Live Review: Rebellion Festival 2024 – Thursday
Words: Dan Barnes
Photos: Dod Morrison
We manage to get a Ramones reference every five years or so, when Rebellion Festival falls on the first, second, third and fourth of the month. Last time this happened was back in 2019 and – man – if only we knew then what we know now.
I must be getting old, as the final notes of last year’s Sunday headliner, Steel Pulse, barely seem to have stopped ringing in my ears and I find myself walking into the Winter Gardens on the Thursday dinner time and picking up a 2024 running order. I grab myself an event shirt and plot my viewing over the next few hours, looking at who’ll be taking me into the evening and meetings with Sham 69, The Warriors and Charlie Harper’s U.K. Subs.
And, after a July when the weather had been a cupful or two off a Biblical Flood, the sun’s come out in force and – well it must be hot – the shorts are brought into service.
It’s the usual midday – early afternoon, anytime, you name it – carnage on the M6, but I eventually arrive in Blackpool to the cawing of seagulls and the smell of candy floss floating in on the sea air. I’ve unfortunately missed Geofrey Oi!Cott, but the Brazilian duo, Yur Mum are banging away in the Empress Ballroom to a healthy crowd for such an early hour. Anelise and Fábio make enough racket for a whole band with their dalliance into numerous other music genres, without ever losing grip on the Punk Rock elements. Cyanide Pills put the Rock into Punk Rock, with perhaps a sprinkling of Glam as well; while NVS from South Wales seem unfeasibly young for such a sound, though, in the spirit of true punk rock, they make sure they don’t play past their allotted time.
Looking and sounding a bit Rancid – the band that is, rather than the disgusting adjective – The Fragz are sending the love and moving people out in the atrium with their high velocity assault; or, at least, the young lady on the band’s merchandise stand is bopping away while she works. Peter Bentham & The Dinner Ladies are all kinds of fun and, whatever the genre you chose to assign the band – they seem to like Kitchencore – it spectacularly fails to do them justice. Full of enticing beats and even a prominent saxophone, this collective lay down an early marker for Rebellon 2024, for the maximum amount of fun it’s possible to have on a Thursday afternoon. From country-inspire jigs to a little pop at Louise Distras, Pete and the Gals are a blast.
Canadians Belvedere, on paper at least, feel as though they would be more at home at Slam Dunk or the Manchester Punk Festival – in fact, last time I saw these lads was at that event in 2017 – but, to their credit, they take to the resituated Arena stage and smash out a host of melodic hardcore-cum-skate-punk anthems. They play hard and fast and demonstrate amply that they are well worth the slot at this show too.
Another band who were a blast is 18Fevers in the Casbah, hailing from South Korea the band seem to have had a whirlwind ride since their formation in 2021. They charge through the tempo changes like there’s a sell-by date, and if Rebellion wasn’t fully engaged before, they certainly are after. I put an additional note to self in my jottings to check these out further when the dust had settled. Sick Pins are just introducing their song, Tears of a Cunt, and dedicating it to all those who missed the band’s last ever show. I’m supposing this is it but, having been loath to leave 18Fevers, I missed the start of the set. Reminding me a little of the energy and delivery of Pizzatramp, with a penchant for Ska and a skank.
The Ramonas is no longer just a Ramones tribute act and now include their own material with their sets. Over from Isle of Man are metal-infused crossover act, Swarf Damage who play it hard and fast; while the subtly titled Spunk Volcano & the Eruptions finds the Dirt Box Disco frontman in a more sombre mood than he is when fronting his other project.
Another year and another appearance by the duo The Meffs whose Alternate Punk Rock sound attracts bigger crowds annually. Judging by the number of the band’s T-shirts on show today, you can guarantee they’ll be back next year for a higher billing again. I’m wise to Half Naked Headline’s duplicity and prepare myself for another raging performance by the quartet. It’s been thirty-years since the debut album from Strung Out and the Californian melodic hardcore punks make a stop off in Blackpool on their way from Leeds to London. Rather than the myriad short, sharp punk rock bangers, the band regularly include some metallic and even progressive elements into their sound.
Dick Lucas bring his Subhumans back to Blackpool for another rage at the consumerist capitalist state of the nation, including the reggae-infused British Disease; Tacoma street punks, Noi!se appear to be having a blast, with the somewhat unique vocal stylings of Matt Henson letting the band stand out from the crowd.
Had the 2023 show from the indominable U.K. Subs at this very venue been their last appearance it would have seen the band departing on a high. As it is the Farewell Tour is rolling on and on and, even though sir Charles Harper is now an octogenarian, it appears he’s lost none of the hunger or drive of the past. Along with the standard Subs’ songs, there’s a special Olympic resonance to the inclusion of Party in Paris this evening.
Mad, bad and dangerous to know, frenzied Oi! outfit, Tear Up set about making the reconfigured Arena all their own; regulars The Bar Stool Preachers show the multi-faceted reaches of the genre, blending Ska rhythms with a punk attitude, all delivered by the dervish of energy that is Tom McFaull. For some reason, of great mystery to be sure, but it takes performances like this to remind me how good Sham 69 are. The Pursey / Parsons / Tregunna iteration of the band belie their collected ages and deliver a powerful set of pure punk classics. Hurry Up Harry, Angels with Dirty Faces, Hersham Boys and If the Kids Are United all transcend the years and the unbridled energy of the show makes me feel somewhat enfeebled. Pursey, stripped to the waist and looking every inch the reprobate the papers warned you about back in the day, is on fine voice, bringing the curtain (almost) down on Rebellion 2024’s first day.
There’s just enough time to catch Canadian heavyweights The Casualties ripping the Casbah to pieces and then on to see if I can catch the end of The Warriors.
Photo credits: Dod Morrison
