From Little Mix and Noel Gallagher, to Bryan Ferry and Jason Donovan – who will you be going to see in the new year?
Today that has changed and Suffolk has a thriving music scene, attracting some of the biggest names in the music business, providing a range of musical experiences for all tastes.
Here are a selection of the choice acts coming to Suffolk in 2020.
Madness
Where: Forest Live (Thetford)
When: Saturday June 20
Cost: £47
Welcome to the House of Fun...Madness, the feelgood band to top all feelgood bands, is headlining Forest Live next summer bringing a dazzling collection of catchy chart-toppers to the outdoor arena.
Hits include One Step Beyond, Our House, It Must Be Love, Baggy Trousers and Night Boat to Cairo.
The ska band, who hail from Camden Town in London, wrote songs inspired by British life and also took influences from the genres of reggae, motown, rock and roll and classic pop. Propelled by their trademark 'nutty' sound, they spent more weeks in the charts in that decade than any other group.
Bryan Ferry
Where: Newmarket Nights
When: Friday June 26
Cost: £32.48
Achieving immediate and sensational success in the early 1970s with his group Roxy Music, the smooth-voiced Bryan Ferry has taken his place as one of the most iconic and innovative singers and lyricists in popular music.
Roxy Music's eight studio albums are acclaimed as modern classics, with Ferry's solo work shaping the course of contemporary rock and pop music. Behind classic songs such as 'Slave To Love', 'More Than This', 'Avalon' and 'Love Is The Drug', Ferry has continually affirmed his position as a musical icon. With the rare distinction of being regarded as both classic and contemporary, he is acknowledged as the writer and singer of some of the most loved pop songs, and a driving force in the avant-garde.
Kiefer Sutherland
Where: Ipswich Corn Exchange
When: Wednesday February 19
Cost: £35.20
Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland is currently touring small intimate venues to support his new album Reckless and Me. The star of hit movies such as The Lost Boys, Young Guns and Flatliners as well as the courtroom classic A Few Good Men and TV sensation 24 will be in Ipswich in February to unveil his music which is described as contemporary country music with a touch of Tim Petty and a sprinkling of Bruce Springsteen.
The album was well reviewed with The Guardian observing: "The action star's whiskey-sodden country music set is genuinely poignant," while Rolling Stone noted his "edgy vocals blended with passion."
Little Mix
Where: JobServe Community Stadium, Colchester United
When:Friday July 10
Cost: £166-£50
Fans of Little Mix will be overjoyed with the news that one of Britain's best-loved girl bands will be returning to Colchester United's stadium in 2020.
The tour will see Little Mix perform some of their greatest hits including 'Woman Like Me', 'Touch', 'Shout Out to My Ex', 'Black Magic' and 'Wings'.
The band - Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall - said in a statement: "Performing live is our favourite thing to do as a band, we love it. Our last summer tour in 2018 was one of our favourites ever, so we can't wait for some more brilliant outdoor shows next year.
"We want everyone to come party with us in the sunshine!"
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
Where: Forest Live (Thetford)
When: Thursday June 18
Cost: £52.50
Former Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher and his band will play at Thetford Forest next summer.
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds will perform at Forest Live with Australian outfit Confidence Man in June.
The band shot to fame in 2011 with their first album going double platinum in the UK with more than 2.5 million copies sold globally. Chasing Yesterday and Who Built The Moon? followed, making a hat-trick of number one albums.
The Britpop star was a founding member and the songwriter of Oasis, selling 70 million records, including the band's generation-defining albums Definitely Maybe and What's The Story Morning Glory?
The Script
Where: Newmarket Nights
When: Friday June 19
Cost: from £39.20
Danny O'Donoghue and The Script will be returning to Suffolk next summer with a performance at Newmarket Racecourses in June 2020. The Script are one of the most successful Irish acts of recent times with 12 million monthly Spotify listeners.
They will be performing hits including 'The Man Who Can't Be Moved', 'Hall of Fame', 'For The First Time' and 'Superheroes' when they open the summer season at Newmarket.
The band, fronted by The Voice star O'Donoghue, will also be bringing their latest hit 'The Last Time' from their sixth studio album 'Sunsets & Full Moons,' to the home of British horseracing.
McFly
Where: Summer Saturday Live, Newmarket
When: Saturday August 29.
Cost: from £42.56
Brit award winners McFly will once again headline Summer Saturday Live at Newmarket Racecourses over the August bank holiday weekend.
The best-selling British band, which consists of top-selling children's author Tom Fletcher, The Voice Kids judge Danny Jones, I'm a Celebrity winner Dougie Poynter and Strictly champion Harry Judd, will be headlining the family friendly event on Saturday, August 29.
Having taken a break after touring as the pop phenomenon that was McBusted - who headlined the Saturday Live show four years ago — the band return with a spectacular live show playing their best-loved mega-hits such as All About You, Obviously, Star Girl, One for the Radio and Shine a Light.
