Spike (Quireboys)
Steve Conte
Voices From The Pool
Monty Oxymoron (The Damned)
Rebellion Festival
Blackpool
Aug 2026
My oh my Rebellion Festival how much you have grown! Blackpool is full of punks of all shapes and sizes and nations and generations for a record breaking seven days this year and opens with this event on the Monday.
Just down the road from the Winter Gardens is Viva, a large seventies style caberet venue that is perfect for a sit down curtain raiser on the world’s biggest punk festival. Easing the punk army into their bacchanalian week of noise and excess is a stripped down bill that works with its eclectic nature.
First on is the Damned’s eccentric keyboard maestro Monty Oxymoron who plays a section of his keyboard parts from Damned songs in his trademark classical style. It’s a great window into the musicality of the still current punk legends. The notes flow underlining the melody and grandeur of the band and it’s a fascinating take on well lived and well loved songs and a chance to celebrate the maestro.
In a perfect example of post modern art imitating life imitating art, Voices from the Pool is a play about Rebellion festival written by local Jo Catlow. Telling stories of adventures at the festival and what it means to people creates a surprisingly emotive piece that gets a great reaction.
After the two opening curveballs its time for the rock n rollers with Steve Conte up first delivering a mixture of covers and his own songs with his guitar plugged into an amp cranked just enough for the god distortion to build a shagpile carpet of sonic filth for him to deliver his well received songs and stories over. Conte is one of those guys who looks like he was sculpted from a block of rock n roll and is imbued in the romance of the form whilst being a reminder of the roots of punk from his days in later ups of the New York Dolls.
Headliner Spike is a British take on dandy dressed to the nines rock n roll from his chalk stripe jacket to the bit ’o flash that is part and parcel of his band the Quireboys. Armed with his acoustic he strips away the filth and the fury for a surprisingly powerful and emotive set of songs of late night heartbreak and maudlin sparse soundscapes aided by Conte who joins him on stage.
It’s a highly effective set and proves that once you strip away the noise and fury of rock n roll something of great beauty lies underneath.
These songs of love and fury have an added power due to their intimacy and his raw gravel voice adds to the late night blues and is part of a great set of songs to get immersed in.
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