REBELLION 2013 - SUNDAY

Final day and we managed to keep the pace going. 

As we entered Sam saw a young lad by the name of Louie Raw on the acoustic stage so he stopped off to listen in and was mightily impressed for one so young. 

First on for us was the Terraces in the Arena who certainly woke us up.  We met up to watch Captain Hotknives in the Pavilion.  He had drawn a large crowd and although I have seen him before he had us all crying by the end of the set (with laughter that is). 

We then went to see the Adolescents in the Empress who I thought sounded great although there crowd wasn’t as big as I thought it might be.  

We then decamped to the acoustic stage to chill for a while and managed to see Mauri Clash City Rocker.  As you may guess he predominately played Clash cover but threw in a few other too and was a massive surprise when Colin from Cock Sparrer joined him on stage for Because You’re Young and England Belong’s To Me, aided by an appreciative crowd. 

Next was the Nightingales in the Pavilion.  I thought they sounded great, playing to a small crowd but if you get a chance check them out, still as relevant as ever. 

We then went to see Attila The Stockbroker on the literacy stage, another great set.  I could listen to Attila all night with his poems and stories , usually funny, sometimes biting and a superb and touching piece about his mom which reduced the room to silence. 

Then it was Lene Lovich in the Pavilion.  Another big crowd and to be fair I thought was a really good set and Lene sounded fabulous. 

A quick dash to the Olympia to see Face to Face, another band who suffered with poor sound but even that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd. 

Then it was back up to the Pavilion to see Peter Hook and The Light.  A slow start but a couple of songs in and once you’d gotten accustomed to Hooky singing these songs that were already ingrained in our consciences, you realised you were actually witnessing something pretty special.
 

It was a difficult decision to leave before then end of the set but I was keen to see Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine.  I never got to see the Dead Kennedys back in the day but have loosely followed Jello’s career and was mightily impressed with the recent album, from which they played a selection in addition to the crowd pleasing Holiday in Cambodia and Nazi Punks Fuck Off. 
 

Then it was last band of the weekend time, Sham 69.  Usually by this time I’ve kind of had enough and just want to go to bed but this year still felt quite lively even though we decided to watch from the balcony, couldn’t get a seat and it felt as hot as the tropics.  I thought Sham were a fitting end to the weekend, Jimmy Pursey was on fine form and they ripped through an absolutely blistering set.  Overall great weekend, few minor gripes over sound and running out of bottles of real ale, but that didn’t spoil another great coming together of the weird and the wonderful.

REBELLION 2013 - FRIDAY

Friday started slightly sluggishly, as we all felt the effects of over indulgence on the first day. 

After grabbing breakfast and another hour or two kip we started at a more sedate pace listening to John Robb interviewing members of The Outcasts and The Defects about the punk scene in Northern Ireland and specifically Belfast and also their portrayal in the Good Vibrations film.  Really interesting and at times funny as fuck. 

We then decamped to the acoustic stage and listened to banjo maestro Jim Sorrow.  Next up on the acoustic stage was Attila the Stockbroker.  Seen him quite a few times before and as usual he didn’t disappoint with a mix of political, humorous and at times touching songs and poetry (despite several technical problems). 

We were beginning to get back into our stride so ventured down to the Empress to see The Skints, catchy ska from the Smoke and mighty fine too. 

Hazel O’Connor was on in a packed Pavilion with a more paired down sound of keyboards and sax but that didn’t stop her belting out a storming set, and slipping in a few amusing anecdotes too. 

Popped out for a bite to eat and bit of fresh air then it was back to see Mike Only (ex-King Blue) on the acoustic stage.  Thought he was really good and maybe doesn’t quite match the stage presence of someone like Vic Ruggiero the night before still went down really well. 

We then went down to our first visit to the Olympia to see Eddie & The Hot Rods who like most bands over the weekend in the Olympia suffered from a poor sound (especially on the larger of the two  stages).  But still went down a storm.

 

It was a real toss up then between long time favourites the Damned and new boys and girls Pete Bentham & the Dinner Ladies.  Pete won!  This time back in the Pavilion were we first saw them and still employing a squad rotation system.  They sounded as good as ever and they are the kind of band that truly make this festival great, a bit different to the mainstream but punk as fuck in attitude.  And a set packed with killer tunes.  Check out the recently released Space Punx ep for a quick fix and I have it on good authority from the horse’s mouth (well Pete’s) that a new album is in the pipeline. 

We hung around in the Pavilion for a short while but the endurance test that is a day at Rebellion was taking its toll on all of us, so we rather shockingly decided to call it a day and head off for an early night.  Felt slightly guilty for missing some great bands today but there were so many clashes it was impossible not to miss some bands over the weekend that I really wanted to see.  I suppose with something as large and great as this you have to focus on the good stuff you end up experiencing.