{"id":19561,"date":"2022-08-17T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-17T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=19561"},"modified":"2022-08-14T19:36:47","modified_gmt":"2022-08-14T19:36:47","slug":"rebellion-festival-blackpool-winter-gardens-4th-7th-august-2022-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=19561","title":{"rendered":"Rebellion Festival \u2013 Blackpool, Winter Gardens \u2013 4th-7th August 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Thursday – WE R BACK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three years on from the last Rebellion Festival and we are finally back at our spiritual home, and there\u2019s a few things that have changed. The Winter Gardens has opened a new Conference Centre main entrance, and the old backstage area where we\u2019ve done so many great interviews with bands over the years is no more, so sadly bang goes any chance of doing any of those for you this weekend folks\u2026. sorry! Then of course there\u2019s the new outdoor stage going by the name of R Fest that you can attend on its own if you so wish, at \u00a350 a day, or its free to those with Rebellion weekend wristbands and then finally there\u2019s this sense of freedom in the Blackpool air, something that I certainly haven\u2019t felt in quite some time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What hasn\u2019t changed though is the fact that Rebellion is still the number one punk and alternative festival here in the UK, returning with another knockout bill (that a few cancellations aside) has the RPM team arriving a day earlier than we have done previously, just so we can ensure we don\u2019t miss any of the bands playing early on the first day of the festival. It wasn\u2019t that long ago that I remember Thursday being the kind of \u201cwarm up\u201d day for the event, now it\u2019s the surrounding pubs and clubs that provide that, and we find ourselves crammed into an uber sweaty Tache watching Suzi Moon, when really we should have been getting an early night preparing for the weekend ahead, but fuck it, we really are back, and we wouldn\u2019t want it any other way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THURSDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arriving early doors at the Winter Gardens to catch Janus Stark<\/strong> opening the Empress Stage line up, the first thing that hits me is the size of the queue outside the conference centre waiting for the wristband exchange. We\u2019d followed the festival\u2019s advice online and got ours the night before, so we sailed through, but I can understand some of the anger vented within Facebook groups if you did get caught up in this and missed a band you wanted to see. As it is Gizz Butt and the Stark guys get to play to a smaller crowd than they might have given these circumstances but this doesn\u2019t bother the quartet one iota as they deliver an outstanding performance that proves once again that every little thing does in fact count.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cAlright you English cunts, I bet you wish you\u2019d been stuck in queues too rather than watch us,\u201d is certainly a risky opening gambit from Pizzatramp<\/strong> frontman Jimbob Theodore Logan, but having risen from playing a slot at the festival\u2019s Introducing stage just a few years back to now playing the flagship Empress Ballroom, he\u2019s a man on a mission, and if he can make you laugh, or indeed cry (more of that in a moment) then what the hell? Jimbob\u2019s other half Tia is in the line-up today on bass and backing vocals and that female voice does add a new dynamic to call response element of some of the band\u2019s back catalogue, but then when you have songs as insanely catchy as \u2018CCTV\u2019 and \u2018Ciggy Butt Brain\u2019 within that canon of work how can the Chepstow pizza crew possibly go wrong? There\u2019s even a touching moment when Jimbob calls his son mid-set just for the crowd to sing \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d to him, something that sees the frontman getting \u201csweat in his eyes\u201d before the obligatory \u2018Bono\u2019s A Cunt\u2019 closes a resoundingly successful set for the trio. You know, when people say you have to be \u201cin the know\u201d to get on the Rebellion bill, I always say \u201cwell Pizzatramp did it and they are fucking clueless.\u201d There\u2019s really no come back from that one is there\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I first saw Suzi Moon<\/strong> take to the Rebellion stage twelve years ago, playing one of the two stages they then had over in the Olympia, when she was a member of the Hellcat signed Civet. I have to admit I wasn\u2019t that enamoured with the set I\u2019d witnessed at the Tache the night before, largely due to a muddy sound, but Suzi seemed to love it, and for her set in the Pavilion this afternoon, it\u2019s the almost absolute opposite. Here right from opener \u2018Special Place In Hell\u2019 the sound out front is stunning, thus ensuring that tracks like the strutting \u2018Sonic Attraction\u2019, the glamtastic \u2018I\u2019m Not A Man\u2019 and the sultry set closer \u2018Animal\u2019 rip through flesh to get their hooks in you. It\u2019s up on stage where Suzi is having guitar problems, that she doesn\u2019t seem quite as in her special place as she did just twelve short hours earlier, and smashing the offending article into the Pavilion stage, you can feel the frustration she