‘VARIOUS ARTISTS’ – ‘REBELLION’ FESTIVAL, WINTER GARDENS, BLACKPOOL 5.8.23
Whilst there are other punk festivals held in the UK, the ‘Rebellion Festival’ is arguably the largest and most important, both in terms of the artists and the spectators that travel from all over the world to attend. Unbelievably this is only the second year that I’ve been here, but it is now an unmissable part of my annual gigging calendar.
This is the report of Day Three (The Saturday) of ‘Rebellion’. If you haven’t as yet read our account of Day One (The Thursday) then click HERE and then check out our reviews of Day Two (The Friday) HERE. Day Four (The Sunday) is available HERE.
Saturday begins with me stumbling into the Opera House for a lunchtime appointment with The Ramstampits. ‘Interesting name’ I hear you say. Apparently it means ‘mischievous rascals’. Their singer describes them as “a collection of friends who make music”. Personally I would say that they’re a collection of friends who make raucous Celtic punk, and very good it is too! If you want music that will blow any cobwebs away to start your day, this is the band to do it!
The band certainly has a collection of instrumentalists which you wouldn’t necessarily put together, but that’s kind of the point. So, as well as the drummer and bassist, we have a bagpipe player (who also plays a penny whistle), a mandolin, two electric guitarists (one of whom looks like she could be a member of Girlschool), an acoustic guitarist, and of course, a singer. Three of the men wear kilts, and the band is based in Dunoon.
They play an absolutely barnstorming version of The Bobby Fuller Four’s ‘I Fought The Law’, and ‘Take Me For A Dance’ from this year’s ‘Stompin Wi’ The ‘Stampits’ EP is particularly good. In addition to this, they have another EP, ‘Light The Beacon’, which came out last year. Sadly they appear not to have any other gigs scheduled at present, but I could see them going down a storm at The Prince Albert…..
The Ramstampits setlist:
‘For Land & Girls & Rum’
‘Paddling In The Sea’
‘Bella Caledonia’
‘No Place Like Home’
‘My Country’
‘14 Days’
‘I Fought The Law’
‘Take Me For A Dance’
theramstampits.bandcamp.com
www.instagram.com/explore/tags/theramstampits
I stay in the comfort (there are seats!!) of the Opera House, for Black September who are a gothic rock band formed in Gloucester in 1987. They split up for over twenty years, but have now re-formed and are, by all accounts, ready to rock. What we have today is the original line-up, consisting of Simon Willicomb on guitar and vocals, Nick Taylor on drums, Paul Regan on bass, and Mark Tandy on keyboards.
One of the things that I like about the ‘Rebellion’ Festival is that the definition of punk used is pretty broad. Strictly speaking, it could be argued that Black September are not punk. However, in terms of their music and attitude it can also be argued that they are part of the same musical family.
Simon Willicomb can play a bit, and then some! There are some awesome guitar pyrotechnics in the first song, including tapping. Their material is pretty impressive too, ‘Suicide Girl’, ‘Masters Of The World’ and ‘Now Is The Time’ being particular standouts. Drummer Nick Taylor plays an intro that sounds an awful lot like ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ by Bauhaus. Hang on – it is! That’s fine though. There’s nothing wrong with having the odd cover in your set. At one point where there’s no keyboard part in the song, Mark Tandy comes from behind his keyboard to the edge of the stage and stares at the audience. This is a nice theatrical touch, and is the kind of thing that Ron Mael from Sparks might do. ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ is followed by a straight cover of ‘A Forest’ by The Cure, and a semi-industrial treatment of the Northern soul classic ‘Tainted Love’. It’s interesting, but it’s possibly a cover too far. Black September obviously have some very good original material. I would have liked to have heard more of it.
