Rebellion Festival 2025: A punk paradise, and secret ska haven!
Blackpool in August is usually a mix of candy floss, hen parties and ‘Kiss Me Quick’ hats but for one glorious long weekend, the towns Winter Gardens becomes the beating heart of a punk super volcano.
This year’s Rebellion Festival was a kaleidoscope of noise, colour, and attitude: leather jackets patched to within an inch of their lives, booted and braced skins and general lovers of the wide ranging genre that is punk.
We’d come to soak it all in, our first visit to the UK’s top punk festival and by the time we stepped through the doors on Thursday afternoon, we knew we was walking into something more than just a festival. This was a living, breathing piece of music history.
But would we recommend it to someone who was Ska through and through?
For me, it didn’t matter so much, my music tastes go way beyond just Ska, although those offbeat rhythms are my favourite. Ska, Punk, Mod, Soul, Folk-Rock and much more all come together to fill my playlists.
But Rebellion is so much more than a Punk Festival, although this is obviously the main focus.
Arriving on the Thursday, we quickly checked into our hotel and with this shocking news comes a warning. Blackpool hotels are a breed unto themselves. By the time we bought our tickets, pickings were on the slim side so what we got was a semi derelict half way house where you had to run around in the shower just to get wet! Still the bedding was clean and it was a three minute walk to the venue so it served as somewhere to crash out just fine. However, if you like one or two home comforts in a hotel, then I would advise booking your accommodation as early as possible!
A quick “shower” and we headed to the venue to get a feel for the place. Swapped tickets for a wristband and we were in.
One thing that strikes you almost immediately is just how well organised this event is. Quick and easy to get your armband, friendly helpful staff and everything in one place. A great start!
Having a good wander around the Blackpool Winter Gardens, and you quickly see that everything you need is under one roof. If you never want to leave the venue, you wouldn’t need to – six stages, restaurant, food stalls, merchandise, bars aplenty and toilets to match!
However, the festival spirit and vibe isn’t restricted to the venue. Wander around the local bars and cafe’s and you will find street performers, smaller gigs in bars and a subculture salad of people milling around. What’s more, the local businesses seem to really welcome the influx, decorating their properties and even sporting fake mohicans. It really is an event that the whole town becomes involved in and that makes for a really friendly and welcoming atmosphere.
Back to the event itself, and a bit of pre-planning is well worth it. There are so many bands on over so many stages that you need to be prepared if you want to catch your favourites. My solution was an elaborate excel spreadsheet, much to the amusement of my better half!
From a Ska lovers point of view, the Thursday offered up a generous helping of skanking sounds in the shape of ‘Buster Shuffle’, ‘Dakka Skanks’, ‘Broken 3 Ways’ and ‘Death of Guitar Pop’. Unfortunately, the first two were both on at the same time on differing stages so I had to split my time between the two, starting with Buster Shuffle and then heading off to Dakka Skanks half way through. Both were awesome and the venues were packed for both performances.
This was followed with a visit to the Rebellion Introducing Stage, a central performance venue surrounded by all the stalls. This is a perfect venue for the ‘up and coming’ acts and on this occasion we took in ‘Broken Three Ways’, a north west based ska punk outfit that I’ve not seen before. And they didn’t disappoint!
Fronted by two big dudes, who double up as the brass section, they are energetic, loud and frankly awesome and I think ‘Doghouse’ might be my new favourite anthem!
Finally, at least as far as the Ska music offering goes, the evening offered up ‘Death of Guitar Pop’.
These guys need no introduction, and bring together Madness-esque ska beats, a smattering of punk and a dose of pop. I wasn’t entirely sure how they would go down at what is primarily a punk festival, but the crowd lapped them up and they delivered a polished performance of all their biggest tunes.
Knackered after a day of travelling and skanking, we decided an early night was in order on the Thursday to prepare for the next three days!
