Friday
We’ve now entered the alternate virtual reality that is Rebellion Festival where the world outside no longer has any bearing on us and the searing heatwave is only a mirror of what we experience when entering the Empress every year as the greenhouse effect takes place.
We take our usual leisurely pace of getting up for the exceptional breakfast in the relatively palatial and calm setting of our temporary home just down the seafront before our leisurely stroll through the tourists looking like extras from the Walking Dead before we enter the rabbit warren of the Winter Gardens for round two of Rebellion 2022. Its a quick two-step to the bar for some light refreshments as we enter the Casbah venue to catch some of the garage rock noise that has been recommended to us – known as Tiger Sex – this three-piece female garage punk ensemble churns out a Stooges zero fucks given noise but in the vast surroundings of the Casbah it’s missing the low end of a bass guitar that would turn these tunes into a real tour de force and nail your feet to the floor. I guess it doesn’t help not being familiar with any of the songs but the Stooges vibe hits home and I wanted to like what I was seeing and hearing so will have to investigate more. A decent opener for what was going to be a very interesting lineup as we dig deeper into this years festival.
Now, next up for us is a visit to the venue that used to house the acoustic sessions for what has become a Rebellion institution following Bingo with Max which in the past has given away some wonderful prizes such as the ironing board from his hotel room to name but one treasure (eat your heart out bullseye) none other than the surreal universe that is Ratboys Magic Show. Now I don’t want to give away any of the secrets as to what goes on because I’ve never been able to unravel what it is that I’m truly watching but on the quieter more reflective moments I have of weeks after the festival has faded I hear Rat Boy singing karaoke or his chant of “Rat Boy Rat Boys magic Show” and my head does a wobble and I have a flashback. If you’ve never seen him at the festival then give yourself a slap and take in one of his performances it’ll reaffirm your faith in all things alternative in entertainment and punk rock… We’ll leave it at that. Brilliant comedy light entertainment genius!
Next up was a return to the Casbah for the final performance of Spunk Volcano & The Eruptions who have pulled in a big crowd to say farewell to their heroes and their punk rockin’ party anthems such as ‘DNA Failure’, ‘Crossfire’, and the classic ‘Knobhead’. Spunk takes the mic and leaves the guitars to others as he prowls the stage punching the air to his everyday tales of growing up in Britain and most relatable. The heart and soul of Spunks performances are infectious and when they are punched out with as much anthemic gusto as you could muster it’s always an enjoyable singalong spectacle. Expect the best from the Showaddywaddy of punk rock and they always deliver thanks to the tunesmith that is Spunk Volcano, who deserves every bit of praise he ever gets, the guy pens top tunes and everyone around us has a beaming smile as they debate if crossfire is indeed better than Subbutteo (just for the record it isn’t) which is a testiment to his quality songwriting ability that is undeniable. They bid farewell and sign off with a maybe one day we’ll meet again who knows. Top set as usual.
We then enter the oven that is The Empress ballroom for a dose of Oi! streetpunk courtesy of Booze And Glory who dish up a slick sing-a-long that is lapped up by the bulging audience. These ‘appy ‘Ammers sing songs about West Ham, Booze and Glory with a bit of a jig in their step. Songs like ‘Days, Months and Years’ mix elements of The Pogues through to Cock Sparrer and all the street punk like the Dropkick Murphys for good measure. Personally, I can take it or leave it but there is a decent audience who clearly loves it and a good time is being had by all as the steam is rising from the pit.
We then decide to take in Suede Razors in the goldfish bowl that is the Pavillion stage in the middle of the sweeping walk around where the bands merch tables are set up where the sun beats down through the glass roof creating an absolute greenhouse heat effect where the only remedy is to take on some fluids and get in amongst it as the band knock out their tunes with gusto. Plying the street punk mixed with some good traditional time honored hard rock handed down from the likes of classic DC or some Thin Lizzy it helps to have former Harrington Saint frontman Darrel Wojick delivering the vocals with his passionate style that is like a sledgehammer to the chest.
One of the better mixes around the festival site The Pavillion is delivering the good once again. As the punters pack the room (Which always helps) the band’s tunes are what really deliver the good – ‘TV175’, ‘Bovver Girl’ raise the heat off their debut EP but its ‘Vive Le Rock’ that elevates this set to one of the best so far at the festival, the sheer energy is fantastic and the title of their new release says it all – ‘No Mess, No Fuss, Just Rock ‘n’ Roll’! message delivered and understood!
