She-Punk Pioneers Form Supergroup for London Festival — SkimNews
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- Up Yours! God Save the Queens! festival will bring together Gina Birch (the Raincoats), Hollie Cook (the Slits), Lora Logic and Paul Dean (X-Ray Spex), punk historian Vivien Goldman, and Poly Styrene's daughter Celeste Bell on stage at Electric Brixton on Friday, Oct. 16.
- The supergroup lineup also includes Akiko Matsuura, Rhoda Dakar, Hot Wax, Big Joanie, and Essential Logic, with Goldman framing the night as her book Revenge of the She-Punks "coming to life on stage."
- The accompanying exhibition at the Museum of Youth Culture in Camden opens Oct. 23, featuring never-before-seen images and previously unseen artwork contributed by Lora Logic.
- Celeste Bell, daughter of X-Ray Spex frontwoman Poly Styrene, is curating her mother's archive as part of the festival's broader mission to document women's often-overlooked contributions to punk.
- Organizers describe the event as "a vital, living continuation" of punk's female counter-culture, with Bell stating the goal is to take that legacy "out of the archives" and onto centre stage.
Why it matters: The festival pairs a single-night reunion of three foundational she-punk bands with a curated archival exhibition, giving a documented institutional platform to a legacy punk historians have long argued was sidelined. For the artists involved — many of whom are contributing unreleased artwork and personal archives — it monetizes and memorializes their work simultaneously, centering the children of pioneers (Celeste Bell) alongside the originals (Lora Logic).
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