Tuesday 09 August 2022.

This is going to be a great few days this weekend...SEE YOU THERE... So many great bands each night that i have seen before over the years. Thurs 04 Aug to Sun 07 Aug - REBELLION FESTIVAL is held in Blackpool. Rebellion is the UKs number one punk related festival in the UK. I have been to it several times before , including when it used to held in Morecombe as "Holidays In The Sun"....my last time was in 2012. Over 10,000 punks and other musical tribes mix happily for a great atmosphere. It did not take place in Aug 2020 and Aug 2021 due to Covid, but they are back with a bang. Over 300 bands playing over multi-stages indoors with many legendary big names playing. This year they have added an outdoor R-Stage at Blackpool Tower. Blackpool has hundreds of great value bed & breakfast hotels. Headliners and highlights include....... Thurs 04 Aug - Levellers + Circle Jerks + Hawkwind + Spizz Energi + The Boys Fri 05 Aug - Stranglers + Sham 69 + Undertones + Skids + From The Jam + The Professionals Sat 06 Aug - Gary Numan + Cock Sparrer + Peter Hook & The Light + Cockney Rejects + Wedding Present Sun 07 Aug - Squeeze + Billy Bragg + Stiff Little Fingers + Tom Robinson Band + Hollie Cook + Buzzcocks www.rebellionfestivals.com - Visit their website here for more info on the line-up and to buy tickets....straight after the festival ends you can buy tix for Aug 2023. 20 June UPDATE - The stages and set times for Rebellion and R-Fest have now been announced after weeks of scheduling and shuffling. 01 August UPDATE - R-Fest, starting this Thursday in front of Blackpool Tower on the promenade, are offering free tickets for NHS key workers. Although the country and government moight have stopped clapping for the NHS, R-Fest want to show their gratitude for everything they did during the pandemic by offering one hundred tickets per day to the wonderful NHS workers. ------------------ Seeing thousands of punk rockers walking around Blackpool really is an amazing sight. Great to bump into friends from London and all around the country...it is a very social event... A fantastic atmosphere, will no trouble in the venues or outside whatsoever. We have an incredible choice of over 60 bands/acts daily, over the multi-stages. I will easily see over 100 live music events this year, but doubt any will be as enjoyable as this one. THURSDAY MICK ROSSI INTERVIEW...a 30 mins chat about his career with and after Slaughter & The Dogs. KNOCK OFF...my friend wanted to watch this band and the following band. Lots of good catchy singalong tunes including "Football, Beer & Punk Rock". A great thing was all the bands had use of the big light show here at all the venues. DIRTBOX DISCO...they came on with a mixture of face masks, wigs and make-up. Again, lots of uptempo catchy singalongs including "lI Don't Wanna Go Out With You" and "My Life is Shit". SPIZZ ENERGI...Spizz played a few of his classics from 40 odd years ago including "6000 Crazy", "Soldier Soldier" and "Where's Captain Kirk?". CIRCLE JERKS...are playing a rare visit to the UK...this hardcore punk band from Los Angeles, formed in 1979 , and played a mental 32 songs in their 60 mins set, that the moshing crowd loved. THE BOYS....arrived on stage at 9.30pm for their 55 mins of catchy pop punk gems. They had a nice big screen showing record covers and info on each song , which included the year it was released and who wrote it. Lots of their oldies from the late 1970s played including "T.C.P.", "Cop Car", "Brickfield Nights" and "Sick On You " along with a few good tracks from their most recent album release "Punk Rock Menopause", which was released in 2014. Overall a great opening night. -------------------------------- FRIDAY THE VAPORS arrived on the outdoor R-stage at 1.30pm for their 40 mins set. Catchy pop tunes played including their big hit "Turning Japanese". JILTED JOHN & band arrived on stage at 2.30pm for his very enjoyable & humourous set. He pretty much talks rather than sings the lyrics, and great to hear "Gordon is a Moron" again. TOYAH & band arrived on stage at 3.35pm for their 55 mins set. Toyah is currently making great Sunday lunchtime videos for social media with her husband Robert Fripp. She looks fab for her 64 years of age , and nice to hear her big hits "It's A Mystery" and "I Want To Break Free"....and she says "she is wetting her knickers " at the thought of supporting Billy Idol on his UK arena tour in October. BOOZE & GLORY...another band that my friend wanted me to see. Lots of folks are proudly wearing their t-shirts and they played a very lively set. They ended their set with a rousing "Only Fools Get Caught" that the crowd went wild to. THE PROFESSIONALS...feature punk rock drumming legend Paul Cook from The Sex Pistols. A great set that mixed their own material with a couple of Sex Pistols gems. Set included "Just Another Dream", "Going, Going, Gone", "Silly Thing" , "Lonely Boy" , Kick Down The Doors","Problems" , "1-2-3" and "Steppin' Stone". SLAUGHTER BITE BACK...feature original SATD guitar slinger Mick Rossi. Slaughter And The Dogs were another punk band that were around during the heyday of punk. Great songs played including "Boston Babies", "Hell in New York", " East Side of Town", and 'Cranked Up Really High". THE BLOCKHEADS...the great lyrics of Ian Dury still live on with a new singer, including "Sex & Drugs & Rock n Roll", "What A Waste", "Sweet Gene Vincent" and "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick"...and a rousing finale of " Blockheads". I