No sign of Rebellion fatigue this morning, which is just as well as the day is shaping up to be a bumper one. After our usual breakfast stop at the Compass Cafe and after a hazy wander around Blackpool and encountering dinosaurs, huge dogs, puppets and too many friendly faces to recall we are back in the Winter Gardens. As we’re in early we actually get a seat in the pirate themed bar instead of perching our drinks on a barrel, and after some early refreshment we’re ready for day. We’re in early as The Dollheads are opening on the Empress Balllroom after their triumphant appearance on the Introducing Stage last year. 

A big hit with us last year we’re here to see if the outrageously talented Las Vegas youngsters can win over the cavernous Empress Ballroom with their relentlessly infectious bouncy Pop Punk. Easy answer. They do. Forget their youth, forget any novelty value / this is power pop punk 101 made to look easy. Bags of fun and brimming with a ferocious, precocious talent that puts some of the veteran outfits here this festival to shame. We love The Dollheads. We even get an impromptu bass solo to cover a guitar string break. These kids can play. Shangri Las meet Ramones, go check them out.

Its past beer o’clock and the Opera House is filling up with weary Punks, this is the moment many of them have been waiting for, a time when a band who have not been here before get to shine. Gypsy Pistoleros are a complete contrast to The Dollheads youthful exuberance, this is when punk meets glam at a full tilt punk fuelled theatrical rock show. The Church Of The Pistoleros is the name of their upcoming album, and they hit the stage with the title song, and it’s a song that’s not lost on the majority of the crowd, this is a church for the disaffected and the odd, perfect for Rebellion. For the second time this weekend, we get a reinterpretation of Dexy’s Midnight Runners‘ Come On Eileen, although this is is a heavier version that sits in contrast to Save Ferris take on the 80s hit and prevents any sense of deja vu.

If theatrical thrash punk with a dash of cabaret styling is your thing, Split Dogs are for you. Strongly recommended by the Punk cognoscenti, the band don’t disappoint with their sassy short stabs of heavy duty punk rock with a hefty dollop of no fucks given. The sound isn’t the best, which is odd as The Dollheads sounded ace not much earlier. A three-quarter full Empress attests to their popularity. Diamonds in the rough and ones to watch out for. They also take their moniker from the vintage horror film The Return Of The Living Dead, which seems appropriate for the majority of attendees on day three of Rebellion.

Northern Ireland’s original gangsters Protex, veterans of Terri Hooley‘s Good Vibrations stable, have a kind of timeless and very melodic appeal. Maybe it’s the Celtic lyricism and the ingrained melodic tradition that makes their songs universal and as fresh now as they were back in the day. Protex have transcended the Punk scene that spawned them and they just do what they do. And what they do is polished and catchy. Long may they keep doing it. 

Svetlana‘s front woman Olga Svetlana is a sweetheart, full of joie de vivre and and genuinely happy to talk. Then the music starts and she’s a furious spitfire, shooting brutal cannon fire at the corporate and political systems she despises. Her backing for this the hardest of badass punk fury, a pummelling punk barrage of venomous, thunderous guitar punk. It’s ok to be afraid and thrilled. More attitude than is safe for one band to dispense. But they do and we love it. Dangerously good and brutally fierce. Props for having The Dollheads distribute Svetlanas balloons during the set. Out of the frying pan and into the fire we catch Fantazmaz delivering a brutal pummelling in the Introducing Stage, born of the same stable as Svetlanas but a different pedigree, their set includes a nod to the old school with a truly vicious version of Stiff Little Fingers‘ Suspect Device. 

Saturday is always a big day at Rebellion, so actually catching all the bands you want to, and having time to drink and be merry is a tough ask, but we at The Punk Site try our very hardest to split up and cover as much as we can, to this end one of us caught I, Doris whilst others covered other stages. This is a band that is not just a band, its a movement with many facets, Doris on Guitar is backed up by Doris on bass, whilst Doris bangs the Drums and the other Doris tinkles on the Keytar. The songs are filled with humour, but there’s also a message in there, the band are also key players in Loud Women, who are taking over the Introducing Stage tomorrow. A key song in their set had to Beach Body Ready, a satirical look at society’s obsession with the body beautiful, and why women needs to be empowered to break that perception. 

