Madness Confirmed Act
March 2007

GuilFest is excited to announce that nutty boys of ska Madness, are to headline the festivals final night on Sunday 15th July.
The origins of Madness date back some thirty years to a time when a group of North London lads were trying to re-invent ska in an otherwise punk-fuelled 1976.  By ’79 the seeds of ska were starting to bear some fruit and their sound had become part of a youth-culture movement, following a show with The Specials, Madness were invited to cut a one-off single for the legendary 2 Tone label.

Having taken their name from Prince Buster it seemed appropriate to adapt one of his songs, and ‘The Prince’ was born. In the autumn of 1979 it became the band´s first top twenty single, starting the chart domination of Madness. Throughout the early eighties Madness were unrivalled in chart success, critical acclaim, innovation and style. Everyone knew Madness. 

With twenty-one top-twenty hits, Madness are as exciting and relevant now as they ever were. You hear them everywhere in our popular music: in the hurdy-gurdy exuberance of The Kaiser Chiefs, in the staccato rhythms of Franz Ferdinand, in the ska-tones of The Ordinary Boys and even in the clever knowing pop of Robbie Williams - Madness are all around us and now they´re back on stage at GuilFest, bringing Madness to the masses again.


Madness is all around us. On the streets and in the air, Madness is everywhere.