Rebellion 2026: Thursday highlights

Thursday was the first full day of Rebellion 2026, and Team LOUD WOMEN were straight into it, racing between stages, catching old favourites, new discoveries and plenty of familiar faces from the wider LOUD WOMEN family.

Huge thanks to Magda and Jeanie for documenting so much of it in these brilliant photos.

Here are some of our Thursday highlights.

Be N!ce

Be N!ce hit the Rebellion Introducing Stage in the Pavilion on Thursday absolutely on top form.

We already knew how much fun this band are after they played LOUD WOMEN Fest London 2025 at Rich Mix, so it was brilliant to catch them again in Blackpool. Fast, fierce and full of energy, they looked completely at home on the Rebellion stage.

A very welcome reunion with some LOUD WOMEN Fest London alumni.

Red Moon Heroes

Red Moon Heroes brought a welcome blast of Milan post-2-tone to the Rebellion Introducing Stage on Thursday. Their own description mixes British sounds, 2-tone and decadent punk, which is a pretty good starting point for a band who refuse to sit neatly in one box.

They arrived in Blackpool with new album One, Two, Three… only a few months old and gave the Pavilion a sharp, colourful reminder that punk’s international family tree keeps growing in interesting directions.

The Primitives

The Primitives brought their bright, fuzzy jangle-pop to the Opera House on Thursday, Tracy Tracy cool as ever over Paul Court’s chiming guitars. In a weekend full of ferocious punk, those sugar-rush melodies felt completely at home.

Classics including ‘Crash’ and ‘Thru the Flowers’ had the room right with them. A lovely reminder that perfect pop songs can hit every bit as hard.

Muddy Summers & the DFWs

Our friends Muddy Summers & the DFWs on the Almost Acoustic stage on Thursday: a very welcome sight in the middle of a very busy Rebellion day. The show also acted as bandmember Viv’s stag do, as they were getting married on the Monday – congratulations Viv! The band were bedecked in tshirts with Viv’s face on, and of course no pre-wedding party is complete without someone taking their kit off – Lawrence from Papashangos was happy to oblige. Quite the unexpected eyeful for a Thursday at Rebellion, followed by a much more wholesome singalong. We were thoroughly Rebellion-ready by now, thanks gang.

We’re especially pleased to be seeing them again very soon, because they’re joining us at LOUD WOMEN Fest London 2026 at Rich Mix on 5 September.

We like this lot a great deal. Blackpool now, London next.

Au Pairs

Au Pairs at the Opera House on Thursday, with Lesley Woods back at the helm and the band’s sharp, angular post-punk sounding fiercely alive. Lesley played solo at LOUD WOMEN Fest London 2025, giving us an early taste of the Au Pairs comeback, so seeing the songs back on a stage this size felt pretty special.

And what a band: including Big Joanie’s Estella Adeyeri on bass, quite possibly the coolest woman ever to put a bass in her hands. ‘It’s Obvious’, ‘Dear John’ and all that wiry funk still hit hard.

The Bolokos

The Bolokos at the Arena on Thursday looked and sounded like nobody else we saw all day. The Guadeloupe trio arrived in full colour, with face paint, an improvised drum setup that included a battered cardboard box, and a set that bounced between punk attack and Caribbean rhythm.

Rebellion is at its best when punk stops being a uniform, and The Bolokos were a brilliant reminder of just how many shapes it can take.

Bow Wow Wow

Bow Wow Wow were tight as ever in the Opera House on Thursday, with so many instantly familiar songs and Annabella Lwin’s voice sounding just like the records we grew up with. Pure pop-punk joy from a band we absolutely love.

There was an awkward moment in the set when Annabella gave a feisty response to what seemed like a heckle from the crowd. By pure chance I was staying at the same hotel as the band, and after a passing chat the next morning it all made much more sense. Annabella was absolutely lovely, and I’m convinced a shout of “turn the spotlights off” simply landed as “piss off” somewhere between crowd and stage. Then, as I was struggling out of the hotel that same morning with a Rebellion-sized mountain of luggage and instruments, bassist Menno Verbaten stepped in to help. Lovely people confirmed. Absolutely love Bow Wow Wow.