Friday morning started with the search for a decent breakfast, and following a couple of recommendations, we were not disappointed. We chose ‘Compass Cafe Bar’ and we were thoroughly satisfied when we left after a full English that was just proper grub and set us up for the busy day ahead! Great food and really friendly staff – if you’re ever in Blackpool, it is thoroughly recommended 👍
Friday promised more skanking goodness. On the bill today were ‘Popes of Chillitown’, ‘Random Hand’, ‘The Toasters’, ‘Save Ferris’, ‘Monkey’ and ‘The Selecter’. Unfortunately, Chris Murray was also playing at the same time as Save Ferris, so we had to make a hard decision (sorry Chris!).
‘Popes of Chillitown’ set the Empress Ballroom alight with their high tempo ska punk and ‘Random Hand’, who followed them on stage just fanned those flames. They are both a stellar advert for the new breed of ska punk that is around right now and just seems to be going from strength to strength.
I was soaking wet and knackered by the time these two had finished and it was only 4:30pm! I also managed to catch an amazing ‘Jenny Woo’ acoustic set as the bands changed over which was a huge added bonus.
I will add at this point that I have never known a festival that sticks to band timings as well as Rebellion. If a band are billed as coming on stage at 3:55pm, that is when they will start their set. It makes planning for your weekend really easy and is a credit to the organisers.
Quickly following this, ‘The Toasters’ hit the Club Casbah stage and being one of my favourite Ska bands from across the years (or ‘waves’ if you like), I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed. And I wasn’t of course. Simply great ska tunes played well!
Next, it was straight back to Empress Ballroom for ‘Save Ferris’. I’m not going to lie, these guys passed me by the first time around in the 90’s, and I’ve only heard one or two of their tracks since they reformed in 2013. Not sure how this happened to be honest as their energy and passion on stage was awesome. Monique had the crowd eating out of her hands and I was yet again wiped out by the time they came to the end of their set. Great stuff indeed!
Luckily, we now had a few hours break until our next ‘must see’ band, which gave us time to catch our breath and have a look around the local bars. The one that became our ‘local’ for the weekend was the ‘West Coast Rock Cafe’ (renamed West Coast Punk Rock Cafe this weekend). They had very friendly staff, live music, reasonably priced beer and outside seating that was ideal for our favourite pastime of ‘people watching’!
A few (too many) beers later and we headed back to the venue for the evening entertainment that consisted (for us at least) of ‘Monkey’ and ‘The Selecter’.
It’s probably worth mentioning that also available were ‘The Meffs’, ‘Anti Nowhere League’, ‘The Undertones’ and ‘The Damned’ (plus MANY more) so there was plenty to choose from!
I had seen Monkey last year at Blam Blam Fever Ska Festival and was hugely impressed with their stage presence and sound, so was looking forward to seeing them again. They didn’t disappoint!
Then, after another pint or three, it was time for ‘The Selecter’ to hit the stage.
I mean wow, Pauline is 71 years of age now, and she hasn’t lost 1% of her stage presence. She still commands the stage with the same fire, grace, and razor-sharp charisma that made her an icon. Time hasn’t dimmed her presence, it’s only made it more formidable.
It’s been many year since I last saw The Selecter and I was no less wowed by what I saw and heard. Just superb stuff from these absolute legends of Two-Tone.
With that done, it was back to the shack to attempt some sleep, alongside the many seagulls outside that were auditioning for a slasher movie right outside our window that wouldn’t shut properly. Still, the alcohol helped!
Saturday again started with a Compass breakfast, and then we decided to explore Blackpool a little more, with a walk along the seafront accompanied by blowing some money in the many amusements!
It was also around this time that we realised that not only was there a punk festival on in Blackpool this weekend, but a two day air show was also taking place! From being almost deafened sat outside the pub by an RAF Typhoon to watching the Red Arrows shoot across the sky, it was a pleasant added bonus to the weekend. What’s more, it appears the two coincide next year too!
