mind, the best punk festival in the world and provides a major boost to the local economy in terms of money spent on hotels and in bars and restaurants, not to mention taxis.
The festival also attracts large numbers of overseas performers and attendees, doubtless helped by the fact that there is a direct train service from Manchester Airport to Blackpool North.
However, a future potential problem is looming. Many of the bands who headline and populate the upper reaches of each day’s bill are reaching the age where they will be considering retirement. Indeed, UK Subs have already named the date of their final gig next year.
Whilst there are many younger bands around – and this weekend has certainly provided plenty of evidence of that – few of them seem to have achieved the stature of the old favourites yet. In five or ten years’ time, will there be the acts available to draw the fans in, or will Rebellion become more of a niche festival?
There’s certainly masses of enthusiasm for the festival amongst artists and fans at present. Hopefully that will remain the case.
See you next year!!!
WORDS: MARK KELLY PHOTOS: CRIS WATKINS
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