LOUD WOMEN Sunday at Rebellion 2026: riot, rage and ridiculous heads

Sunday at Rebellion Festival was LOUD WOMEN day in the Pavilion.

For the third summer running, LOUD WOMEN took over the Rebellion Introducing Stage, bringing together some long-time favourites with artists we desperately wanted more people to discover. Rebellion has handed the Sunday Introducing Stage over to LOUD WOMEN since 2024, giving us a whole day to showcase bands powered by women and non-binary musicians.

The official lineup was 12 bands stretching from lunchtime into the night, with artists joining us from across the UK, US and Australia. There was feminist punk, queer punk, riot grrrl, political satire, alt-metal, hardcore, strings, screaming, terrible jokes and rather more giant papier-mâché heads than anybody could reasonably have predicted.

Best of all, the Pavilion was already busy when the first band walked onstage and stayed that way throughout the day.

A massive shoutout to Team LOUD WOMEN’s Magda Campagne, Jeanie Jean, Julia Stark and Lucy Morgan for keeping the LOUD WOMEN ship sailing through a very long weekend in Blackpool. Particular love to Magda and Jeanie for documenting the whole thing so beautifully.

You’ll see plenty more of their gorgeous photographs from LOUD WOMEN Sunday over the coming days, so follow LOUD WOMEN on our socials for the rest.

Violet Violet

Violet Violet had the considerable job of opening the LOUD WOMEN-curated Rebellion Introducing Stage on Sunday. First band on, essentially Sunday morning at a four-day punk festival, might sound like a tough slot anywhere else. But Rebellion audiences are properly loyal music fans, and the Pavilion was already packed for them. It was brilliant to see, and even better that the room stayed busy right through the day.

Before returning last autumn, the Norwich trio hadn’t played together since their final gig at Norwich Puppet Theatre on 12 August 2010. Fifteen years is quite a rest, but Cheri, Fliss and Katie remained best friends throughout it while getting extremely busy elsewhere. Cheri Percy built a career as a music journalist and author, writing for publications including The Guardian, Noisey, Refinery29 and The FADER, while Fliss Kitson became the drummer for The Nightingales and also plays with PRAM.

Happily, Violet Violet themselves were never entirely packed away. Cheri told us she’d kept a box of the band’s CDs in her mum’s loft all those years, and they promptly shifted a healthy pile of them from the merch stand at Rebellion. W mum for hanging on to those. We’re sure she’s equally pleased to have some loft space back.

Most importantly, this felt like three best friends having a bloody great time making music together again, not an exercise in nostalgia. We are extremely pleased to have Violet Violet back, and they’ve hinted that this might not be the last we see of them. As we told them at Rebellion, they are very welcome to come and play a LOUD WOMEN show whenever they fancy it. Let’s make that magic happen.

Hex Poseur

Hex Poseur hit the LOUD WOMEN-curated Rebellion Introducing Stage on Sunday with the Pavilion close to capacity and a whole lot of friendly faces down the front. We already absolutely loved Hex after Harri Bettsworth and band came into the LOUD WOMEN Radio Show on Resonance FM for a live session in June, but somehow this was the first time I’d actually seen them live. It was worth the wait.

Live, the mix of grunge, punk and straight-up rock ’n’ roll had real weight without ever turning into a wall of noise: huge bass, sharp drums, and Harri’s vocals cutting through the lot. The band looked like they were having as much fun as the crowd, and the warmth from the Rebellion regulars made the whole thing feel properly celebratory.

First time seeing Hex Poseur live, hopefully very much not the last. At a festival with so much history, they felt like a very convincing argument for what comes next.

Gaydar

Gaydar arrived on the LOUD WOMEN-curated Rebellion Introducing Stage on Sunday with their energy already running at maximum. I’d had a taste of what was coming at our London Rebellion preview at the Windmill the weekend before, and they absolutely did not disappoint. In fact, they were so revved up that they started five minutes early, before I’d had a chance to introduce them. Very Gaydar.