First up on the line up for us on Saturday were the awesome ‘Los Fastidios’. Another band we’ve not seen before and how we have missed out! The pure energy on Empress Ballroom stage was electric and the crowd absolutely loved them.
This band have anthem after anthem and the Rebellion crowd were only too happy to join in! From ‘SkaBillyBoogie’ and ‘Why Don’t You Eat Your Cat?’ to the huge ‘Antifa Hooligans’, this was a sing-a-long masterclass. A stunning performance!
We then took in a few of the non-Ska bands throughout the afternoon (‘The Molotovs’ and ‘Gimp Fist’ were both standouts) and retired for a ‘rest’ to our chosen pub for a few beers and then something to eat. We had ‘Neville Staple’ on later in the day and didn’t want to burn out too early! There is a LOT on at this festival!
Fast forward to Nev’s set and the room was again packed to the rafters for the ex-Specials legend. What he may have lost in mobility over the years, he has certainly not lost in entertainment value! Classic after classic filled the air and the pulsating crowd just oozed love for the original rude boy!
After that it was a few beers then off to bed, but we could have stayed for more legends as ‘Slaughter & The Dogs’, ‘Peter Hook & The Light’ and ‘Public Image Limited’ were all on offer.
Before we knew it, we were onto the last day. The time seemed to have flown by, but at the same time, my liver was starting to give up hope. Hang in there dude, only one more day to go!
We knew that Sunday evening was set to be frantic with ‘The Bar Stool Preachers’, ‘Bite Me Bambi’ and ‘Bad Manners’ all playing in relatively quick succession so we spent most of the day eating and drinking around the venue, and taking in the odd acoustic set (and ‘Grade 2’ – who were excellent).
First up for the evening were ‘The Bar Stool Preachers’ and having seen these guys before, I knew we were in for a treat. The drive, energy and passion on stage really fed through to the packed audience and the place was bouncing. A cracking set that had everyone singing along!
Next up were ‘Bite Me Bambi’, a band that I had been looking forward to seeing all weekend, and for a long time before that!
And what a set it was! Kicking off with ‘Too Many People’ and ‘Like That’, they went through eleven tracks of Bite Me Bambi goodness and left me thoroughly satisfied but at the same time, wanting to hear more. They oozed energy on stage and front woman Tahlena put everything in to the performance. I absolutely love this band and they really just reinforced that!
After Bite Me Bambi, it was a quick dash from the Arena to Club Casbah to catch ‘Bad Manners’. I’ve lost count on how many times I’ve seen Buster live, but well into the double figures. One of the first was way back in the 90’s at The Roxy in Sheffield where he surfed the crowd on a giant surf board.
The years have obviously seen him tone down his on (and off) stage antics, but the songs still get the crowd going and by the time they had completed their set, most of the crowd, at least where I was near the front, were wet through and down right worn out!
It was another epic performance and a great way to close out our Rebellion experience.
And that was that, our Rebellion Festival was over! We did, however, manage to purchase our early bird tickets for next year before we left, and the first thing we did when we got home was to sit and find a better hotel. All booked and counting down the months, weeks and days until the next one!
Absolute props to the organisers of Rebellion and the venue. There was so much to see, do and listen to that we didn’t even see the half of it. There’s a literary stage with interviews, panel sessions and much more, stalls, food stands, an in-venue pub with acoustic sets and DJ’s, a restaurant…the list goes on. In between bands, there are staff collecting all the dropped plastic glasses to clear the way for the next acts fans, free drinking water on every bar that’s kept topped up all the time (VERY welcome at times) and just a great vibe.
As mentioned, outside the venue, the festival stretches it’s wings into the surrounding pubs and bars, with a healthy fringe festival running alongside the main event.
So, would I recommend Rebellion Festival to Ska and Ska-Punk fans. ABSOLUTELY!
Go get your tickets, they will sell out again. Next year is the events 30th Anniversary and it’s sure to be a blinder!
Next up, we’ll be at Blam Blam Fever Ska Festival, Redcar in the North East of England in just a few weeks time…
