The headliners at this year’s Springloaded music event at the Hall for Cornwall in Truro have been announced. Echo & The Bunnymen, The Music and Fightstar/Hell is for Heroes are headlining the three successive nights on this year’s programme (26-28th May) which again is set to raise valuable funds for Surfers Against Sewage.

Richard Hardy, Campaign Director of SAS, said “Last year’s Springloaded was an all time classic and brought some great bands to Cornwall as well as showing support from both the music and wider community for SAS’s campaign for clean and safe water. We’re delighted that once again we have been chosen to benefit from this brilliant event, and in order to spread the benefit a bit wider, SAS are planning to make a donation from the profits to the Tsunami Relief Fund. SAS urge gig goers to turn up, tune in and feel good about themselves for a giving a little bit back from the ticket price to us guardians of the water environment”.

This year promoters Metropolis Music and SW1 Productions promise another varied lineup, starting with the cult 80’s acts Echo & The Bunnymen and Billy Bragg on Thursday 26th May. Echo, who formed in the late 70’s and who remain best known for brooding hits such as “The Killing Moon” and “Ocean Rain” are still instantly recognisable by Ian McCulloch’s dark and breezy vocal style and the guitars of original member Will Sargeant. The band shot the cover of Ocean Rain on the underwater lake at Carnglaze Caverns and McCulloch was an enthusiastic visitor to last year’s shows – hence the band’s return for this year’s Springloaded. Support on this night comes from Billy Bragg, who became known for his politically charged vocals and his alliance with Red Wedge, an initiative set up in the 80’s to encourage young people to engage in society and vote in the General Election (implicitly for Labour).

The Friday night will feature Leeds band The Music (with support from hot upcoming band The Subways – who won last year’s unsigned band award at Glastonbury festival) who will be playing tracks from their second album “Welcome to The North” (recorded with Brendan O’Brian known for his work with Rage Against The Machine and Pearl Jam) which came out in September 2004.

The Music rose through the ranks unimpeded, from playing gigs alongside sitting their exams before leaving school, to receiving the accolade “best unsigned band in Britain” from Steve Lamacq at Radio 1 after he heard their demo. Their first album went gold in the UK, Japan and Australia, following on from the success of three sell-out EPS, and support slots with The Charlatans, Coldplay, and Oasis helping to cement their following.

The video for recent single “Breakin” recently won MTV’s viewers pick and shows us the range of influences in The Music’s back catalogue – from a backbone of chemical beats and the flexing muscle of Nutter’s guitars through to the epic, almost messianic attitude and lyrics of Robert Harvey, the tastes of classic rock, reggae and funk all bleed through to the finished track.

The final night of this year’s Springloaded is “rock night” and will be co-headlined by new act Fightstar and monster rockers Hell is for Heroes. Fightstar, the new project featuring Charlie Simpson (the former lead singer of recently split pop act Busted) is attracting favourable reaction from music industry sceptics and fans alike for their grunge post-hardcore rock. Influences such as Machine Head, Pantera and Nirvana are cited as inspiration and have translated into a mature sounding identity for the newcomers, who seems set to secure their place as a credible rock act.

Hell is for Heroes, formed from the ashes of short lived but hot rock act Symposium have a core following which they have built on with the release of recent album “Transmit Disrupt”. Their combination of fiery guitars and bass lines, with the emotional intensity of Justin Schlossberg’s bruising vocal style ensure a solid show. Further support comes from Armor for Sleep, an American band from New Jersey whose music is described as “dark and delicate” and who have already appeared with Taking Back Sunday, along with Instruction and locals Easy Kill, who recently wowed audiences at The Stannary in Penryn.

Tickets are £20 for Echo & The Bunnymen/Billy Bragg (Thursday 26th), £16 for The Music (Support TBC) (Friday 27th) and £14 for the Fightstar/Hell is for Heroes/Armor for Sleep/Instruction/Easy Kill.

All tickets include a £1 donation to Surfers Against Sewage and are available from the Hall for Cornwall box office (01872) 262466 www.hallforcornwall.co.uk, and www.gigsandtours.com(subject to a booking fee). For further information on the lineups please check the SW1 website www.sw1productions.co.uk