The Guildford based Undercover team are set to bring plenty of music to your ears this year!
Perhaps some of your favourite bands came from the Guildford area? The Stranglers, The Vapors and The Jam all have strong links to the town. We’re happy to see Guildford’s wonderful musical tradition continue with the Undercover Festival and Events team bringing you a delightful smorgasbord of live music over the next twelve months!
Organiser Mick Moriarty promises attendees won’t find anything like Undercover Festival and Events – the best in grassroots and legendary alternative music, plus the friendliest crowd around. He adds: “Come along and find out what the fuss is about. If you like your music alternative you will love what we have to offer at Undercover… as we say at Undercover ‘See Ya Down The Front’.”
This year we’re particularly looking forward to the Chillitown Fayre all-dayer in March – headlined by the magnificent masters of ska-punk, Popes of Chillitown, plus another 8 bands from the Ska-Punk, Skacore, Ska, and Punk world – it’s sure to be an event to remember! The stage and bar are indoors (safe from the weather) at the excellent Suburbs at The Holroyd venue, winner of ‘Best Entertainment Venue (Small) 2024‘ at the Guildford Awards, and there will be on-site catering throughout the day.
Early bird tickets have all flown for this event, but you can still get general admission for just £22.47 HERE, or at face value (£21) in person at any Undercover gig, or from Sounds of the Suburbs Records in Ruislip. Don’t hang around – with a line up this good, it’s likely to sell out!
In May, we’ve got another amazing all-dayer to look forward to. This time it’s the turn of TEN excellent unsigned bands at the Alternative Unsung Heroes event! A new venture for Undercover, this line up is NOT to be missed – including Angerland who are one of Punktuation’s ‘Bands to watch in 2025‘, the fantastic MC16 who have a great new album coming out soon (look out for our review!), and fab festival favourites Stone Heroes with special guests.
With 10 bands for just a tenner, you can’t get better value than this! Tickets HERE or in person as above – let’s support these newer bands by giving them a chance to play for you. Punktuation Mag will be there with camera and pen, to report on all the action!
The annual Undercover Festival has this year moved to Battlebridge in South Essex – on 26th and 27th September, across two stages, the team are putting on an impressive array of established bands. Organiser Mick says; “We believe the usual run-of-the-mill festivals tend to book bands that in the main are broadly similar, we try for a lineup and experience that is something different and appeals to a crowd definitely not catered for elsewhere. Being a small independent grassroots festival is tough, because media attention is always on the big boys, but we believe we we have struck a chord with people who like their music full of the passion and energy that only acts like ours generate.“
Scotland’s legendary Skids will be joined by Essex’s finest sons Eddie & The Hot Rods, plus ska-punk favourites Popes of Chillitown and 80s punks Subhumans. Many nationally renowned bands including Menace, Eastfield, Codename Colin, Dakka Skanks and East Town Pirates, plus several local bands (see the poster for full details) will join them across the two days. Mick adds “I have been blown away by the amount of quality bands there are in and around South Essex, it is a real shame that we were unable to fit in more of them”.
A proudly independent celebration of DIY and alternative culture, the ‘nomadic’ Undercover Festival has run over 12 years across Kent, London, Surrey and Sussex, and now Essex. You can expect free camping, showers, parking and novel on-site attractions found at no other UK festival. Extras include a reasonably priced bar, merchandise, on-site accommodation, campervan passes and easy road, rail and bus access.
Tickets are available HERE, and in person at face value from: Undercover gigs (Guildford), Intense Records (Chelmsford), Fives Record Shop (Leigh On Sea), Sounds of the Suburbs Records (Ruislip) and Dirt (Norwich).
With something happening almost every month at Undercover in Guildford (and beyond!), now is the best time to get your gig diary sorted out for the year – make sure you include some of these gigs and events if you possibly can!
All Undercover tickets and information can be found HERE – and keep an eye on their socials for the latest updates:
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Usually found jumping around down the front at gigs, I also relish taking photos and videos, singing, speaking with fellow music fans, and asking musicians the questions nobody else does. Writing about my favourite bands and connecting with people who love music too keeps me more-or-less sane! I’ve worked for over 25 years at a video production company, mainly filming live music events, therefore I have an additional backstage perspective on the scene.
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