David Essex

David Essex plays Bristol Beacon on 7 September 2026. Singer, songwriter and actor, he came up through London’s gig circuit in the mid-60s before breaking out on stage in Godspell in 1971, then on screen with That’ll Be the Day. In 1973 he wrote and recorded Rock On, a track that set his mix of glam, British pop and rock’n’roll with a laid-back, narrative vocal style. The run that followed — Rock On (1973), David Essex (1974), All the Fun of the Fair (1975), Out on the Street (1976) and Imperial Wizard (1979) — pushed him toward a more melodic pop rock sound.

Alongside his records, Essex has a long history in musicals: Tommy, Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds (1978), and the original role of Che in Evita the same year. He kept moving between studio and stage through the 80s and 90s with albums like Be-Bop the Future and Cover Shot, and later crossed paths with Saint Etienne on Tales from Turnpike House in 2005. At Bristol Beacon, expect a set that joins early essentials like Rock On with later cuts, delivered in the storytelling tone that threads through his catalogue.