Rebellion Festival Day Three @ Winter Gardens Blackpool 8th August 2026
Punk’s Not Dead in Spain
Saturday starts in the Empress Ballroom with the very wittily named Pubic Enemy from Madrid. They’re a four-piece comprising Alex on vocals and guitar, Giovanna on drums, Irene on guitar and Nidia on bass. The latter three all do backing vocals too. To prove that they don’t take themselves too seriously, they come onstage and do a little dance before they pick up their instruments.
The music is high-octane whilst remaining tuneful, and their performance is pretty kinetic. Guitarist Irene performs a pretty impressive karate kick, for example. Vocalist Alex has a stupendously powerful voice too. One song is about “what every girl wants”, but I suspect that there may be some irony at work there.
The band are good, but possibly a little one-dimensional. The final song is the fastest of the set and has a prolonged rock ’n’ roll ending. One thing is certainly clear: punk’s not dead in Spain.
Forty-Five Years Waiting for 999
The excitement continues in the Empress Ballroom with 999, a band that I’ve been wanting to see for more than forty-five years. They’re introduced by drummer Stuart Meadows, as he’s the most recent member to join the band, in 2018.
They kick off with Black Flowers for the Bride from 1993’s You Us It!, but the first of today’s real joybringers is Inside Out from 1980’s The Biggest Prize in Sport, featuring lead playing from the band’s two original members, Nick Cash and Guy Days. It should be noted, however, that bassist Arturo Bassick, originally with The Lurkers, has been with the band since the early 1990s, so is no Johnny-come-lately!
For Hit Me from the band’s debut album 999, Nick Cash ditches his guitar and blows a whistle. I’m not sure if I’m the only person who’s a little bemused by this.
The band have continued to release records since the ‘glory days’, so this is certainly no nostalgia fest, although Nick Cash does introduce Emergency as a song that they “used to play at The Vortex”. The tail end of their set comprises oldies Nasty Nasty and Homicide.
The stage crew have already told them that they’re out of time, but 999 are old punks and they really don’t care, so they crash into I’m Alive from their debut album. Clearly punk’s definitely not dead in Blackpool either!
Fresh Blood on the RIS
I venture to the RIS in the Pavilion for WREX, who are a Brighton band appearing at Rebellion for the first time. Essentially they are a duo consisting of Mae Seaton on vocals and George Donoghue on everything else! However, live they are augmented by Tom Stevens from Freeze the Atlantic and Joe Constable from Circus of Horrors on guitars. There is no bass, and any keyboards are on the backing track.
Opener S.A.D is spectacularly fast and Mae shares lead vocals with one of the guitarists. Mae is a very energetic frontperson and her occasional leaps are very impressive.
111 is dedicated to neurodiverse people and is precisely one minute and 11 seconds long. So, very fitting. Final song Heaven’s Gate is dedicated to “all of the people here doing what they love”.
WREX are a real breath of fresh air, and I look forward to seeing them again.
Reggae With Something to Say
Next I head down to the Arena for some reggae in the shape of Last Tree Squad. Before their set starts vocalist Silva Shiva gives a speech regarding the hard times that we’re going through at the moment, especially with regard to racism.
The band are a nine-piece and just about manage to cram onto what is not a particularly big stage. Roar Poetic demonstrates that the band really are tight but loose. Round and Round is a highlight from their new album Earth Positive. The intelligent and insightful lyrics are rapped, and the trombone and trumpet put in a terrific performance.
You’re Not Alone is also from the new album and features an awesome slide guitar solo from Josh Lamdin. We Know is intended to “big up the girls”, whilst Don’t Roll With the Bad Men addresses the thorny issue of knife crime and county lines drug dealing. Don’t Waste It is about how precious time is, particularly for older people.
Silva Shiva doesn’t have the lead vocals all to himself. Emilia Cientanni, aka Miss Militant, also sings lead when not playing saxophone. However, for Dance With the Devil, keyboard player Zoe Loughman takes lead vocals. This band are nothing if not versatile.
For set closer Skills, Silva Shiva tells us, “Now it’s time to shake your arses”, and indeed, arses are duly shaken. I’d love to see this band do a full set. I shall be keeping my eyes peeled!
The Empress Erupts
The Empress is absolutely packed for Die Toten Hosen, and from the moment they launch into a savage Strom the place erupts. A huge singalong breaks out at the front almost immediately, and I’m guessing there are more than a few Germans in the room today judging by the volume coming back at the stage.
They barely give anyone time to recover before charging into Die Show muss weitergehen, and suddenly bodies are flying over the pit. The energy level goes through the roof and the whole thing feels gloriously unrestrained. This is exactly the sort of set that reminds you why Die Toten Hosen have endured for so long. Even in a festival already overflowing with loud, fast and unruly bands, they somehow manage to raise the temperature another few degrees.
The Nearly Men Who Should Have Been Huge
Saturday for me ends with The Chameleons at the Club Casbah stage. The Chameleons were very much post-punk’s ‘nearly men’. They could have and should have been huge, but initially split in 1987 following the death of their manager.
Today there are two original members remaining in the band: Mark Burgess on lead vocals and bass, and Reg Smithies on rhythm guitar. The current line-up is completed by Stephen Rice on lead guitar and backing vocals, Todd Demma on drums and Danny Ashberry on keyboards.
The Chameleons are very much an operational entity, evidenced by set opener Where Are You?, from the EP of the same name released in 2024. It has a really impressive guitar riff and demonstrates that there has been no reduction in the quality of their material.
Mark Burgess says that he “owes everything to punk”, but wonders why the band are here, as they are very staunchly post-punk. However, the band, at least initially, very much grasped punk’s DIY ethic with both hands.
Perfume Garden is dedicated to John Peel, who was an early champion of the band and indeed had a radio programme called The Perfumed Garden. Saviours Are a Dangerous Thing is from their most recent album, Arctic Moon, which was released last year. It includes the line “God save the King. Is that a dangerous thing?” It’s fascinating stuff.
Feels Like the End of the World from the same album features some majestic-sounding keyboards. Whilst The Chameleons are clearly in rude health creatively, they end their set with two songs from their debut album Script of the Bridge: Second Skin and Don’t Fall.
Both of these songs underline the fact that, had the cards fallen right for them in the 1980s, they would have been headlining arenas and stadia. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
Three Days Down and Still No Shortage of Variety
So ends the third day at Rebellion Festival. This, like every day at the festival, has been a day of far greater musical variety than the title of the festival might suggest. This is a reflection on the imagination and invention of the artists concerned, together with the festival organisers who put the bill together.
WORDS: MARK KELLY PHOTOS: CRIS WATKINS
REBELLION FESTIVAL 2026 DAY THREE GALLERY
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