Day two started like a tourist cliché (well it was my first time in Blackpool). A stroll in scorching sunshine along the beach front from pier to pier, past the tower, taking in the sights and people watching, buying some Blackpool rock and then off for some breakfast cocktails. Managed to get a proper catch up before heading into Winter Gardens with Cap’n C and Gig-Antics Ma, plus their (and now my) Canadian Punk pals, Jeff #1 and Katrina #1 ("The Canadians") who I got to know well over the rest of the weekend, not least because they kept the pace drinking with Cap’n and me (no small feat and still going with us at 4am!).
Apart from the bands (individual write ups below) and as well as the in-between sets refreshment pitstops with Cap’n, Maw, Peni Punk Sam, Ricardo & Wolf, The Robertses, Swedish Cockneys plus others, and now expected, but still random catch-ups with old pals through the day (The Glasgow Gang, more of the Touring Goths and still trying to find the Auld Young Yins who I hadn’t managed to catch up with yet), there were more random new encounters, with special mention to one that kept me from seeing Pauline Murray and Toyah, but was well worth it for such a good blether and another ‘small world’ experience in random conversation with Andy from Dundee, who it seems we have a lot in common through both music and work (Andy, lovin what I’ve heard so far of the Aftrshocks!).
It was such a full-on afternoon I had to nip back to get changed out of my sweat soaked clothes for the evening shift (and to take far too much merch bought, back to the hotel) for a quick re-charge for the longest part of the weekend – an evening, night and early morning that went on until a lot longer than it should have…
The busiest planned day of bands – and most varied – took me round a lot of the venue but seemed to always come back to the Opera House, which started with Vulpynes.
Vulpynes (Opera House)
A lively rock / punk vibe from this Dublin duo with heavy hitting guitar riffs and make a bigger sound than you’d expect from just two musicians with what looked like a pretty spartan set up of drummer and guitarist/singer. A great energetic start to the day. A good set of songs to get you going and bop along to. Haven’t been able to find out much about them since Rebellion but well worth checking out on Bandcamp or streaming and hopefully they’ll be touring sometime soon.
Los Fastidios (Almost Acoustic)
One of the day’s highlights next, as we started to gather the gang again at the Almost Acoustic stage, which was packed out for Los Fastidios, who I wanted to see as they’re playing Edinburgh in February and thought I’d check them out in advance. Again, another energetic early slot with these upbeat Italian Oi! punks putting on a great show that had me buying tickets on my phone for the February Edinburgh gig after only two songs in. Excellent stuff. They seemed to be bursting with happiness as they bounced around the stage, encouraging the crowd and leading a mass singalong to some great tunes. The sprung-floor was going up and down in time with the crowd in away I’ve only felt at the Barrowlands and then only on rare wild nights – a good indicator of a well appreciated set. This was a (nearly) acoustic set but a full band and plenty easy to get into tunes on offer, like Antifa Hooligan, Football Is Coming and Take A Stand, their set was perfect for this stage, time and mood – the crowd lapped it up and was with them all the way. Their sound was a great mix of punk, a bit of ska and even reggae in there. A nod to Rebellion, Back To Blackpool went down well and I have to say their version of Only You is up there as one of the best songs of the whole weekend. Seeing their main set on day three in the Empress Ballroom was already on my plan, but now a definitely must-not-miss part of it.
TV Smith: playing The Adverts (Opera House)
There was a pretty sizeable queue early for TV Smith – not unusual for changeovers at Rebellion between bands and these are usually managed pretty well, but there still seemed to be folk trying to get in later on in his set and were either being turned away or pointed to the top balcony. There aren’t many musicians who can rock up on their own with only a guitar and command a stage that size, but TV managed it with rock n roll swagger (and the occasional stroll round stage to put a bit of momentum into the performance). He treated fans to a range of Adverts songs – not hits, but more obscure non-standard songs or B-sides, and the fans loved it – a lot around me were hypnotised by him. Looked cool, sounded great, job done.
The Rose Of Avalanche (Opera House)
“Is this where the Goths are hangin out then?” we were asked by a couple who came in for one of the less punk (but no less welcomed) offerings of the weekend. After persuading Ricardo a goth tower was a no-no and even getting up on shoulders would put either or both of us in hospital, we helped one half of the couple persuade their other that The Rose were well worth sticking around for instead of heading away for their band of choice (can’t even remember what that was now, but definitely inferior to Rose IMO). With a solid, thumping intro and start, with Don’t Fly Too High I found myself fan-boying down at the barrier with fellow fans from our regular Touring Goths crowd. We were treated to the best end-to-end 45-minute set of the weekend from five of the best musicians out there (not to mention the coolest motherfckers on any stage anywhere, as I told both Phil and Alan at different times after the gig). With a setlist of crackers, including Castles, The Man, Always There, Rise To The Groove, Goddess, LA Rain and Loose, they raised the bar with a pacey cover of New Rose to finish the set on a high. As well as getting a good blether with Phil after the gig when he caught up with some of our crowd he knew well, I spent far too much on TROA merch (so much I had to put my card in, too high a value for tap-and-go. Oops!) and I haven’t stopped playing their TROA at the BBC album since I got back. Hoping my powers of persuasion on the band (in trying to get them back north of the border sometime soon) is better than persuading the non-TROA half of the couple as he only stayed for a couple of songs, gave a grudged ‘they’re okay’ shrug but still left to go and see whoever it was he had planned to. Ah well, his loss.
