Rebellion Blackpool

A quick visit to an excellent micropub, before I fill this post with a handful of pictures from Rebellion 2022...

The Cask & Tap was just a couple of minutes walk from the Winter Garden, the main festival venue, and was permanently busy with punk rockers for four days, as far I could tell. 

Cask & Tap (82 Topping Street, FY1 3AD - web)
Opened in September 2020, this is a smart single room bar, with fancy embossed wallpaper and some intriguing light fittings constructed from old radio equipment.

The eight hand pumps on the bar were all in use, dispensing a wide range of styles, alongside a good choice of proper cider and a bit of craft.
Beers changed between my visits - I reckon they shifted a fair few casks over this weekend.  
I stuck to the dark beers, the Blackedge stout and Durham 'Dark Arts' being highlights. 

There's no TV or music, but if there was you'd have to had turned it up pretty loud to be heard above the chatter of this lot...

The Cask & Tap was arguably the best place near the Winter Gardens for a quality beer.
Closely followed by the 1887 Brew Room and Albert's.

Inside the venue, the novelty Spanish galleon decor of Sharky's Bar is eye-catching, but after parting with £4.80 for a tasteless Worthington Creamflow, I decided once was enough.

Then I discovered the little craft beer stall in the foyer, run by Lancashire locals Farm Yard Brewery.
Pricey, yep.  Not beer to quaff in one go or spill on your shoes when Stiff Little Fingers come on stage.  But the 'Chaff' session IPA was full of flavour and worth spending the extra money on.

The Empress Ballroom was the most impressive of the four main indoor stages, even if I never did manage to get a picture that did it justice...

Of the old skool punk bands, it was Sham 69 I wanted to see the most, and they didn't disappoint...

"Hurry up Harry, we're going down the pub!"

But it was something a bit different from Bob Vylan which really blew me away.  Promoted to the Ballroom stage in the frightfully early hours of Sunday morning, way past my bedtime, but well worth staying up for.

Whilst the Almost Acoustic stage offered some more sedate entertainment, in a bizarre fairy-tale setting...

Great to see Peter Hook & The Light playing a set of Joy Division songs on the R-Fest stage...

Although an outdoor stage with a lovely sunset under Blackpool Tower was a bit of an odd setting for tracks like 'Dead Souls'.

And I also tried to catch a few acts that I knew less about, such as Rum Kicks providing a bit of K-Punk...

Heavy Lungs and John...

 

If the organisers don't give your band enough stage time on the bill, you can always follow the example of Dalston duo Glitchers, who parked their van in front of the Winter Gardens and knocked out a raucous afternoon set to anyone passing by.

I thought I was pretty accustomed to some noisy music, but by Day 4, another set of guitar and drums cranking up, my brain was rattling loose in my head.
Great then to be able to retire to the calm of the Literary stage on Sunday evening to hear the one-and-only Stuart Pearce chatting about punk rock and football.

An exhausting few days, but I'd happily rewind and do it all again!