This was a mad dash moment of the day, so much to see and little time in-between, so fitting in the truly special performance of Bite Me with newest addition Kit Swing on vocals was not to be missed. This a sweaty mess of a venue a the best of times, but when Bite Me hit you with their Rock n Roll attitude and tight as hell stage presence, you better go get some more hydration. This set was reminiscent of some early Bikini Kill sets, so when they drove head on into Rebel Girl you knew this was special. As much as Kit gave everything and more to this set with a power and presence that comes right out of the top drawer, the whole band made this work too!!  Bigger stages await this band and a well deserved stand out from this year. Rebellion is not just the current, you get the chance to acquaint yourself with some veterans of the scene. Rumours of a re-energised Nick Cash appear to be confirmed as 999 bang out a storming set in the Empress Ballroom. Tight and accomplished as you’d expect, but this is not nostalgia. This is as alive and vital as you’d have got all those decades ago in The Roxy. And a rammed Empress agrees. Top stuff from punk rock royalty.

Sometimes the inevitable clashes dictate a frantic rush to try and catch a few a new acts, this dash includes a further visit to the Casbah Stage for the The Molotovs who are delivering a set of smart and sharp mod infused high energy power pop. Much hyped and with their debut album set to follow, The Molotovs are a driven band, a band that have tour relentlessly since their inception back in 2020, and have a US tour on the horizon with The Sex Pistols. So live they are unrivalled in their energy and stage presence, when it comes to entertaining, this Rebellion performance was no different, full on punk attitude with Jam reminiscent sounds and styles. Songs that divide and conquer the world all at once, this was pop culture with added zing. After heading out for a cool down, and obviously some liquid refreshment in Dirty Blondes, we encounter two members of long forgotten 70’s punk band The Klingons, they finally have a single out that is getting some long overdue airplay, sometimes persistence pays off.

Here we are again at the stage that means so much to us, the Introducing Stage always throws up the newest music and the sometimes the best, this time its Spleen from Italy who take up the reigns. This is a band that has been on our radar for a little while, they are quite simply one of top up and comers. They start off playing to a half full stage, by the end and with songs like Dystopic School and their reworking of XTC‘s Making Plans For Nigel ringing around the area the floor was now packed. This is a band that within the space of 6 months have gained a fan base and grown in leaps and bounds. This live set at Rebellion had to up there with the best of them, if they are not back next year, then some faith in the system may be lost from our end!

The thing about Rebellion is that with so much going on, on so many stages within minutes of each other, the choices are so tough, bands get missed that you wanted to see, bands you never planned on seeing get seen, and you leave wishing you’d seen more. California’s The Hellflowers in the Arena were one of the “not planned” bands, this just happened to be somewhere we landed. The Hellflowers deliver a dose of rock n roll infused upbeat surf punk that keeps the spirit of The Creepshow and The HorrorPops burning darkly. However, their punk roots are exposed with a cover of Cock Sparrer‘s Riot Squad that is suitability adapted to a rock & roll sensibility that came all the way from Los Angeles to Blackpool.

The last time The Punk Site saw Pet Needs, it was in a record shop in Bury, so this is a considerable step up for the band. But they’re no strangers to success, so we’re intrigued to see what kind of traction they have achieved. It’s hard not to warm immediately to the band’s exuberance and energy and their own quick crowd survey reveals an almost equal split between those who have seen them before and those checking them out for the first time. They’re making use of every inch of the big stage and it’s a lively set and well received by one of today’s more modest crowds (there are lots of conflicts today, so no shame there). Pet Needs can work a crowd and they have the chops to back up their enthusiasm. Well worth checking out, we say.