Riley, Rachel and Jamie tore through the set with the same humour, queer DIY spirit and relentless energy that had made them such fun at the preview. Masks on, volume up, plenty of laughs, and underneath all the messing about, a seriously good punk band. The Pavilion crowd were completely with them, and there were no doubt plenty more Gaydar fans walking out than had walked in.

Exactly the kind of queer joy and rage we wanted to bring to Rebellion.

THWACK!

THWACK! were another band we knew would bring something a bit different to Rebellion. They’ve played for LOUD WOMEN a few times now and we absolutely love them, but even knowing what they’re capable of, their Pavilion set still managed to raise the bar.

I genuinely can’t remember ever seeing another Rebellion band featuring both violin and cello, which already made THWACK! stand out from the guitars-and-more-guitars crowd. And then, because apparently that wasn’t enough, spoiler alert: out came an enormous papier-mâché Margaret Thatcher vampire head. Obviously.

That mixture of proper musicianship, theatrical absurdity and sharply political punk is exactly why THWACK! are such a joy to put on. They brought something completely their own to the stage, and judging by the reaction in the room, Rebellion was very happy to go along for the ride.

Mona Freaka

Mona Freaka brought a taste of the vibrant new riot grrrl scene coming out of New York to the LOUD WOMEN-curated Rebellion Introducing Stage. They were on their first UK tour, but there was nothing tentative about them: fuzzy guitars, huge energy, sharp hooks and a great crowd in the Pavilion from the off.

It is very cool to see young musicians picking up the riot grrrl ideology and finding inspiration in the bands of the 90s, then making it their own rather than treating it like a museum piece. Mona Freaka have that same DIY spirit, but it belongs completely to their generation.

They made a lot of new friends at Rebellion, and hopefully this first trip across the Atlantic will not be their last. We would very happily see Mona Freaka back over here again.

Witch Spit

Witch Spit could not have made themselves more part of our Rebellion Sunday if they tried. Paige Hollow and Alex were at the Pavilion before I even arrived and were still there for the very last band, cheering on the other acts, looking after other bands’ merch, helping wherever they could and keeping me entertained with top-tier Aussie banter all day. Two of the nicest people on the planet, and absolutely flawless punks.

Then, when it was finally their turn, they played an absolutely roaring set. Two people, one guitar, one drum kit, two voices, feminist rage, filthy noise, terrible jokes and an enormous amount of energy. The Adelaide duo had crossed the planet for their first international tour and looked completely at home on the LOUD WOMEN Rebellion Introducing Stage.

I genuinely couldn’t love Witch Spit more, and couldn’t be more certain that this is very much not the last we’ll see of them, whichever side of the planet we happen to be on.

Wokerati Party

Wokerati Party were not content to let THWACK! have 2026’s enormous papier-mâché-head thing all to themselves. Apparently enormous political heads are now a Rebellion trend. You heard it here first.

We absolutely love Tee and Kris. Wokerati Party are LOUD WOMEN family, and Tee also drums in I,Doris, so we knew exactly what they’d bring: colour, ridiculousness, sharp politics and a lot of fun. They delivered all of it. Amid the satire, Kirsty Almeida joined them to speak about the #HitTheButton and #OneWomansVoice campaigns, taking the Pavilion from laughter to pin-drop silence.

There was a fake Elon Musk joining Snowflake FC, and then came the finale: a full-on political pantomime featuring Count Binface chasing Nigel Farage around the stage, with Caroline from Lady Lazarus and Gail Something-Else helping bring the spectacle to life. More LOUD WOMEN family onstage, because apparently the day had not become enough of a family party already.

Some right-wing members of the audience later took to Facebook to complain about it. Punk ruffling feathers? Imagine. If political satire on a punk stage is making the fash angry, Wokerati Party can probably take that as confirmation that the joke landed exactly where intended.

We love you, Wokerati Party.

Breakup Haircut

Breakup Haircut are the sort of band who make a Rebellion afternoon immediately better. By their own admission, having two albums to draw from now means they can basically just play the bangers, and that is exactly what they did on the LOUD WOMEN-curated Introducing Stage: fast, hooky, funny and ridiculously likeable.