Jason Donovan
Where: Ipswich Regent
When: November 11
Cost: £45, £36
Jason Donovan came into our lives in the late 80's as Scott Robinson in the hit Australian series, 'Neighbours'. Throughout 1988/89 he had several hits and his album 'Ten Good Reasons' was the best-selling album of 1989.
His hits included 'Too Many Broken Hearts','Especially For You' (with Kylie Minogue), 'Any Dream Will Do', 'Sealed With A Kiss', 'When You Come Back to Me', 'Everyday', "Nothing Can Divide Us' and many more.
Since then, he has rarely been away from stage or screen. Jason's record breaking run in 'Joseph' in the early 90s preceded 'The Rocky Horror Show', 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang', 'Priscilla', and 'The Sound of Music', 'Annie Get Your Gun', 'The King's Speech', 'Million Dollar Quartet' and Jeff Wayne's 'The War Of The Worlds'.
This will be Jason's first music concert tour in four years with his 'Even More Good Reasons' Tour.
Rick Astley
Where: Newmarket Nights
When: Friday, July 31
Cost: £30.24
Rick Astley, the 1980s hit pop star, who shot to fame with his single Never Gonna Give You Up will be one of the acts headlining at Newmarket Racecourses this summer.
Shooting to fame in 1987, Astley topped charts across the world and went on to make eight UK top ten songs and sell millions. Astley moved away from music for several decades to focus on his family, but he swept back onto the scene a couple of years ago with the platinum-selling album 50.
A compilation album called The Best of Me was released last month and included reimagined interpretations of old and new songs.
The Shires
Where: Ipswich Regent
When: May 17
Cost: £25.85 - £38.50
Celebrated country-pop duo The Shires have announced a new album and a new tour which will be heading to the Ipswich Regent in 2020.
The band, made up of singer-songwriters Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes, have collected a devoted following across country, folk, blues and mainstream audiences, have a huge live following playing festivals up and down the country.
The Shires have released a taster single 'New Year' from their forthcoming album 'Good Years'.
The title of the group's newest record couldn't ring truer for Ben and Crissie as the release follows two gold-certified albums and three Top 10 singles firmly cementing their status as two of country music's most prominent voices.
They were the first UK artists to win 'Best International Act' at the prestigious CMAs, presented by the Country Music Association.
Level 42
Where: Ipswich Regent
When: Tuesday November 3
Cost: £36.75 - £41.75
Level 42 will mark the 40th anniversary of the release of their first ever single, Love Meeting Love, in 2020 and will do so with all cylinders firing and sounding fresher than ever by undertaking a 24 date 'From Eternity To Here' UK tour.
The 'From Eternity To Here' UK tour will see the band returning to play the Ipswich Regent. After everything that they have achieved, they have no interest in slowing down. "No way!" says bassist and frontman Mark King; "Touring with the band this year has been about as much fun as I can remember having had on the road and, if you had asked me back in 1980 if I thought we would be selling out theatres around the world when I was sixty years old, I probably would have laughed! Hand on heart, this year has been amazing. Re-invention can be a wonderful thing!"
Paul Young and Go West
Where: Ipswich Regent
When: Wednesday September 16
Cost: £33.00 - £42.35
Paul Young, the soulful 80s chart-topper, best known for the hits Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home), Come Back And Stay, Everytime You Go Away and Love Of The Common People and, of course, as one of the vocalists on Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas. In 2007 he came close to winning ITV's 'Hell's Kitchen' series. Since then he's split his time between touring with his Tex-Mex band Los Pacaminos and performing solo at 80's festivals. In 2016 he also released his first new album in ten years, 'Good Thing', a collection of overlooked soul covers.
Go West, formed in 1982 by Peter Cox and Richard Drummie, went on to have huge commercial success, establishing the pair as one of the most successful singer/songwriter duos of the eighties. Producing hits such as We Close Our Eyes and Goodbye Girl, the pair have continued working together to this day and are still producing chart topping hits.
Latitude 2020
Where: Henham Park between Blythburgh and Southwold
When: July 16-21
Cost: Adult weekend tickets cost £210
The 2020 headliners are Liam Gallagher, The Chemical Brothers, HAIM plus Bill Bailey and Dr John Cooper Clarke.
Joining the headliners are a whole treasure trove of spectacular music acts. The Lumineers are coming to Latitude to give you a very special performance. If you've listened to their latest album 'III' you know it's the ideal soundtrack for a summer's evening in Henham Park.
We are also honoured to have British singer-songwriter Michael Kiwanuka back at Latitude Festival. His third album, 'KIWANUKA', released last month soared to Number Two in the UK Charts.
Keane continue their triumphant return by heading to Latitude. The band are guaranteed to have you singing along to their latest album, 'Cause And Effect', as well as classics like 'Stupid Things' and 'The Way I Feel'.
Keane said: "Latitude is one of our favourite festivals to attend. We've seen some brilliant gigs there, from Portishead to Kraftwerk - just to name a couple. We can't wait to be on the bill next summer."
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