Live Review: God Save the Queens- 50 Years of She Punk and Poly Styrene

Electric Brixton, 16 October 2026

I first heard a little hint of the ‘God Save the Queens’ concert back in May, when I visited Rough Trade East to see original X-Ray Spex members Lora Logic (saxophone) and Paul Dean (bass) take part in a Q&A and signing. There was a brief mention of singer Poly Styrene’s daughter, Celeste Bell, organising something special involving she-punk. As a she-punk fan, I latched onto that little snippet of information more than anything else from the evening, even asking Lora where I could find further details when she signed my CD.

Since then, the Up Yours Collective has been announced: a non-profit community organisation founded by Celeste Bell, Vivian Goldman (author of Revenge of the She-Punks) and Lauren Estelle Jones, an art curator and daughter of Mick Jones from The Clash. Together, they have created a festival celebrating women in punk, not simply as nostalgia, but as an evolving force that is still very much alive today.

The concert was part of the festival and the first Up Yours Collective event I’ve personally attended. And honestly? Being at this gig was like being a kid in a sweet shop. If I could have put together my own dream gig, this would have been pretty darn close.

The gig started fairly early, and the line-up was absolutely packed. Vivian Goldman presented the show in a vibrant, colourful outfit, and the first band she introduced to the stage was Essential Logic, Lora Logic’s band, which she joined after leaving X-Ray Spex. Essential Logic weave reggae and a touch of ska into their music, and it was lovely to see the family dynamic of Lora performing alongside her daughter, with the two singing together so well.

Next up was one of my favourite acts of the night, HotWax – the youngest band on the bill. I’ve seen this Hastings band a few times before in support slots, but this was the best performance I’ve seen from them yet. They know how to put on a rock ’n’ roll show, with all the moves to go alongside the music. There were Courtney Love-style screams, funky bass lines and big guitar riffs. I’m pretty sure they won themselves a lot of new fans that night.

Next in what was turning out to be a musically diverse line-up, while still firmly within the realm of she-punk, was one of my favourite punk rock godmothers, Gina Birch, with her band The Unreasonables. Formerly of The Raincoats, this was the fourth time I’ve seen Gina and her band. They kicked off with the classic ‘I Will Never Wear Stilettos’, which went down a treat. I’m guessing most of the audience weren’t fans of stilettos either, judging by the response to the question in the lyrics: ‘But can you run in them?’

The short but sweet set included songs from the album Trouble, including the popular title track ‘Causing Trouble Again’. This featured the part where all the female ‘troublemakers’ get named, and in this version, ‘Poly Styrene’ was, of course, one of those names. They also played ‘I Play My Bass Loud’, another live favourite.

Next up were Big Joanie, a band I didn’t know much about beyond having heard their name before. If, like me, you’re not familiar with them, they’re a Black feminist punk band. The musical vibe shifted again, with Big Joanie bringing a bluesier sound to the stage. I warmed to them as their set went on and the songs progressively got rockier. They were incredibly talented and have now earned themselves a place on my watch list.

Then it was finally time for the headliners: a supergroup led by Celeste Bell and Hollie Cook (formerly of The Slits) on vocals, with Lora Logic on saxophone, Paul Dean on bass and plenty of other special guests, including Gina Birch, Vivian Goldman and John Robb.

They kicked off with X-Ray Spex songs, and the room literally exploded when they launched into ‘Oh Bondage Up Yours!’ It was incredible just how much Celeste looked and sounded like her mother. They followed up with all the classics, including ‘I Am a Poseur’, ‘Identity’ and more.

What I hadn’t realised was that they wouldn’t be sticking exclusively to X-Ray Spex songs. They went on to perform other fantastic she-punk tracks, including The Slits’ ‘Typical Girls’, their version of ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’ and The Raincoats’ ‘Fairytale in the Supermarket’.

Unfortunately, as Brixton is quite a trek from where I live, I had to leave before the end, meaning I missed an appearance from Skin of Skunk Anansie (gutted!). It was very hard to pull myself away.

Even though I couldn’t stay until the end, what a night. It’s one that will stay with me for a long time. The very next morning, all I wanted to listen to was X-Ray Spex and The Slits. Personally, I hope they put on another similar concert in the near future.

In the meantime, I hope to get along to more of the Up Yours Collective’s events. There are already some fantastic things coming up, including a film screening and A Night with The Slits. You can find details here.