Ishani, Ripley, Delphine and Jordan have that rare quality of feeling completely DIY and completely assured at the same time. Fierce basslines, whirling drums, jagged guitars, big choruses, and the sort of easy chemistry that makes it feel like you’re watching four mates having a brilliant time together rather than people trying to perform Cool Band.

A stacked set, a very happy Pavilion and, quite simply, great fun. Thank you, Breakup Haircut.

YAKKIE

YAKKIE swooped into Rebellion, played a stormer of a set, and swooped out just as quickly. Janey Starling and co brought heavy, melodic political punk to the LOUD WOMEN Sunday stage, drawing from their debut album Kill The Cop Inside Your Head.

Hopefully they won a few new punk hearts on the way.

Whoremones

Whoremones’ flying UK visit ended on our Rebellion stage, just a week after they’d torn through the LOUD WOMEN preview at the Windmill. The LA band brought the same hardcore/thrash energy to Blackpool and, bless them, even tried to get a proper pit going.

They may be used to younger, more energetic audiences back home than we can reliably offer them in the UK, but they gave it a very determined go. The Pavilion might not have quite matched Los Angeles levels of bodily commitment, but Whoremones certainly did.

Brief, loud and thoroughly enjoyed. More transatlantic punk exchange, please.

HAWXX

HAWXX went down an absolute storm on our Rebellion stage, exactly as we knew they would. There’s a real buzz around them at the moment, and it is easy to see why: they are an exciting, fiercely political band who sound enormous live, and they are genuinely lovely people too.

Fresh from The World Splits Open, they brought huge riffs, soaring vocals and plenty of righteous fury to the Pavilion. This is a band with plenty to say and absolutely no interest in playing it safe, which made them a perfect fit for the LOUD WOMEN stage.

And if you needed any measure of how well it landed, the audience promptly cleared them out of merch afterwards. Fantastic to have them with us.

Lady Lazarus

Lady Lazarus are one of those bands where it is almost impossible to know where to look. Caroline never stops moving, never stops performing and is a proper entertainer, which makes even more sense once you know her not-so-secret past as a theatre kid. We’d already had a beautiful glimpse of that earlier in the day when she transformed into Count Binface for Wokerati Party’s political pantomime.

Back fronting Lady Lazarus, she was completely magnetic, but the whole band are mesmerising to watch. Izzy, Jules and Gary bring just as much personality and physicality to the stage, and together they make the kind of live band photographers must absolutely love: there is always something happening.

With debut album DICHOTOMY newly out, they tore through a set full of fury, hooks and enormous personality. They were the perfect band to close our Rebellion Introducing Stage, and we’re thrilled we only have to wait a few weeks to do it all again: Lady Lazarus will be bringing the house down at LOUD WOMEN Fest London at Rich Mix on 5 September. Very much LOUD WOMEN family, and we love them to bits.

Dummy Toys: honorary LOUD WOMEN Sunday family

Dummy Toys weren’t officially part of the LOUD WOMEN Sunday lineup, but after Lady Lazarus closed our stage they took over the Pavilion for Rebellion After Dark and were far too good not to claim anyway.

The all-female punk band from Qingdao, China describe themselves simply as “fast and furious”, and that is exactly what they delivered. Their new album The Point of No Return, released in April, pushes together d-beat, hardcore, metal punk and streetpunk with an even more relentless edge.

So no, technically they weren’t one of our 12. But they were in the Pavilion, they were bloody great, and we’re claiming Dummy Toys as honorary LOUD WOMEN Sunday family. Rules are made to be bent.

From Violet Violet walking into an already packed Pavilion at lunchtime to Lady Lazarus closing the official stage nearly ten hours later, followed by Dummy Toys keeping the noise going into After Dark, the whole day felt like an enormous celebration of exactly what LOUD WOMEN exists to amplify.

Thank you to every artist who trusted us with the stage, everyone who worked behind the scenes, and every single person who came into the Pavilion, stayed for another band, bought some merch, found a new favourite and made the room feel so welcoming all day.

And thank you to Rebellion for handing us the keys for a third summer.

We’d very happily do it again.