Black September setlist:
‘New Dawn Fades’ (Joy Division cover)
‘Suicide Girl’
‘Masters Of The World’
‘Now Is The Time’ (featuring cover of Bauhaus’ ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’)
‘A Forest’ (The Cure cover)
‘Tainted Love’ (Soft Cell/Marilyn Manson version cover)
‘More’
soundcloud.com/mark-tandy
blackseptember.co.uk
After a quick break for lunch (even reviewers have to eat!) I’m back in the Opera House to see Protex, another Belfast band that I had no idea were still operational. They feature one remaining original member: Aidan Murtagh on guitar and vocals. However, bassist Norman Boyd and drummer Gordie Walker have been with them for ten years. Aiden Murtagh and guitarist John Rossi both play Gibson Les Pauls, and when they occasionally play dual lead guitar, the two parts meld together really well.
Despite their vintage, Protex are still very much a ‘current’ band. One of the songs in today’s set, ‘Tightrope’, we’re told “is about the political situation back home”, and is also the title track of their album that came out in 2017. Meanwhile, ‘Under The Gun’ is from their most recent album ‘Wicked Ways’ which came out last year.
Watching them perform it’s clear that they still very much ‘mean it’. It’s not just the young bands that prove that punk is very much still alive, and is needed now as much as ever. Their most famous song, ‘Don’t Ring Me Up’ is left till last, and is probably the nearest that they have ever come to making a pop classic. They have a US tour coming up next month, but at present have no UK gigs scheduled.
Protex setlist:
‘Because Of You’
‘Look Out’
‘I Can’t Cope’
‘Night Of Action’
‘Tightrope’
‘On The Wire’
‘Under The Gun’
‘Slug City’
‘Strange Obsessions’
‘Dream’
‘Don’t Ring Me Up’
protexbelfast.bandcamp.com
www.instagram.com/protexbelfast
I remain in the Opera House, which seems to almost be becoming my second home, for TV Smith & Friends. Tim Smith is playing at the festival four times, with various permutations of musicians. What he does is always interesting, but unfortunately because of timetable clashes I’m only able to fit him in today. TV starts out solo on acoustic guitar, and is joined one at a time by Roy Ritchie on drums, Jonathan Vini Quatro (from The Bored Teenagers) on bass, and Mark Carrie (also from The Bored Teenagers) on guitar. This line-up plays ‘The Immortal Rich’, the title track of TV’s 1994 solo album.
Wait – there are more guests! Next to join are Stefan, the Bored Teenagers’ drummer, who is playing keyboards (of course he is!), and Leigh Hegarty from Ruts DC on guitar. They are also joined by Jenny Russell-Smith and another lady whose name I don’t catch on backing vocals. Another solo highlight performed at this point is ‘The Good Times Are Back’ from TV’s solo album ‘Misinformation Overload’ of 2006.
TV has one final guest, Atilla The Stockbroker on violin, making this now a nine-piece band. At this point The Adverts’ hits are rolled out, being ‘Gary Gilmore’s Eyes’ and ‘One Chord Wonders’. It doesn’t finish there though. We get one more song: ‘Runaway Train Driver’ from TV’s solo album ‘March Of The Giants’ of 1992. Unfortunately TV Smith & Friends only get three-quarters of an hour but they’ve used it well. With a back catalogue such as his though, TV could easily play for two or three hours. What can I say? TV Smith: always interesting, always enjoyable.
tvsmith.bandcamp.com
tvsmith.co.uk
After a break for dinner (got to keep myself nourished!) I head over to Club Casbah for The Meteors. What better way to help your dinner go down than some prime psychobilly? Leading The Meteors is the irrepressible and seemingly indestructible P Paul Fenech, along with his chums bass Madman Ivan on bass and Lobo on drums and let’s face it they’re bloody good! But why wouldn’t they be as The Meteors have made over 40 albums and been non stop touring for over 40 years!
I would still describe their music as raging psychobilly, being powerful to the point of being intimidating, but their performance is not as full-on as it was about forty years ago, but whose performance is? This is another band who point blank refuse to rely on nostalgia, with many of the highlights from their set being from their more recent records. A key example is ‘F*ck Your World’ from 2012’s ‘Doing The Lord’s Work’ album.
They wheel out long term live favourite ‘Rawhide’ (yep, that one), which is a rather more high octane version than the one your grandparents might have known. They finish off with ‘Wreckin’ Crew’, from 1983’s album of the same name. It’s been a great set but forty-five minutes simply isn’t long enough. They’re touring the US next month, but no UK dates are scheduled at present.
