On Monday 30 June the Palace Theatre Southend saw a gathering of many famous local bands and musicians as they came together for the very first time for a photo session. It was inspired by The Scene By The Sea exhibition at the Beecroft Gallery in Southend, which maps the vibrant musical venues past and present across Southend, Canvey and Leigh and to celebrate the City’s long-standing music heritage.

So many bands and artists from the Southend area have gone on to be known nationally and even internationally, so it was felt it was time to document this by gathering as many of them as possible for the first time for a one-off historic portrait by photographer Carl Allen of Big Wave PR. More than 60 legends gathered at the iconic Palace Theatre to capture the moment.

Southend Theatres: The Palace Theatre & The Cliffs Pavilion have always played a leading role in the city’s music scene with iconic acts such as Jimi Hendrix in 1967, Paul McCartney in 1991 and Oasis in 1995 playing the Cliffs, and Kula Shaker in 2016 and Gary Barlow in 2022 appearing at the Palace Theatre.

Present were:
Dr Feelgood; Eddie & The Hot Rods; The Damned; Steve Hooker; Asylums; Bait; Kursaal Flyers; These New Puritans; Depeche Mode; The Horrors; Teleforme; Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly; Snowboy; Jackson Sloan; The Records; Engerica; The Jive Aces; Johnny Hates Jazz; Kelly Ann Buckley; The Cure; Mazal; Taming The Outback; Legend; Tonight; Eric Clapton band; Phil Burdett; The Hamsters; Hence; UB40; The Famous Potatoes; Dave & Fiona Dulake; The Fingers; Golden Section; Kiti & Derek Theobald; The Screaming Abdabs, plus Producers, Peter Eden and Danny Saxon; music authors and journalists Daryl Easlea, Zoë Howe, Mark Cunningham and John Howard; promoters Charley Horne and Russell Lee (Pink Toothbrush), Glyn Morgan (Chinnerys) and Paul Collier (Leigh Folk Festival); Simon 'Sting' Davies of Big Noise Studios and Rees Broomfield of SS2 Studios and legendary photographer, Dean Chalkley.

Oliver Stacey, General Manager of Southend Theatres said: "It was a pleasure to host this gathering of bands and musicians at the Palace and to mark both the exhibition and the part played by Southend Theatres in bringing brilliant music to the city, now and over the decades."
                                        
Southend Theatres continue to bring new bands and established acts to the city. Jake Bugg (22 July), The SOS Band (31 July), Level 42 (14 Oct), and The Real Thing (17 Oct) all play the Cliffs Pavilion in the next few months, and the Palace Theatre sees Ward Thomas (13 Sep) in the main house while Maddox Jones (13 Oct) appears in the Dixon Studio. The Studio is also home to the Dixon Sessions which offer a professional platform for local bands and singer songwriters to perform in an intimate space with an attentive and engaged audience.

To find out more about the upcoming gigs at Southend Theatres, please go to southendtheatres.org.uk or call 0343 310 0030.

The Scene by the Sea exhibition is at the Beecroft Art Gallery until 26 October 2025. This show, by the Thames Group of Artists, charts the clubs, record shops, fashion boutiques and music venues that once made the town a creative epicentre by the estuary.