Rock Regeneration

The Winter Gardens, Blackpool

(Check out Part 1 and Part 2, and Part 4)

And so I’m back for round 3! Saturday at Rebellion sees a midday start for me in the Empress with “Trioxin Cherry”, a loud; screamy, female-fronted 3 piece. The vocals are generally shouty and snarly with occasional softer tones, but I have to say I’m bored rigid. I head for the Casbah to catch the truly excellent “Gasoline Thrill”, a welcome return to audible vocals and decent songs. This London 4 piece I suppose slot into “Riot Grrr” territory; main vocalist Samara has a vocal style not unlike Courtney love and the band have a clutch of decent songs in their set, including the excellent “Break”.

They are followed by “The Go Set”, a Celtic/Punk/Folk band with 6 members all vying for space on this stage. They play anthemic Folk/Punk with occasional bagpipes and are perfect for the Casbah this early in the day.

I make a dash back to their Empress for “October File” who bludgeon the senses with their Post/Punk Terror Rock! It’s truly deafening and I leave to preserve my hearing! A quick trip to the Arena is taken to catch “Saints & Sinners” and their straight up “Oi” and anthemic slabs of ear-crushing music with angry vocals-already I feel today is “gonna be a loud one!”

Next stop is back in the Casbah to catch the interestingly monikered “3CR”. These 4 Punks from Manchester don’t take themselves too seriously and just have fun onstage. Set highlight has to be “Grimsby Fish” as they come across like the Anti Nowhere League on speed! Highly entertaining and fun! I head back to the Empress to catch those Punk legends Menace. I hate to say this but they seem somewhat “lost” on a stage this size-(last year they nailed it in the Arena). They try out some new material including “Vote Punk Rock” and “F*ck You”. They both lack the power of their all too well known “GLC” which thankfully redeems them somewhat but I leave a tad disappointed.

As I make my exit I’m handed a flyer from local haunt “The Tache”. This afternoon there’s a Siouxsie and The Banshees Tribute playing; so I think hell, why not. The Tache (above the Rose and Crown) is half full as I catch the last 2 songs by Healthy Junkies. They are superb and I wish I’d come earlier. Singer Nina happily chats and poses for pictures afterwards and gives me a CD – review to follow!

And so to Lizzie (AKA Siouxsie). When you haven’t ever seen the original the Tribute is your only hope! Today we are in for a treat as both singer and band are great. Yes there’s one or two missed lines but largely they are excellent. “Monitor” is a set highlight but I could’ve picked one of many songs from their 90 minute set. Lizzie happily poses for pictures afterwards and happily chats with punters.

I return just in time to catch “Eastfield” who deliver a confident set of “train-related songs”! This happy-go-lucky 4 piece keep us entertained throughout and I for once stay til’ the end. After this I head for the Casbah early as Dirt Box Disco are on soon and I’m guessing there’ll be big crowd. I’m not disappointed. 30 minutes before they arrive onstage the Casbah is almost full. The buzz around me starts early as the crowd start singing “Hooray, Hooray, it’s Dirt Box Day…..” We don’t have to wait long as they take to the stage. This quintet are also buzzing and encourage the singalongs. They deliver a set full of anthems from their 3 albums. Weab (vox) is conducting us while Spunk (guitar) is chief rabble rouser!! The reaction is amazing – I haven’t seen crowd surfing on this scale since Carter USM in the 90’s. The band lap it up but leave us begging for more at the end. We think they’ve finished but stick around to “encore” “Let’s Get F*ckin’ Wasted”. A huge moshpit ensues and we all join in before they leave us to long, loud applause. I speak to the band afterwards and find out they’ve shifted every LP they brought! The only thing I don’t understand about DBD is why they are not filling arena-sized venues on a regular basis. Surely 2015 will see them on the Empress Stage-we shall see.

I catch my breath and stick around for “Cult Maniax”. The 4 piece have a big drum sound but I don’t stay long, choosing instead to hear “Imperial Leisure” back in the Arena. These multi instrumentalists entertain from the outset. Their great big brass sound is complimented by a great vocal before they ask for “The Beast” to join them onstage? Someone duly obliges and the fun continues.

Back in the Pavilion “ATV” (and band) are getting ready to start. Mark Perry (lead vox) of “Sniffin’ Glue” fame looks angry, but delivers his deep Cockney vocal tones over some (boredom-era) Buzzcocks-esque guitars. I watch most of their set then head to the Empress to join the huge crowd waiting for the UK Subs. Charlie (Harper) walks on and shouts “F*ckin’ ell, speechless”! They deliver a great set with a few surprises from their 37 year back catalogue. All the usual suspects are played but the highlight has to be the whole room singing “Warhead”. They end where it all kinda began on TOTP’s all those years ago with “Stranglehold”. For this reviewer this is todays highlight.

My first visit to the Bazaar today means I catch the somewhat “late” onstage UK Decay. Their Post/Punk/Goth huge guitar sound takes me right back. A lady in front of me however is providing the entertainment with some quite unusual dancing. The guitars become a little clangy in places and a wall of sound begins, but UK Decay remind us of a bygone era. I hope to catch “Spizz Energi” but their soundcheck takes forever so I go back to the Empress for Killing Joke. This is another first for me and I am quite simply blown away by the sheer volume of sound. They begin with “Wardance” and continue with the well known songs whose titles escape me. Jaz (vox) is in fine voice and commands the stage. In fact my only disappointment is the omission of “Love Like Blood”. Really though I can’t complain, they are deserved of the headline slot.

http://www.rebellionfestivals.com/

(Check out Part 1 and Part 2, and Part 4)

Words by Ross.