The Meteors setlist:
‘Hell Ain’t Hot Enough’
‘Ain’t Gonna Bring Me Down’
‘Shout So Loud’
‘Maniac’
‘Dateless Nights’
‘Fire, Fire’
‘Maniac Rockers From Hell’
‘When A Stranger Calls’
‘Rhythm Of The Bell’
‘Domino’
‘F*ck Your World’
‘Blue Sunshine’
‘Night Of The Werewolf’
‘Rawhide’
‘The Hills Have Eyes’
‘No Surrender’
‘I Hate People’
‘Insane
‘Girl Meat Fever’
‘Graveyard Stomp’
‘The Crazed’
‘Wreckin’ Crew’
mutantrockrecords.com
www.instagram.com/the.meteors.official
I change venue again, this time heading to the Empress Ballroom which I haven’t graced with my presence today. I’m here for my ska fix, which will be provided by The Slackers, who hail from New York. As soon as these guys open their mouths it’s very clear just how “New Yoik” they are! One thing that’s very clear is that this band don’t just play, they perform! Having said that, Jay “Agent Jay” Nugent is one of the most reticent lead guitarists that I’ve seen for a long time. With the solo that he plays halfway through the set he should be out at stage front. They’re clearly not reticent about airing their views however. Singer and keyboard player Vic Ruggiero calls the Proud Boys “assholes” before launching into a song about current US politics which is possibly called ‘Johnny At The Steak House’. Bassist Marcus Geard plays his Gibson SG bass upright with the instrument resting on a bar stool, which is different.
The Slackers aren’t quite on a par with the Neville Staple Band, but there’s not a great deal in it. They’re certainly far more original than UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, who I recently saw supporting The Who. Having said that, The Slackers aren’t entirely averse to cover versions. However, when they play covers we get ‘Attitude’ by The Misfits, and ‘I Shall Be Released’ by Bob Dylan.
It suddenly strikes me that Vic Ruggerio sounds like Elvis Costello! However, I then realise that Elvis Costello has been singing in a New York accent and I haven’t realised…. I should point out that as well as keyboards Vic plays a pretty mean harmonica. Dave Hillyard is an impressive musician, playing his saxophone with his left hand whilst holding his vocal mic in front of it with his right. Trombonist Glen Pine also takes his turn on lead vocals. The Slackers are a band of fine musicians with equally fine material. They have a fairly full gig schedule too, although unfortunately none of those gigs are in the UK. Maybe next year.
theslackers.bandcamp.com
www.theslackers.com
Next up in the Empress Ballroom are a band that I have waited all of my adult life to see: The Only Ones. I’ve seen Peter Perrett solo a few times, but tonight all three surviving members of the band are here: Peter, guitarist John Perry and bassist Alan Mair. Drummer Mike Kellie sadly passed away in 2017. The band do have a replacement drummer, but details of his identity are rather difficult to obtain. They’re also joined tonight on guitar by Peter’s son Jamie, doubtless to beef up the live sound.
John Perry is sporting a panama hat, and looks vaguely annoyed, as if he has been interrupted from watching a particularly important cricket match. John’s playing looks absolutely effortless, which of course it isn’t. Peter Perrett still gives the music the damaged, fragile feel it had back in the day. Unfortunately this doesn’t go down too well with some of the more hardcore punks here. The Only Ones preceding New Model Army is possibly a bit of an odd match. The band seem in good form though, despite having only played two shows beforehand at Hebden Bridge Trades Club. The bulk of the set is from the three Only Ones albums released between 1978 and 1980: ‘The Only Ones’, ‘Even Serpents Shine’, and ‘Baby’s Got A Gun’. However one song, ‘Prisoners’, is from a compilation consisting mainly of demos called ‘Remains’, that was released in 1984. There’s also a cover of The Kinks’ ‘I’m Not Like Everybody Else’, which Peter Perrett has also performed in his solo shows.
