ARTISTS
Rock Stage - Saturday
OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT
A defiantly British indie band from the capital who’ve been hotly tipped to take off in 2009, Official Secrets Act released their debut album 'Understanding Electricity' on 30th March to rave reviews from the likes of Uncut and NME. Music mag Artrocker has praised their 'wonderful sense of poetic lyricism, incredible knack of pop harmonies and wonderful sense of Englishness', while the band promote their live appearances under the slogan: 'Be there, or forever pretend that you were.'
www.myspace.com/officialsecretsact
THE PINS
Like The Kaiser Chiefs swapping tunes with Led Zepplin, this local five-piece make contemporary rock n blues with a full dose of fun. Mixing duelling guitars, infectious riffs and a vocalist that recalls all the pomp and cheery boisterous swagger of Damon Albarn in his mid-nineties Blur peak, this act will leave you smiling through to Sunday.
www.myspace.com/wearethepins
THE VOLT
This young, Bath-based four-piece are quickly making quite a name for themselves throughout Britain - and watching them live it's pretty simple to see why. Having won last year's MTV Get Seen Get Heard competition to find the country's very best unsigned act, they make music that's ambitious and uplifting, and very much built to top the charts.
www.myspace.com/thevolt
THE MONO EFFECT
For the last three years, Cambridge based The Mono Effect has featured in national press, toured and gigged the length and breadth of the UK and featured regularly on Radio One with their melodic power rock songs. They've pushed their four part harmonies and driven rock to the limit; and now have recorded their latest album, 'Giants', with Russ Russell (Wildhearts / Napalm Death). This harmony driven, hook laden power rock will set the Rock Marquee alight.
www.myspace.com/themonoeffect
GUILDEAN GANG
Blissful indie rock right from the days of grubby corduroy trousers and ripped Cure posters; epic and yet humble in its sound. The Guildean Gang are the kind of guys you want to get round after school for orange squash and a round of Mario Cart. Full of swirling, stabbing guitars that fall somewhere between the Cure and The Pixies; raw, raucous and full of energy.
www.myspace.com/guildeangang
THE WORLDONFIRE
Worldonfire frontman David Walsh is a special creature. Seemingly born with rock n roll pumping through his veins, his stage show is the personification of passion, helped out by a band who knows that to be sensitive and heartfelt DOESN'T mean you have to play it quiet and safe.
www.myspace.com/theworldonfire
THE STRANGERHOOD
Describing themselves as an "experimental dirtyacousticsynthnoiserock outfit", The Strangerhood are a band it's impossible to pigeon hole. Taking their influence from the likes of Tom Waits to Metallica, Bjork to Elbow, they mash up trippy electronics, rock outs, pick-you-ups and delicate acoustics, and manage somehow to make the finished noise sound all rather splendid.
www.myspace.com/strangerhoodmusic
GARRISON FINISH
Proof positive that good old fashioned rock n roll is still very much alive and well, Bishops Stortford's Garrison Finish are like a shot in the arm to many of today's middling so-called rock stars. Hi-tempo, tuneful and loud, this lot have honed their live show after a year of incessant gigging, and have been known to leave many an audience shaky, drenched in sweat and screaming for more.
www.myspace.com/garrisonfinish
BROKEN MILE
Re-capturing everything that was good & fun about rock 'n' roll, Broken Mile are real brothers Jason & Jon (Bass & Drums) and booze brothers Matt & Dom (lead vocals & lead guitar). This is rock 'n' roll music made for dancing to - spirit of the late 60's / early 70's in a classic/contemporary mash. This is a band not looking to deliver some tedious, self-obsessed manifesto but to bring a reason to actually enjoy live music again (with a bit of dancing).
www.myspace.com/brokenmile
RIVALRIES
Rivalries are an alternative 4 piece from Hertfordshire. The band have only been together for 5 months but are already recruiting massive support from within the industry with their alternative sound and epic tunes. A cross between ‘Joy division and ‘Stone roses’ expect to see ‘Rivalries’ burst onto the scene in 2009.
