Athlete, The Wailers, Nouvelle Vague, Imelda May and Eat Static all confirmed for Guilfest
Athlete, who are confirmed to appear on the main stage at GuilFest on Saturday 11th July, came to prominence making their own brand of British Indie music in 2003 with their debut album, Vehicles and Animals, producing hugely popular singles such as "You Got the Style" and "El Salvador". The album earned a Mercury Music Prize nomination and went on to sell over 250,000 copies. They played their first live session on UK radio on the Dermot O'Leary Show, BBC Radio 2. Their second album, Tourist enjoyed even greater success. Driven by two No1 radio airplay hits ('Wires' and 'Half Light') 'Tourist's double-platinum sales well exceeded those of 'Vehicles And Animals. The band's 'Wires' single was also named Best Contemporary Song at the prestigious Ivor Novello awards. Going from strength to strength, Athletes third album also proved very successful, hitting the number 5 spot in the UK albums charts. Athlete have embarked on tours all over the world, playing their music to huge crowds and their 4th album is expected in Summer 2009.
The Wailers, the most legendary reggae group of all time, are set to bring their unique flavour of Dub/Reggae to the GuilFest Main Stage, supporting Happy Mondays on Sunday 12th July. Together with former lead singer Bob Marley, the Wailers have sold in excess of 250 million albums worldwide. In England alone, they’ve notched up over twenty chart hits, including seven Top 10 entries. Outside of their groundbreaking work with Marley, the Wailers have also played or performed with international acts like Sting, Kenny Chesney, the Fugees, Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana and Alpha Blondy, as well as reggae legends such as Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, and Burning Spear. As the greatest living exponents of Jamaica’s reggae tradition – still led by original bassist and musical director Aston “Family Man” Barrett to this day – the Wailers have completed innumerable tours, playing to an estimated 24 million people across the globe. They have also been the first reggae band to tour new territories on many occasions, including Africa and the Far East.
Nouvelle Vague, the ground-breaking French project, who take a unique twist on classic punk, post punk and new wave hits reinterpreted in a bossa nova style, will headline the 2nd Stage on Friday 10th July. After the huge worldwide success of their eponymous debut album, released in 2004, (with over 200,000 copies sold at last count) the band’s subsequent albums ‘Band A Parte’, (2006) and ‘Late Night Tales’, (2007) have taken the group even further. Their versions of "Just Can't Get Enough" by Depeche Mode and "Teenage Kicks" by the Undertones have been used in major UK TV adverts, while their version of Billy Idol’s ‘Dancing With Myself’ has been featured ion adverts for TLC’s show LA Ink.
Imelda May will be wowing the GuilFest crowds on the 2nd Stage on Saturday 11th July. Imelda was crowned 2008’s Best Female Newcomer at the prestigious Irish World Newspaper Awards and it’s not much of a stretch to see more acclaim ahead in 2009. She has shared stages with such megastars as Van Morrison and the Scissor Sisters, and provided vocals for a character in the forthcoming American gangster movie “Dark Streets”. Her shows have a reputation for being impassioned, all-or-nothing events. “Love Tattoo,” her debut album, which is almost entirely self-written, has the same unbridled feel, whether she’s getting her teeth into a massive rockabilly party track or a sleazy after-midnight torch number. In 2008 Imelda found herself on “Later With Jools Holland,” wowing an audience who included Jeff Beck, Elbow and Roots Manuva. Beck, in fact, made a point of telling Holland that he was only there to see her!
Eat Static, who headline GuilFest’s Funky End dance Tent on Friday 10th July, were formed in 1989 by Ozric Tentacles drummer Merv Pepler and keyboard player Joie Hinton as a separate creative outlet for the diverse range of electronic music that the pair were writing. Always intended as a live band, Eat Static can legitimately claim to be one of the UK's first live techno outfits, cutting their teeth at many of the 'orbital' raves of the early 90's. Since that time, Eat Static have played hundreds of gigs in the UK, Europe, the USA (touring with Moby and BT) and the Far East. These shows included a number of appearances at all the big UK and European festivals including Glastonbury and Dance Valley in Amsterdam.
Tickets are on sale now, available on-line at www.guilfest.co.uk or by calling Ticketline on 0871 424 0050.