think they still have three original members in the band. SHAM 69...arrived on stage at 9.50pm for their 55 mins set. Another band with three original members playing. Luckily i was in situ with the band before as for Sham the doors were shut as venue reached capacity. Lots of their superb catchy singalong hits played including "Borstall Breakout" , "Angels With Dirty Faces", "If The Kids Are United", "Hersham Boys" and "Hurry Up Harry"...an excellent set. THE RAMONAS arrived on stage at 11.05pm for the 50 mins of Ramones covers. The all-female band sound great and the singer does a neat Joey Ramone , and they whizzed through many Ramones classics, just like the real Ramones did. -------------------------------- SATURDAY THE LEE HARVEYS were a band a couple of mates were heading off to see. A good set from these Dubliners, including the track "Dead Popstar". 999 arrived on stage at 3.25pm for their 40 mins set. They are the only band that have played every one of these punk festivals. I have seen them many times since the 1970s punk heyday...always great to see them. Original singer Nick Cash is still fronting them. Great songs played included "Emergency", "Nasty Nasty" , "Homicide" and "I'm Alive" GIMP FIST arrived on stage at 4.30pm for their 40 mins set. The oddly named Gimp Fist are promoting their 8th studio album "Isolation". They attract a big crowd and lots of moshing for their catchy uptempo singalongs. Over to the big outdoor R-stage for the first of three bands, starting with POP WILL EAT ITSELF PWEI have had 11 x Top 40 hits in the UK between 1989 and 1994. Bouncy indie-rave dance tunes got folks dancing down the front. PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT arrived on stage at 7.40pm for their 70 mins set. Peter Hook was the legendary bass player in both Joy Division and New Order. His two amps are sprayed white with "Salford Rules" and "Guitar Hero". Tonight he plays an entire set of Joy Division classic tracks that was just fantastic. Highlights included "Isolation", "She's Lost Control", "Shadowplay", "Ceremony", and "Love Will Tear Us Apart"....Peter is top notch on the vocals as well... GARY NUMAN arrived on stage at 9.25pm and played for 80 mins. I have seen Gary Numan around 25 times with most of them in the 1980s when he played multi-nights at Hammersmith Odeon when i worked front stage security. Plenty of his loyal hardcore fans are all over the front few rows. Lots of newer material played, which has a great industrial rock wall of sound. Great to hear the older hits "Cars", "Down In The Park" and of course "Are Friends Electric?" Rushed back indoors to see to catch five songs from the mighty GODFATHERS. Three gems at the end , "I Want Everything", "This Damn Nation" and "Birth School Work Death". MOTORHEADACHE play for around 45 mins. The UKs number one Motorhead tribute band have an excellent Lemmy lookalike and soundalike. Plenty of classics played including "Killed By Death", "Bomber" and "Ace of Spades". Another fantastic day at Rebellion. -------------------------------- SUNDAY ALTERED IMAGES arrived on stage at 2.30pm for their 50 mins set. They are the first of four bands i watch on the trot at the outside R-stage. A very nice afternoon setting as the sun is out and to the right of the stage is the Irish Sea. Singer Claire Grogan is looking much younger than her 60 years, as she dances around the stage. Good to hear her hits from 40 years ago including "I Could Be Happy", "Don't Talk To Me About Love" and of course "Happy Birthday". BUZZCOCKS arrived on stage at 3.45pm for their 60 mins set. Buzzcocks vocalist Pete Shelley sadly died a few years ago, so original guitarist Steve Diggle takes over the vocals, which means they are further down the bill than they would be if Pete was still alive. Solo material was played but the fans really wanted to hear those Buzzcocks classics including "What Do I Get?", "Fast Cars", "Orgasm Addict" , "Promises" and "Ever Fallen In Love". HOLLIE COOK arrived on stage at 5.05pm for her 55 mins set. Hollie Cook is promoting her recently released 4th studio album "Happy Hour". Hollie is the daughter of Sex Pistols legend Paul Cook. Hollie bounces around the stage singing her summary tropical reggae songs. A great band , with the keyboard player dishing out the cool dub snippets. TOM ROBINSON BAND arrived on stage at 6.30pm for his 65 mins set. Tom played a superb set , mixing his great songs with his entertaining stage banter. His punk rock chum TV Smith joined him on stage for two songs. Highlights included "Martin", "Too Good To Be True", "War Baby", "Glad To Be Gay", "2-4-6-8 Motorway", "Up Against The Wall" and "Power In The Darkness". RUTS DC arrived on stage at 8.10pm for their 60 mins set. Lesser known punk dub tracks for the first 30 mins then gems "Staring At The Rude Boys", "In A Rut" and "Babylons Burning". STIFF LITTLE FINGERS arrived on stage at 9.40pm for their 70 mins set. No surprise the room was rammed, and many could not get in as capacity reached. A lethal opening of "Suspect Device" and "Fly The Flag" was brilliant. Plenty of other goodies played including "Nobody's Hero", "Barbed Wire Love", "Gotta Getaway", "Tin Soldiers" and their usual finale of the incredible "Alternative Ulster". Another excellent day of great live music. ------------------------------- THE FRIDAY LINE-UP WAS MY 7300th SHOW SEEN BY ME SINCE 1973. EARLY BIRD SPECIAL PRICE TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE FOR REBELLION AUGUST 2023.

Posted 3rd August 2022