The final song in the set is ‘The Beast’, from ‘The Only Ones’ debut album. It’s very reminiscent of The Stooges and is quite aptly named! There’s a long guitar solo featuring both John Perry and Jamie Perrett, which is really quite something. The band overrun their allotted time by eight minutes, but nobody’s going to pull the plug. The band play Luna Fest in Portugal later this month, but apart from that, they have no other gigs planned as far as I’m aware.
The Only Ones setlist:
‘Miles From Nowhere’
‘Programme’
‘As My Wife Says’
‘Why Don’t You Kill Yourself?’
‘Flaming Torch’
‘The Big Sleep’
‘The Immortal Story’
‘Inbetweens’
‘Prisoners’
‘Trouble In The World’
‘From Here To Eternity’
‘Oh No’
‘I’m Not Like Everybody Else’ (Kinks cover)
‘Another Girl Another Planet’
‘The Beast’
www.last.fm/music/The+Only+Ones
peterperrett.com
I now head back to the Opera House for my final act of today: The Rezillos. I’ll be honest with you – I absolutely love The Rezillos and I won’t hear a word said against them. It’s been said to me more than once that they’ve been doing the same act for forty-five years. So what?!! It’s really good!!! Besides, they introduce new songs every now and again. Stop complaining and enjoy! Fay Fife and Eugene Reynolds are the only original members in the current Rezillos line-up. Conservatively they must at least be in their mid sixties, and during their hour long set they simply don’t stop. The degree of energy they display should give us all hope.
The band hit the stage and with the minimum of fuss and crash into ‘Destination Venus’, an indisputable stone cold classic. They follow this up with a cover of The Dave Clark Five’s ‘Glad All Over’ which is a live favourite of theirs from back in the day. If memory serves me correctly it features on their debut album ‘Can’t Stand The Rezillos’. It’s not all old songs from the late 1970s though. ‘Take Me To The Groovy Room’ is a single from the album ‘Zero’ which came out in 2015. There’s even one Revillos (Fay & Eugene’s post Rezillos band) song: ‘Do The Mutilation’, which Fay advises us not to try at home!
Their big hit ‘Top Of The Pops’ appears around midway through the set. ‘Spike Heel Assassin’ from ‘Zero’ features Fay on keyboards. ‘It Gets Me’ is preceded by a shout out to the song’s late composer William Mysterious (a.k.a Alastair Donaldson) who sadly passed away in 2013. A particular joybringer is a cover (another Rezillos live favourite) of the most unlikely titled Fleetwood Mac song ever: ‘Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Heads Kicked In Tonight’. Okay, they might not be everybody’s cup of tea. They may not even be punk in some purists’ eyes. However, what The Rezillos serve up is late 1970s new wave pop with a large dollop of science fiction, and it’s brilliant! I mean, really. What’s not to like?
The Rezillos setlist:
‘Destination Venus’
‘Glad All Over’ (Dave Clark Five cover)
‘Bad Guy Reaction’
‘Take Me To The Groovy Room’
‘Cold Wars’
‘Top Of The Pops’
‘Spike Heel Assassin’
‘It Gets Me’
‘Zero’
‘Do The Mutilation’
‘Flying Saucer Attack’
‘Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Heads Kicked In Tonight’ (Fleetwood Mac cover)
‘Good Sculptures’
‘I Can’t Stand My Baby’
therezillos.bandcamp.com
www.rezillos.rocks
‘Rebellion’ festival will return on 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th August 2024. Early bird tickets are already on sale from HERE.
The Only Ones actually played two ‘warm up’ gigs at Hebden Bridge Trades Club – Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th. I was at the first of these, my tenth Only Ones gig. I’ve also seen Peter Perrett at one solo gig.
Thanks very much for the heads up Brian.
A Great review of some of the sets I saw, which helped back up my memory. And am interested to see the bands I missed. Small point Lee heggerty from ruts DC is actually Leigh
Thanks very much Peter. Glad you enjoyed the article.
I think I would be pretty narked if I actually got to see The Only Ones and they didn’t play “Another Girl Another Planet”! – seeing as it’s the Best 7″ Single ever released by anybody in the world. Ever!!