New version — still under construction. More gigs, photographs, memories and archive material will be added as Chelmsford Rocks continues to be rebuilt.

Chelmsford music history

Remembering the music of Chelmsford

Chelmsford Rocks began in January 2006 as a personal archive and grew into a record of the bands, venues, gigs and people connected with Chelmsford’s music history.

Browse Where & When Browse Folk Pages Explore the archive

A wide collage of Chelmsford music posters, tickets, venues and performers. — A collage of Chelmsford music history. Select the image to view it full size.

Start with Where & When: browse the surviving gig index by artist, venue and decade. Original source wording is retained, and dates that still need checking are labelled accordingly. Open the gig index →

Browse the main collections

Venues

Explore the places that hosted live music, from the Corn Exchange and Chancellor Hall to clubs and newer venues.

Browse venues →

Events & gigs

Selected shows with surviving posters, tickets, photographs, programmes or memories.

Browse events →

People’s memories

Personal recollections are kept in their own voices and separated from documentary evidence.

Read memories →

Folk Pages

Find Chelmsford folk club and festival memories, recordings, venue histories and research in one place.

Browse all folk pages →

Recent archive addition

City Rock ’77 — 17 September 1977

Maurice Hyde’s first-person recollection and Flickr image add a personal view of the Chelmsford punk festival. The archive keeps his account distinct from the surviving poster evidence.

Read Maurice Hyde’s recollection → · Open the event record

Contribute to the archive

Have a photograph, ticket, poster, programme or memory connected with Chelmsford music history?

Find out how to contribute →