The annual punk festival makes its return.

During the height of the English summer, punks flock in packs to Blackpool city. Hair glue in one hand and a tinny in the other, they come to attend Rebellion Festival- a four day event rammed with a melange of old and new punk bands. Bad Religion, Slaves, Skids, Sham 69 plus many more. Punk photographer Paul Martin was on the ground to capture the atmosphere of one of the most popular punk events in the world.

“UK Subs were on form and had the crowd bouncing along with the Angelic Upstarts.” Paul said, “The Neville Staple band were very impressive playing some golden oldies like ‘Gangsters’, ‘Ghost Town’, ‘Johnny Too Bad’, ‘A Message To You, Rudy’ and ‘Monkey Man’.”

“Sham 69 came out in typical Sham 69 style with frontman Jimmy Pursey launching water from a bottle over the crowd, causing a chain reaction of a fountain of beer and who knows what being thrown by the crowd. The highlight for me was Misty In Roots with a career spanning over 40 years. They certainly lived up to their reputation from the ’70s. #Outstanding- great energy, they had the crowd in the palm of their hands.”

But Rebellion doesn’t just showcase the well known bands. It’s a great opportunity to find new favourites. “One of the lesser known ones, the Tuffragettes- transcore, queercore, riotgrrrl band from London.” Paul said, “[They’re] Part heavy angry punk, part bratty bubblegum pop punk, part groovy indie/post-punk. They had a great energy and attitude. They played one of the smaller rooms which added to the atmosphere.”

For any fan of this sub-culture, Rebellion Festival is an important date on the calendar. Each year the line up is just too good to turn down. “It certainly hasn’t had the same buzz as last year.” Paul said, “Saying that, last year was the 20th and the band list was much better.”