Riverside Rebellion promised an eclectic line-up of punk-rock in all its guises – and it certainly delivered. Even with Christmas being so close and the seemingly omnipresent party ender that is covid lurking in the shadows, any concerns of crowd numbers were swept aside as the festival was bouncing for the full eight-hour event.
Main stage highlights included Hammersmith-based father/daughter two-piece Voodoo Radio whose infectious power-pop melodies, accompanied by relentless Mo Tucker-esque drumming, proved a big enough hit to ensure they’ll be back on Teesside later this year. Birmingham’s Black Bombers raised the volume with straight-up, black-clad garage-rock, serving as the perfect foil for headliners, XSLF.
In an era where so many first wave punk bands are hitting the road, it’s easy to be cynical whenever one of them turns up. Various incarnations of once-great bands now seem capable of delighting and disappointing in equal measure, some still possessing the same energy and fury they always did, others essentially being nothing more than a band of hired guns backing the original singer and his 20-year-old nephew as they limp through a glorified karaoke performance. Luckily, on the evidence of their performance tonight, XSLF are firmly in the first group, as they blew the roof off the Westgarth much to the delight of a packed-out crowd. Hits from their debut LP ‘Inflammable Material’ seem to have taken on new relevance in the current political unease that grips their homeland of Northern Ireland, and the suitably merry crowd responded in kind with scenes befitting of any classic punk performance.
With most people preoccupied with events on the main stage, attendance for the free fringe festival stage was unfortunately lacklustre. Despite this, Sunderland two-piece Sly Hand delivered a pulsating noise-rock set reminiscent of current underground circuit favourites JOHN and the iconic McClusky. Then came what can only be described as a white-hot tidal wave of noise in The Likkor Men. In an age where many bands are described as “sleazy”, the Likkor Men by comparison are positively filthy, unleashing a concoction of garage-rock with a wasted mechanic and space-rock with pissed up pilot…a real treat and one of Teesside’s true unheralded gems.
In all, the sixth instalment of Riverside Rebellion was a resounding success, with plans already afoot for a seventh in December.
