English rock band Peter Hook and The Light have just been announced to headline the iconic punk festival Rebellion in 2018. The festival will be held on the weekend of 2nd – 5th August at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, and will see over a 100 bands take to the stage to play for the punters.
The post-punk band played at Rebellion festival back in 2016 and was known as one of the most memorable sets of the weekend, so Rebellion are welcoming them back with open arms for next year, bringing old and new fans along with them. Peter Hook and The Light is lead by the former Joy Division and New Order bassist, Peter Hook, and cover a lot of those well known classics, and they are noted for performing the Joy Division and New Order albums live. The band also features Hook’s son Jack Bates (bass), as well as Andy Poole (keyboards) and Paul Kehoe (drums), who both played with Hook as part of Monaco, one of Hook’s previous groups.
Peter and his band mates will be playing a special ‘best of Joy Division’ set and he stated “It’s a real pleasure to be returning to Rebellion Festival with The Light again, rebellion’s a tremendous event bringing together a great line up of alternative and punk bands with a very enthusiastic crowd. The reactions are always great and it attracts a real mix of people to Blackpool’s Winter Gardens, a great venue in its own right. It’s always a unique occasion and one of the highlights of the year.”
Rebellion is an indoor festival – lots of venues, cafes, bars under one roof and no need to worry about umbrellas or the great British weather affecting the festival. Firstly starting out in 1996 in Blackpool as the ‘Holidays in the Sun Festival’, it was then taken around the world with a name change to ‘Wasted’, before landing with the name ‘Rebellion’ in 2007. Establishing itself as an independent and family run punk festival that supports the best of the new breed, widening the scope to include many sub genres and the ‘alternative’ scene in general. They have added literary stages, Punk Art exhibitions, Acoustic Stages, Poetry, Vintage Clothing, Tattooists, Healing workshops and much more.
Joining Peter Hook in 2018 is the kind of line-up that Rebellion Festival is known and respected for the world over, bringing together the best and most vital bands from the long and varied history and present of punk and alternative music. Whilst it’s still early days in the festivals curation, the programme is already shaping up to reflect the very best of what the scene has to offer. Some of the acts already confirmed include the cream of UK punk such as The Exploited, Cockney Rejects, Angelic Upstarts, Discharge, Ruts DC, UK Subs, and Slaughter & The Dogs joining a host of punk and hardcore from around the world, including legends such as D.R.I., The Adolescents, SNFU, Toxic Reasons, Raw Power and many more yet to be announced.
Rebellion Festival is an ALL AGES, family friendly event and children under 12 are admitted free of charge (accompanied by an adult). The cost for the weekend lands at £140 for a (4 day) ticket. More information and tickets are available here.