www.myspace.com/rivalries
TZAR
On paper, the concept of chucking together the disparate sounds of Joy Division, Muse and Ride really shouldn't work. Don't try telling that to Tzar though, a band who pull off the impossible with their uniquely impassioned variety of new-emo-space-rock.
www.myspace.com/tzarmusicuk
THE TAUNTS
Alternative rock quartet The Taunts are set to jump-start the Rock Stage on Saturday with a high-octane set of powerful riffs interspersed with melodic builds. Check out their track 'Laugh It Off' on our MySpace page and see why they're already gaining an impressive following.
www.myspace.com/thetauntsuk
Rock Stage - Sunday
OFFICER KICKS
Generally acclaimed one of the country's best new rock bands by those in the know, Officer Kicks are a genuine festival favourite with every show being played a house party with your parents out of town. With comparisons ranging from Led Zeppelin and Kasabian to The Rolling Stones and Kings Of Leon, they are a rising star, home-grown classic that should not be missed!
www.myspace.com/officerkicks
SUB POP SUNDAY
Watching Sub Pop Sunday live leaves you energised, in love with life and with only simple question - how on earth are they not already absolutely massive? A complete modern rock n roll band, these boys have passion, soul, belief, and enough killer tunes to play all day.
www.myspace.com/subpopsundaytheband
LONDON BLACKMARKET
Named after a 19th century book, these soul/punk incendiaries need no gimmicks or props. Packed full of classic and contemporary references – from the raw power of Tamla Motown to the swagger of early Kings of Leon and the storytelling of Springsteen – these everyday indie boys are the real deal and won’t stay secret for long.
www.myspace.com/londonblackmarket
KRAKATOA
Inspired like many by the sounds of Oasis in their youth, Krakatoa have grown up to become far more than an ode to their idols. Exemplary songwriting, powerful guitar hooks and a relentless drum beat complement the act's knowing swagger to create something all of the band's own creation - a life-sized musical encapsulation of what's what in the noughties.
www.myspace.com/krakatoauk
DEAD MONROE
Presenting for your delectation these young tiddly-winkers from London town Guaranteed to send an electric shock through your ten-speed gears and a rattle through your Tom Jones. Dead Monroe serve up a scrump-diddly-umptious feast of sound - extracting the essence of rock'n'roll, blues and glam, with a punk edge that'll tickle the buds of your tasties, if I may rightly put it so.
www.myspace.com/deadmonroe
SUKIE
Having shot to the top of the indie chart last year with their debut single 'Pink-A-Pade', Sukie arrive at the Bishops Stortford Music Festival with momentum for the band gaining pace like a snowball set to become an avalanche. Of-the-moment guitar pop that's as jangly as Johnny Marr, as loveable as Lily, their sound aims unashamedly to get dancefloors, you know, dancing.
www.myspace.com/wearesukie
CHARLI XCX
Charli XCX - nursery rhyme - electro-pop. Inspired by David La Chapelle, Rubbish Fairy, Clowntastic, Glitter, Marie Antoinette and dreams of being a dinosaur.
www.myspace.com/charlixcx
MESSENGERS
Dance-influenced indie poptarts Messengers make modern noise for a bygone age. Like Muse transported back to the Hacienda, their musicianship's enormous and their intentions admirable as the threepiece work the stage like its some elaborate piece of nu-fangled gym equipment that leaves all around them sweaty and full of endorphins.
www.myspace.com/messengersofficial
YELLOW GARAGE
Local Scenesters Yellow Garage are a true marriage of style and substance. Boasting boyish bravado and an ambition as elevated as their haircuts, this young fourpiece have the makings of next decade's cult idols.
www.myspace.com/yellowgaragemusicuk
STEREO TYPICAL
Stereotypical are a three piece rock band, who recently released a self-recorded and self-financed album called Heaven and Hell. Taking influences from a massive array of bands such as Queen, John Elton, Muse, MCR, FOB and Blink 182 they'll get Sunday's Rock Stage line-up off to a rocking start.
www.myspace.com/stereotypicalrock
