- Sep 24, 2021
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY
First aired in February 2018, I stumbled across a repeat of For One Night Only in last Friday’s TV schedules; a live studio event to mark 30 years since the last broadcast of the classic music show, The Old Grey Whistle Test. The show had a number of worthy presenters over the years but this tribute was fittingly fronted by its most iconic host, "Whispering" Bob Harris. With sparkling performances from the likes of Kiki Dee, Peter Frampton, Albert Lee and Gary Numan among man
- Sep 17, 2021
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: FRESHLY SERVED
Last Saturday we remembered the twentieth anniversary of 9/11; a descriptor that doesn’t feel right in so tragic a context. If you ever needed an example of how sorrow may turn to elation in 24 hours through a different kind of experience, the very next day we witnessed a seismic occurrence in women’s tennis with the amazing victory of Emma Raducanu at the US Open Tennis. It was great to welcome back Fresh on the Net's Listening Post after its summer break too. Our first two
- Sep 12, 2021
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: GOOD ENOUGH FOR FOLK
There’s this old chestnut about the guy at the Open Mic night who spends over five minutes in an agonisingly laboured attempt to tune his guitar, while giving an embarrassing running commentary, only to pause eventually and smugly look up. “OK, good enough for folk” he proudly announces while deliberately playing a discord. See what he did there? Left you entirely unsure as to whether he is uncommitted to his craft, tone deaf or a born comedian; most probably all three. There
- Sep 3, 2021
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL A FESTIVAL REVIEW
The iconic Isle of Wight Festival returns to Seaclose Park on 16 – 19 September 2021 after the Covid hiatus put paid to last year’s plans. In 2018, I had a break from Glastonbury as it was a fallow year when the Eavis family gave "the farm, the village and the festival team the traditional year off". I was delighted to be able to attend IOW that year and report on it. Although my IOW 2018 review has been on this site for over 3 years, the timing seemed right to dust it off a