Its a hop skip and jump out of the Winter Gardens for some much-needed grub before we dust ourselves down and re-enter for some Bite Back in the Empress as Slaughter fronted by the superb Edwina Banger delivers some mighty fine old-school New York Dolls inspired Rock n Roll with the VU cover ‘White Light White Heat’, aptly describing the feeling in the Empress Ballrooms palatial surroundings. The band’s guitarist Mick Rossi is the perfect foil, knocking out the licks to some top tunes. It was a fantastic performance showing that the old school still had the chops to deliver the goods on the biggest stages and judging by the swelling audience we were not alone in knowing this was the place to be and the band to be watching. ‘Boston Babies’, ‘Where Have All The Boot Boys Gone’ and ‘Cranked Up Really High’ always were and still are some of the finest songs to come out of the whole seventies scene. Tonight they were dusted down and given a new lease of life for what will be one of the festival’s best performances, no question about it Bite Back 2022 was a real treat. Rossi, Garrity, Bates and Rowland showed why they are the real deal and Rock and Roll is alive and healthy when in the hands of professionals who most certainly Bite Back.
It’s time for us to venture outside to the new R Fest stage. Perched right on the seafront, pretty much beneath the Blackpool Tower (which to be fair as the sun sets is an impressive sight) to catch The Undertones. Having recently reviewed the new compilation of their last two studio albums ‘Dig What You Need’ I was ready to catch this lineup for the first time and even with some swirling PA moments the set was fantastic delivering exactly what the people wanted to hear. hit after hit after awesome album track. Derry’s answer to the Ramones has got more top tunes than most and tonight they managed to play twenty-four of them! How about that then?
The set reminded me of Buzzcocks from half a dozen years ago when they played I think it was a late night Thursday set and in an hour they managed to play pretty much every single they released one after the other without any bull shit and it was simply stunning. Undertones did pretty much the same tonight in the searing heat as the sun subsided over the sea it was a cool breeze that swept the site being the perfect environment for such a good set. Paul McLoone is energetic and delivers the songs perfectly for what has to be said is a headline-worthy set and a great introduction to what R Fest had to deliver from the smooth entry and exit from the site to the view, and amenities, and a welcome break from the Winter Gardens. Tied in with hearing ‘Billy’s Third’, ‘Male Model’ and ‘My Perfect Cousin’ was memorable hattrick from a superb band.
Being described as one half of the Goldfish Brothers due to the inability to remember pretty much anything since arriving in Vegas for scum I had to use my phone to record where I’d been and who I’d seen and in what venue as I would never have been able to remember everything as its a full-on weekend by anyone’s standard. I didn’t need my digital reminder to tell me I had to go to the Acoustic venue to witness The Boys performance which was well attended and a full band set up as the dusted-off versions of classic Boys ‘TCP’, ‘Weekend’, ‘Terminal Love’ and the superb sing-a-long that is ‘Brickfield Nights’ it was great to be able to sit back and relax and witness something different from one of my favourite bands. It flew by way to quickly and before I knew it ‘First Time’ signaled the end of the set and it was already time for this scribe to meander back into the Empress to catch some Sham 69 to bring the curtain down on another full-on yet thoroughly entertaining Rebellion experience. It was band after band and venue after venue yet it had flown by and we were halfway through.
Now Sham 69 knows exactly how to play at these festivals. Knock out exactly what people want to hear don’t preach, don’t pfaff about just count em in and bash em out with the energy and verve those classic punk anthems deserve. fifteen songs plus a two-song encore of ‘Hersham Boys’ and ‘Hurry Up Harry’ that the pit can throw themselves around to. to be fair Sham are a great festival band and right from the off you get ‘I Don’t Wanna’, ‘Ulster Boy’ and ‘Borstal Breakout’ but these days it comes without all the bullshit and bollocks of when they first burst onto the scene with all the violence and politics going on in the audience these days it’s as it should be and people just getting on with enjoying what are top punk rock anthems (and plenty of em). Pursey plays the villain perfectly well throwing round his drinks and sneering at the audience whilst introducing most songs with a pun but once the songs are counted in how can you not smile at ‘Angels With Dirty Faces’ and sing along to ‘Questions and Answers’? by the time the band had reached ‘If The Kids Are United’ I’m exhausted even looking at the flair of Robin Guy as he adds his hefty thump to proceedings. Again worthy of headlining a festival like Rebellion Sham deliver the goods pretty much exactly as you’d expect. With most of the stages now closed it was waiting in the Empress for an hour and a half for Desperate Measures or nick off and get some much-needed shut-eye for what was going to be a grueling second half and we didn’t want to get subbed so we made the mature and responsible choice and bowled down the seafront to our residence whilst trying not to make eye contact with the scallys looking for a fight or the ladies looking for a good time that walk was getting exhausting. Night folk it’s been a pleasure thus far, bring on Saturday!
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