ABOUT CRO CRO LAND
Cro Cro Land returns this October, bringing our signature mash-up of queer, non-binary, and straight bands with gender equality at the heart, to the centre of Croydon.
On 1 October, South London’s Fairfield Halls, situated in Croydon’s cultural centre, will host Cro Cro Land 2022. We are proud to be completely gender balanced across stage and crew, and we will be offering a welcoming place for all who attend, to party to a soundtrack of the best in alternative music – we aim to bring guitar music back to the birthplace of punk.
Our line-up for 2022 is a who’s who of the best in indie and alternative music by both established and up-and-coming bands (50% of the bands making up the bill are new artists), as well as being more reflective of the society we live in, and of the diversity and gender balance that exists in guitar music but still seems to be missing on other bills.
Artists include London-based punk rock trio Dream Wife, who will headline The Recreational (a 750-capacity standing live music venue within Fairfield Halls), and hypnotic, psych-pop band She Drew The Gun, who return after playing the inaugural Cro Cro Land in 2019, to headline the 809-seat Ashcroft Theatre stage.
Other bands announced so far include Black feminist punk band Big Joanie, English rock outfit Bang Bang Romeo, experimental alt-rock band Wooze, post-punk pop duo Fräulein, and indie disco 4-piece Bugeye, whose lead singer Angela Martin is also the curator and director of the festival, alongside her partner, Croydonist co-founder, Julia Woollams.
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This year, and moving forward, we have created a diversity board. It has been put in place to ensure that the event stays true to its core values of, not only gender balance, but also fair pay and treatment of all artists, no matter what level they are at in their career, as well as a fair representation of LGBTQ+ and people of colour.
Jemma Freeman and the Cosmic Something playing Cro Cro Land 2019, photo by Jon Mo
Croydon’s musical history
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Croydon is already number one on the music map, according to research commissioned by Deezer and Pringles, as the place for new music talent, with the most streamed artists coming from this area. But Croydon is currently lacking serious music venue outlets, for these artists to play on home turf.
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Croydon has a rich musical history – alumni include; Ray Davies, David Bowie, Malcolm McLaren (Sex Pistols manager), Jamie Reed (artist/creator of all Sex Pistols art work), The Damned, Peter Grant (Manager of Led Zeppelin), Stormzy, Nadia Rose. The famous Greyhound Club used to be on every band's tour schedule including names such as The Cure, The Velvet Underground, and the Buzzcocks. The Croydonist are on a mission to reclaim Croydon’s indie crown.