must have had boiling up inside. Rest assured though Suzi (If you are reading this) this was a great performance, and pretty much everyone around me seemed to think so too. I mean a bit of mid-set tension never hurt Texas T at Rebellion now did it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Heading back to the Empress for some Wonk Unit, <\/strong>it’s now a decade since I first witnessed Alex Wonk live (that being at Slugfest 5 back in my hometown of Abertillery) and boy how things have moved on since those early(ish) part spoken word\/part grunge\/part punk rock days of the band. Only the main man and bassist Pwoison remain from that gig, but once again within this performance today the spirit of vaudeville is still there for everyone to delight in. I\u2019ve often referred to Alex as the \u201cIan Dury of his generation\u201d and here in the same hall that so many tortured geniuses have played over the years he seems in his element, conducting his glorious-sounding band through the likes of \u2019Pathetic Merry Go Round of Existence\/Heroin\u2019, \u2018Day Job Wanker\u2019 and a furious sounding \u2018Nan Is Old\u2019. It takes a pitch-perfect \u2018Awful Jeans\u2019 to get the sprung dancefloor bouncing for the first time this weekend, and just as \u2018Go Easy\u2019 tears out the PA we have our first band clash of the weekend, as we hop, skip, and jump over to Club Casbah in time for the arrival of Dirt Box Disco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s also a decade since I first witnessed the mighty Dirt Box Disco<\/strong> deliver their slamdunk debut at Rebellion, and today they return to the Olympia, now retitled Club Casbah, playing perhaps their finest set since that jaw dropping debut. Some might argue that this is because the set list draws heavily from the \u2018Tragic Roundabout\u2019 EP and \u2018Legends\u2019 album, but when you have a song as strong as \u2018Burning\u2019 that can immediately get the whole of the packed-out Casbah singing as one, you just need to make sure you don\u2019t lose the audience, and then when you can follow that anthem with the likes of \u2018Peepshow\u2019 \u2018I Don’t Wanna Go Out With You\u2019 and \u2018My Girlfriend’s Best Friend’s Sister\u2019 you really are \u2018Unstoppable\u2019 and even when Spunk calls his band \u201crock \u2018n\u2019 roll dinosaurs\u201d towards the end of their set, I\u2019m sure he means it in a \u201cJurassic Park\u201d Alan Partridge kind of way. \u201cBack Of The Net!!!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After a quick pitstop for some food (we do have to eat too you know) we move back to the Empress for Anti-Flag,<\/strong> or as they like to pronounce it An-tie-Flag, and I have to admit that I\u2019ve never been a huge fan, thinking them to be a band consisting of more style than substance. Tonight, however even an old cynic like me can\u2019t help but get caught up in the moment and singalong with the likes of \u2018You’ve Gotta Die for the Government\u2019 and \u2018Fuck Police Brutality\u2019 and whilst these tunes might now be over 26 years old they still sound as relevant today, maybe even more so. I do find it odd that in amongst their strongly politically driven setlist that they still have time to do a \u2018Stars on 45\u2019 kind of run through some cover tunes like \u2018Should I Stay or Should I Go\u2019, \u2018God Save the Queen\u2019 and \u2018If the Kids Are United\u2019, but the Empress faithful lap it up and send Anti-Flag off into the night like all conquering heroes. Me, I\u2019m properly distracted by what\u2019s about to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Drawing the largest crowd of the day so far, it\u2019s LA hardcore punk legends Circle Jerks<\/strong> who are up next in the Empress. Originally confirmed for the 2020 Rebellion Festival for what would have been the 40th-anniversary celebration of the band\u2019s seminal debut record \u2018Group Sex\u2019, tonight, two years on it’s also the 40th-anniversary celebration of the band\u2019s second album \u2018Wild In The Streets\u2019. Guiding us through tonight\u2019s 32 (there may have been more) song battering of the senses that the band like to call a set list there\u2019s the ever-convivial Keith Morris to relay the background story behind each of the blocks of songs the band, made up of bassist Zander Schloss, guitarist Greg Hetson along with guest drummer (the man who makes it all possible according to Morris) the monster that is Joey Castillo, deliver like men a third of their age. From \u2018Deny Everything\u2019 through to \u2018When the Shit Hits the Fan\u2019 via \u2018Red Tape\u2019 there\u2019s even a point towards the end of their set where Castillo has to ask Morris to keep talking just so he can get his breath back, and if you remember that his day job is currently laying down the backbeat for The Bronx then that is surely some feat indeed. With the crowd thinning a little towards the end I do wonder how much of this is down to the relentlessly intense nature of the Circle Jerks set or if it\u2019s just another one of the weekend\u2019s many stage clashes, and as I\u2019d actually forgone a long overdue chance to watch Hawkwind down on the R Fest stage for this Circle Jerks reunion set I for one was certainly glad I made this choice here tonight, as this was something I really would have hated to have missed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another potential stage clash was taken out of my hands literally