Guilfest 2004

United Kingdom | | 18 July 2004

Set on the edge of a Surrey commuter town, Guilfest has something that sets it apart from that ever-increasing number of oh-so commercial festivals which fill the British summer.

There is a real sense of community here that is unmistakeably one of the festival's unique selling points. Friends greet one another at every turn, and new acquaintances blossom into the sort of life-long buddies who you can see meeting up to camp together in future years.

Guilfest has once again managed to attract a high calibre of bands - major artists with extensive back-catalogues, many of whom may have fallen out of the public eye but all of whom can still show up the endless reams of bland, modern day chart music for the regurgitated pap that it often turns out to be.

The energy and enthusiasm of these bands and their fans cannot be overestimated. As Simple Minds finish then, the once Glaswegian but now Twickenham based family beside us are aglow with relived childhoods, and the two previously sceptical daughters, who had been dragged grudgingly to their first festival, were already clamouring for tickets to Glastonbury 2005.

This year at Guilfest has most definitely been the year fo the 80s revival. Punk icons like The Damned, The Alarm, The Stranglers and Blondie have miraculously not aged as much as many of their fans - amongst whose ranks receding hairlines are now the prevalent hair-style.

The only mohicans in evidence are those foisted onto children who are still either too young to know better or too weak-willed to exert their own influence over visits to the barbers!

Day by day reviews!

- Friday, 16th July - Speedway, The Damned, The Stranglers, Blondie.

- Saturday, 17th July - Rolf Harris, Katie Melua, Simple Minds, Midge Ure.

- Sunday, 18th July - The Saw Doctors, Femi Kuti, UB40.

- Feature: Why Guilfest really does have something for everyone.

- Photo Gallery: All the best pictures from Guilfest!

-The Wacky World of Guilfest!