Formed in early 2021, The Guest List: Cai Alty (vocals/guitar), Tom Quigley (lead guitar), Leio Hunter (rhythm guitar), Sid Wallace (bass) and Angus Gilchrist (drums), came together as school friends and music students, initially bonding over a love of The Strokes. Posting high-octane indie covers on TikTok, they quickly amassed over 400,000 followers and nearly 8 million likes, before carving out their own lane with original material. With early singles like ‘Canada’, ‘London’ and ‘Loose Tongue’ (produced by The Coral’s James Skelly) drawing comparisons to Arctic Monkeys, Sam Fender and Radiohead, the band are rapidly becoming one of the UK’s most essential young acts.

Their rise has been powered by both Cai’s emotive, socially-conscious writing and their formidable live set. A huge festival run in 2025 saw them play Glastonbury, The Great Escape, TRNSMT, Truck, Kendal Calling, Neighbourhood Weekender, Sound City, London Calling and Y Not. Wet Leg’s Rhian Teasdale caught their Glastonbury set, and BBC Radio 6 Music’s Chris Hawkins has been an early champion.

While proud of their Manchester roots, the band are keen to break out of the city’s tribal associations. “We have been brought up listening to Manchester bands, but we don’t want to be defined by that,” says Alty. “We want to be seen as a band from Manchester, not just a Manchester band.”

After completing a rapturous UK headline tour last November that saw 6,000 tickets sold - including three consecutive nights at London’s Camden Assembly - plus a huge 1,300-capacity hometown date at Manchester’s New Century Hall, the band return to the road in April to visit even more of the UKm across 14 dates, further looking to cement their reputation as one of Britain’s next breakthrough live acts - tickets here. ‘Something Real' stands as both a warning and a declaration: truth still matters, and saying it out loud has never felt more necessary. With over 5.2 million? Spotify streams, and a dedicated fanbase cutting across tribes and demographics, The Guest List are making music for now: bold, unflinching and built to connect, and with more new music with Bergen producer Matias Tellez already in the pipeline, the band are heading into 2026 primed for a breakout year.