a few days before Rebellion started when Bad Religion were forced to cancel all of their remaining European dates, including their headline slot in the Empress Ballroom, due to a family emergency back in the US. With The Skids stepping in to save the day and me having never been a fan of the band I instead headed over to Club Casbah to catch The Boys<\/strong> once again ploughing through a 19-song set that covered most of the hits from their back catalogue as well as a few deeper cuts to keep the diehards on their Cuban heeled toes. Singer\/bassist Kent Norberg may lovingly refer to Boy\u2019s songwriting machine of Matt Dangerfield and Casino Steel as the \u201cLennon And McCartney of punk rock\u201d but through squinted eyes, Dangerfield would certainly pass more for Keith Richards these days, and not just in his looks either. There\u2019s also the clang of his tight yet loose guitar proving to be the perfect counterpoint to Honest John Plain\u2019s stand in Chips Kiesbye and with Steel closing down the set keyboard-less for \u2018Sick On You\u2019 he was giving us perhaps a rare glimpse of his inner Mick Jagger, albeit a slightly reluctant one. Oh, and here’s a footnote to the organisers of Rebellion too regarding this performance, because as The Boys have for some time featured two members of the fantastic Swedish punk rock band Sator. How about asking them over to play as well especially given they\u2019ve just scored a number 1 album back home with their \u2018Return Of The Barbie Q Killers\u2019 record?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With just a couple of bands left on my must-see list it’s during the changeover between The Boys and The Bar Stool Preachers that I rechristen my RPM travelling compadres for the weekend, the Goldfish Brothers as everything I seem to tell them they immediately seem to forget. It\u2019s no wind-up either, and never mind how many times I tell them I want to watch Bad Nerves at the ungodly hour of 1 am over in the Arena they instantly forget and ask me \u201cwho?\u201d and \u201cwhere?\u201d time and again. In the end I have to put it down to the cider visors they have both been wearing for most of the day and the fact that one of them left home at 4 am this morning to get here, so instead I just settle in to watch the return of the mighty BSP as their career takes yet another stellar upwards turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Having recently announced that they have signed with Pure Noise Records on a two-album deal Brighton\u2019s favourite ska-punk sons can seemingly do no wrong at the moment. Granted, a couple of band members do resemble extras from Nick Love\u2019s The Business as they take to the Rebellion stage with a drum and bass intro tape booming out over the PA, but as soon as \u2018Choose My Friends\u2019 kicks in there\u2019s no disputing this is the sound (and look) of The Bar Stool Preachers<\/strong> at the very top of their game. There\u2019s also a smattering of new tunes given a spin around the Club Casbah block tonight and if this is the sound of what is to come then this is probably the last time we\u2019ll be seeing TJ and the lads playing small venues here in the UK. This new stuff is essential listening, and I can\u2019t wait to hear what the third album will sound like when it does finally get released.\u00a0\u00a0 There\u2019s only one downer tonight and that\u2019s the fact that the band\u2019s signature tune \u2018Bar Stool Preacher\u2019 doesn\u2019t get to be played as the lads are on a strict curfew, but that tiny set list blip aside, this is the sound of the future of punk rock, bold, ballsy and most of all, absolutely brilliant. Look out for them across Europe and UK as the support for The Interrupters tour, things are about to go major league for these guys, you just mark my words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So with that performance still ringing in my ears, it\u2019s at this point I give up on ever getting the Goldfish Brothers to ever hang around to watch Bad Nerves, but as the weekend progresses I actually find myself not regretting missing them quite as much as I was fearing, but more of that to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adios for now I\u2019m off to bed for some much-needed shut eye. \u201cWoking turn that fucking phone off!\u201d Ha!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author: Johnny Hayward<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thursday – WE R BACK. Three years on from the last Rebellion Festival and we are finally back at our spiritual home, and there\u2019s a few things that have changed. The Winter Gardens has opened a new Conference Centre main entrance, and the old backstage area where we\u2019ve done so many great interviews with bands […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19580,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[3604,6661,95,1787,3434,956,1710,1681,6528,638,1833,238],"class_list":["post-19561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-live-review","tag-anti-flag","tag-circle-jerks","tag-dirtbox-disco","tag-its-a-revolution","tag-janus-stark","tag-pizzatramp","tag-rpm-online","tag-rpmnews1","tag-suzi-moon","tag-the-boys","tag-tourlife","tag-wonk-unit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19561"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19581,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19561\/revisions\/19581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}