Roman Jugg, former Damned stalwart through the 80s provides an acoustic interlude on this packed Saturday schedule and there are familiar Damned faithful in the gathering crowd. Kicking off with Is it a Dream?, Roman is using this opportunity to remind the faithful of his contribution to The Damned canon which is followed by Edward The Bear that is enthusiastically received by the cognoscenti. Instead of The Damned‘s Gigolo, Roman gives us a cover of the Syd Barrett original. Maybe a lesser player in the wider Damned story, Roman is an important figure nonetheless and clearly loved and cherished by the Rebellion crowd. Roman is joined by guitarist Matt Boulter, who apparently did not know he was playing Rebellion, and Die Toten Hosen drummer about town Vom provides percussion for this session.

In the Opera House there is proper rock royalty as Girlschool take to the Opera House stage. It’s pretty much a full house and they are clearly up for a good time. This is a band with an impeccable pedigree that connects the punk dots to rock through their connection to Motörhead (who Lemmy thought had a more punk aesthetic than rock), a link made explicit ehen the band cover Bomber. What Girlschool deliver is a 100% kickass set of timeless and heavy rock and it’s ecstatically received by a rammed Opera House, remarkable considering the competing slots this Saturday night.

The Empress Ballroom is pretty damn full, this is the moment Peter Hook And The Light are ready to give us all a moment of reflection and celebration of Joy Division and New Order, its was noticeable that this set was filled with more its fair share of Joy Division songs. From the opening No Love Lost, which Peter dedicated to Ian Curtis, to the likes of Day Of Lords, She’s Lost Control, and Digital we were led through a history of Joy Division that was delivered with love and soul, you could see just how much Peter felt this. The only New Order song to make the cut for Rebellion was Ceremony which kind of felt poignant. They finish the set with a nod to roots of Joy Division and the UK Punk scene with an unexpected take on the Sex Pistols‘ Anarchy In The UK.

In direct contrast to everything else are The Lovely Eggs, they occupy an almost unique spot in the pantheon of British DIY art rock. Determinedly idiosyncratic, they defy pigeonholing and only please themselves. That they also please an enthusiastic swathe of the music-supporting public is evident by the fans gathered in the Opera House tonight. Their pulsing soundscapes are almost anti-songs, defying the form and daring you not to engage. But engage you must, because there’s a pop sensibility that uses that subversion and turns it back on itself. Unique and enthralling, immersive and ever so slightly bonkers, for which we love them dearly.

With the much anticipated arrival at Rebellion of Public Image Ltd and Mr Lydon himself along with the associated baggage of recent years, we decided to give this a swerve and catch the return to Rebellion of Lady Rage, who had been enthusiastically flying earlier and we said we would be here, and a promise is a promise! Lady Rage have more metal at their core than maybe even they like to admit, but then again metal and hardcore are really just rival siblings. If you wanted something less attended but less hype driven and with more attitude and sass, then without doubt the wonderfully raw Lady Rage was the band to enrich your ears with.

Slaughter And The Dogs was a choice made over the full Empress Ballroom, and this was a great choice, a still full Opera house were treated to a lesson in how Rock n Roll should be played and enjoyed. Whilst there was some debate about what constitutes the original line up online, these Mancunian legends took it all in their stride, they included at least five songs from their Slaughter era’s album Bite Back, which left us in no doubt that “original” is best. And that’s it for today, at least for us, the final day beckons as we hobble hotelwards through the chaos that is Blackpool on a Saturday night.

This year The Punk Site representatives who were furiously taking notes and pictures at Rebellion Festival were Mark Cartwright, Peter Hough & Phinky. Our previous reviews of the 2025 Rebellion Festival can be read here (Thursday) and here (Friday). Rebellion Festival will return to Blackpool’s Winter Gardens between the 6th and 9th August 2026 and tickets can be purchased here.

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