The March Violets (Opera House)
Keeping the back-to-back Leeds bands’ “Whitby vibe” going, next was The March Violets and at this point the Opera House was definitely less punk than other parts of the festival but just seemed to get busier and busier (I’m told this venue holds almost 3,000, but I don’t think it was that busy). Very atmospheric, very theatrical, very big vocals and very, very good. Rosie Garland adds something front and centre that not many other bands can match - well versed in how to entertain a crowd and as an experienced bunch of musicians their playing is tight. Another great set, playing a good mix of classic tunes (always expected, so goes down well in festival sets) and a few new ones from their superb recent album Crocodile Promises.
With both the March Violets and TROA having been part of many of our crowds’ soundtracks since our teenage years, there started a bit of nostalgic photo sharing from ‘back in the day’ and while these were entertaining (sometimes hilarious) and mostly unrecognisable to who we are now, I don’t think any of us have properly grown up and still feel like we’re still those same people we were then on the inside (and no intention of changing, so up yours).
Johnny Moped (Opera House)
I was only 5 or 6 years old when punk exploded into the music scene and Johnny Moped were there or thereabouts at the time and have been on and off the scene sporadically since. I’ve a picture of some badly spelled graffiti declaring “Punks Not Dad” which is true cos now Punk Is Grandad and hats off to these guys for giving a massive performance. As energetic and full on a set as I saw all weekend – I was knackered just watching them. I didn’t know their set but did enjoy all of it. Not much chat between songs (except to announce the last song they wrote in 1979) but a solid set all round.
I left Peni Punk Sam in the Opera House (“Ah’m no movin’ – I’m no missing the Bar Stool Preachers on next") and headed out to raid the Rose Of Avalanche merch stall and away to change and (unusually sensibly) grab a bite to eat.
Jawless? (RIS In Pavilion)
I put a question mark against this band as I had a wander when I came back from my pitstop and ended up at RIS to see who was on. I’m still not sure if it was Jawless or someone else (the timings were a bit hazy, and I couldn’t match up when I was there to the Clashfinder line up times). It was fairly empty when I got there but filled quickly and when the band came on playing a pretty thrashy intro song that set the tone. Before their second track the singer asked the crowd “come on, let’s get a circle pit going!” which was my cue to take a few steps back from the front of stage just in time as it kicked off with pints flying and a fair few giving it a good stomp.
Not my bag really, so I went for a beer to check in and find out where everyone was, which is when I grabbed an empty spot next to Dundee Andy and got blethering for more time than expected but had a great chat about Edinburgh, Dundee, punk, indie, goth, his son’s band, some mutual friends through music and coincidentally work. After meeting his son and then speak about a chance meeting with The Melbies at the very same table the day before, they walked past, stopping to say hello again! I missed Pauline Murray after that, when catching back up with folk before heading into the Empress early, so as not to miss two of the biggest bands of the day, Gogol Bordello and The Stranglers.
Gogol Bordello (Empress Ballroom)
I’ve never seen Gogol Bordello and rarely seen as many line-up changes during the one gig. They started with a fairly standard band of three or four, added a few as they went into their set, musicians and singers coming and going throughout (eight or nine at one point?) and most taking centre stage for at least a couple of songs with their instrument or vocals being the main focus. I think I saw them ten or twelve years ago randomly on a London trip where they were playing somewhere in Camden where we happened to be drinking at the time, and their sound hasn’t really changed just grown. Their fast-paced folky-punk sound is much the same and had the crowd bouncing from start to finish. On this showing I think they’ve a good claim to be a headliner for Rebellion in the next year or two.
Before The Stranglers came on there were a few distractions. First, I spotted and chatted with Rose Of Avalanche’s ace on bass Alan Davis, fan-boying it a bit, telling him how great their set was and how cool they were (an Edinburgh gig next, please lads!). Next, I got photo of the weekend with a chap with four long spikes on the top of his head, standing just in front of me (“are you in goth jail dad?” was one comment from Gig-Antics jr when I posted it). And to round off my sidelines between bands, I got chatting with a couple of best pals Alan & Will, who’d been mates and gigging together for decades. When I spotted them chatting next to me, I thought it just summed up the whole Rebellion weekend perfectly. A couple of guys, laughing together, relaxing and taking it all in. Lovely fellas and happy to oblige me and my blethering.
The Stranglers (Empress Ballroom)
The Stranglers didn’t disappoint. I suppose there’s an expectation that a headliner will play a lot of songs that will keep any ‘non-fans’ entertained (the Empress Ballroom holds more than 3,000) although I think you’d have been hard-pressed to find someone who didn't like them in there. Classics including Duchess, Skin Deep, Peaches, Golden Brown, Hanging Around were scattered through the twenty-odd songs set they rattled through to round off day two. A guest appearance from Laura Logic for Hey! and ended with the anthemic No More Heroes. Crowd wild, lights up, head home (ish).
Caught up with Cap’n, Ma and the Canadians then made our way to the bar in my hotel for a night cap, that turned into another sesh once we got in tow with other Rebellion residents; another Canadian and The Chelsea brothers Dave and Darren, who were unexpectedly well versed with pubs and locals of the Leith area including boxing legend Ken Buchanan. Small world strikes again. Too many late-night beers, shots and peach schnapps versions of Baby Guinnesses meant an almost dawn finish, but well worth it for exactly what the weekend was for; music, laughter, old friends and new, Canadian cake recipes (yes really), more drink than necessary and an all-round great time. Great ideas at the time, but come 11am for my check out…ooof!
@vulpynes
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