"One of the most laid-back and genuinely friendly festivals of the year" - The Independent

Will Young, The Stranglers and The King Blues have been added to the fantastic GuilFest 2009 line up of Motorhead, Brian Wilson (legendary member of The Beach Boys), Happy Mondays, Athlete, The Charlatans, The Wailers, Nouvelle Vague, Imelda May and Eat Static.

Will Young, iconic singer-songwriter, will be headlining the 2nd Stage on Sunday 12th July at GuilFest 2009! Four albums into his incredibly successful career, Will has racked up an astounding amount of awards and accolades in his comparatively short 8 years in the limelight. Having won the inaugural Pop Idol back in 2002, Will released his first single - a double A-side featuring Westlife’s song “Evergreen” and “Anything is Possible” which became fastest selling debut in UK chart history, selling over 400,000 copies on it’s first day, over 1.1million in its first week and went on to sell over 1.7 million total copies - 11th on the official list of all-time best selling singles. “Anything is Possible” won the Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.

Will has been nominated for 10 BRIT awards over the years, winning 2, and was voted the UK’s favourite artist ever in 2006 in a poll conducted by Commercial Radio - As if that wasn’t enough he received the same award the following year!

GuilFest are delighted to welcome Will to the line up at Stoke Park this summer.

English rock pioneers The Stranglers will be celebrating their 25th anniversary supporting Motorhead on the GuilFest Main Stage on Friday 10th July 2009. Originally called The Guildford Stranglers, first forming locally in Guildford in 1974, the bands straight talking approach gave them the reputation as aggressive and confrontational with their notoriety later embraced by the punk movement of 1977. This led to their debut single 'Grip' and their legendary first album Rattus Norvegicus. This was followed by such hits as ‘Peaches’, ‘No More Heroes’, ‘5 Minutes’, ‘Duchess’, ‘Something Better Change’, ‘Always the Sun’ and their ultimate classic ‘Golden Brown’.

To date the bands success boasts 24 top 40 singles and 18 top 40 albums over the last 25 years – GuilFest are delighted to welcome the band back to their home turf to rock the Main Stage.

Punk Reggae outfit The King Blues are set to headline the Rocksound Rock Cave at GuilFest on Sunday 12th July. Over the past 5 years The King Blues have toured all the best rock venues in the UK, playing at Wembley arena supporting hard-fi, headlining Dingwalls and the Islington Academy, playing at some of the top festivals and enjoying airplay on BBC Radio 1 - Zane Lowe has been championing their sound on his show since October 2008. Don’t miss what promises to be a truly excellent experience in the RockSound cave at GuilFest 2009.

Other festival attractions include the awesome Funky End Tent this year headlined by Eat Static on Friday 10th July, the Acoustic Stage, The Rock Disco, the new 70s disco, the eFestivals Cosmic Comedy Stage, The Man In The Moon Theatre Tent, The UNISONzone, and the incredibly popular Farmer Giles’ Barn Dance - so get on down and grab your partner for a bit of “Dosey – Doh!” - Superb cocktail bars, street performers, great arts and crafts, a fabulous selection of food from around the world and, as usual, the massive 150’ long bar means nobody has to wait very long for refreshment!

Children will find the KidZone by far the best to date with loads of fun, games, theatre and activities, not to mention the face painting!

The festival caters for visitors with disabilities – both the Main and 2nd stages have viewing platforms and the festival also provides a dedicated camping area, toilet facilities and stewards to facilitate your enjoyment of GuilFest. Car parking is right next to the festival site so no long walks heaving camping gear for anybody. Visitors with disabilities are recommended to visit the Accessibility pages on the festivals web site.

Facilities adjacent to Stoke Park include The Guildford Lido which is only 2 minutes walk and The Spectrum Leisure Centre, great for hot showers, sauna or a swim. The historic town is itself only 10minutes walk away and has shops, cafes restaurants, bars and pubs galore; Guildford even has its own castle!

Band lineup:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

Friday 10th July 2009
MOTORHEAD
NOUVELLE VAGUE
IMELDA MAY
EAT STATIC

Saturday 11th July 2009
BRIAN WILSON
THE CHARLATANS
ATHLETE

Sunday 12th July 2009
HAPPY MONDAYS
WILL YOUNG
THE KING BLUES
THE WAILERS

GuilFest 2009 looks set to be the most successful to date and tickets are selling fast so get your tickets quick!

Ticket Hotline: 0871 4240050. Book tickets via the website: www.guilfest.co.uk

Visitor information: 01483 454159

For more information, full line up of bands, attractions and facilities please visit:

GuilFest Official Website

One of the best things about discovering bands and listening to new music online is when you can turn what initially begins as a virtual experience into a live music experience. The first time that I heard Souljacker was on their Myspace page after I was tipped off by a friend to check them out. I really liked their sound and had to wait about three weeks to see them play live at the Temple Bar in Oxford, England - and last Saturday the wait was finally over.

The Temple Bar has been around for quite a few years now, and in the "old days" was a place where a lot of musicians would gather and hang out. Over the years, there hasn't been much going on there and I never really heard anyone talking about the Temple Bar - good or bad.

Things are different now. New owner Barry has opened the doors to musicians and has set up an open mic night on Wednesdays and live music on Saturday nights. There's a great atmosphere, the bar staff are friendly and you can't beat Barry's enthusiasm toward live music and helping bands and musicians hone their craft, while entertaining the punters.

It was good to see the room begin to fill up as Souljacker started their set. They play guitar rock - originals that sound like old classics ("Jimmy Drank My Tea"), along with classic covers by bands like Free, Motorhead and Jimi Hendrix Experience. They even played a funky cover of "Ghostbusters", which caught me by surprise. The crowd loved it.

Souljacker played two sets - and for each set, the crowd was engrossed. The band is full of confidence which, considering how young they are, is refreshing to see. Singer/guitarist Patrick Burley (and his soulful vocals) is entertaining and interacts with the crowd like an old pro. Same goes for guitarist Hamish Denny. The guitar solos are stand-out and drummer Josh Catling is incredible. As a unit they're tight and sound like they've been playing for years.

I think that it's easy to forget that while the area (Oxford) tends to be over-saturated with indie bands, that there are other styles out there. Saturday night proved to me that the public is hungry for something else.

If steered in the right direction, Souljacker could reach many more people who have missed hearing new rock bands on the scene. They are definitely a band to watch out for, and if they're playing in a town near you, I highly recommend going to check them out.

Souljacker Band Members:

Patrick Burley - Guitar/Vocals
Hamish Denny - Guitar
Rowan Mayo - Bass
Josh Catling - Drums
Robbie Moore - Keyboards

For more information and live show dates go to:

Souljacker on Myspace

Photo Credit: Dave Tommo

By: Jenny May - Band Weblogs