Two months ago a mate of mine asked me if I might be interested in going to the Isle of Wight Festival this year. My first question to him was will that involve camping? Happily he said no it would not so I thought in that case if we can pull it off at such relatively late notice then why not! I had not been to a big festival since Glastonbury back in 2007 and obviously due to the global situation and the last couple of years we have experienced I was a little bit concerned at suddenly being around that many people even if we were outside. In the end I figured still well why not!

We only confirmed that we were definitely going a week before it was taking place. My friend is from the Isle of Wight and his mum still lives there. She was going away for the weekend so very kindly let us stay there, which was perfect as we would get to enjoy the benefits of the festival without having to sleep in a tent. It was a very nice house in Carisbrooke with great views from the back garden of the famous historic castle on the hill there. It was the ideal base for a weekend of music and fun.

There were four of us in total my friend Robbie, his mate who I also knew James and my girlfriend Lynda. We all met up in Portsmouth on the Friday morning and went across to the Island in Robbie’s car on the ferry to Fishbourne. Once on board we headed straight for the top deck to enjoy the view. It was a nice day which made for a very pleasant crossing of the Solent. Robbie is an Isle of Wight Guru so he had plenty of interesting facts to tell us and a few landmarks to point out.

The ferry trip seemed to fly by really quickly and soon we were on the road heading to our accommodation. We pulled up to the house and dumped all our stuff inside before walking to the local shop to get some lunch to enjoy outside in the sun, while admiring the castle view. It was then time to go and get our first taste of the festival. We drove about a two thirds of the way there and then walked the last fifteen minutes to Seaclose Park in Newport where it is held. To get in you either had to show a Covid Certificate to prove you have had two vaccination jabs or show proof of a negative lateral flow test. That is a requirement that sounded sensible to me and that I fully supported.

We had weekend tickets which meant we could go in and out as many times as we wanted to over the three days. The first time you enter you exchange your tickets for a wristband that will then get you access to the site for the rest of the event. The first thing we did was take a walk around to familiarise ourselves with what was there and where everything was. This included scouting out bars, toilets and potential places where I could find some gluten free food. We then watched You Me and Six followed by Becky Hill on the main stage.

Towards the end of Becky’s set we decided to take a ride on the big wheel they had there so that we could get an aerial view of the place. I am not a massive fan of heights or rides but this one was gentle and quite relaxing so I enjoyed it. Next I found a stall that served gluten free Paella so had some of that to keep me going through the rest of the night. I may also have sampled some of the cider and wine that they had. The cider was nice and the wine not as bad as you think it might be.

We then found a spot back at the main stage to see James play. Yes of course they did do Sit Down which went down well. After them it was the legend that is Sir Tom Jones. He was fantastic of course he did a selection of his greatest hits alongside some new tracks off his latest album. He voice is still sounding as good as ever at the age of eighty. I think what sets great performers aside from the rest is their stage presence. Tom has it in abundance you just cannot take your eyes off him. And like me he seems to have a story for every single occasion. I really enjoyed seeing him live again.

The other area where the more, well known acts play is called the big top and is as you would imagine a big tent with open sides. We went to see Shed Seven there next. They played my two favourite songs of theirs Going for Gold and Chasing Rainbows. Then it was off to the main stage to see some of Liam Gallagher’s performance. He obviously did mostly his own solo stuff but also threw in quite a few of the Oasis hits to, which I thoroughly enjoyed. He should have taken the ferry home after though as he managed to hurt himself falling out of a helicopter on his journey back after the gig.

After Liam we did try to catch some Primal Scream in the big top but the crowd was so vast that we could not get near enough to be able hear them properly so we decided to call it a night. When we got in because we are so rock and roll we had a cup of tea and then went to bed. The next morning Robbie offered to take James and me to the beach to possibly even go in the sea, we both jumped at the chance. He took us to an exclusive beach he knew about twenty minutes away. It was lovely and sandy with only a few dog walkers around.

As Robbie had grown up there and been close to the sea most of his life he came prepared with wetsuits and body boards for us to use. I had never been body boarding before and rarely venture too far in to the English sea but with the offer of the loan of a wetsuit I was up for giving it a go. The wetsuit was great and I happily waded out to waist high water carrying the board. I was surprisingly much better at it than I thought I would be and managed to catch several waves and on occasion get quite a bit of speed up. It was good fun and the thirty minutes we spent doing it flew by. I would happily do it again even though it is harder work on the upper body than you would think.

After messing about in the sea we went back to the house to get ready for our second day at the festival. Since I became coeliac back in February I have not managed to have any fish and chips. When we knew we were definitely going for the weekend I sent Robbie a list of places that did gluten free food, one of them was a fish and chip shop in Newport called Stotesburys. It just happened to be on our walk to the festival so on the Saturday afternoon we went there for lunch. I had to phone up to order my gluten free haddock and chips half an hour before we were going to be there, which was totally fine.

When I arrived to collect that and the other meals they were lovely, everything was kept separate and all clearly labelled, which is really important for me. We went outside and found a place to sit and eat it. I must say it tasted amazing, it was so good and the first time I had been able to enjoy fish and chips for nearly a year. If you are gluten free and anywhere near the Isle of Wight you have to get some food from there. Most fish and chips shops do not do gluten free options at all, some do once a week, at this take away you can pre order them any day that they are open and they are very tasty.

We arrived at the main stage just in time to see the Lightning Seeds who I really like. I saw them over twenty years ago supporting The Beautiful South at Wembley Arena and they were as good this time as they were then. They played all the big hits and finished with the anthem Three Lions, which had the whole park singing along. While I was enjoying the band I bumped into a mate of mine who I have done some comedy with in the past so we had a nice catch up and chat.

As we had found a nice area to sit down to enjoy the sun and the music we stayed there to watch All Saints. They also did all of the hits and it was nice to see the whole band back together. I always liked them and they had a few hits so I knew all of the songs. We then wandered over to the big top to from a safe distance hear a bit of Maximo Park doing their thing. I then decided that I fancied some food so I returned to my safe gluten free Paella option, which again was very good.

On the way back from the food that may or may not have been washed down with another pint of cider we stopped off at the big top to see Example storming the place. Then it was back to the main stage to see Sam Fender. I thought he was really good plus he did a cover version of Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark that I liked being a big fan of the boss. We stayed where we were to witness the band that Lynda was looking forward to seeing most Snow Patrol.

As with most of the acts on show they were exceptional. They sounded note perfect and they have more upbeat songs than I remembered. Like most sensible bands they did all the big hits and created a great vibe and atmosphere. I can now see why people rave about them as a live band they are very accomplished and just nice guys. They were actually one of my highlights of the whole weekend for how good they were and also how much Lynda seemed to enjoy seeing them playing live.

We did not fancy seeing David Guetta so again returned to the big top area to see the Kaiser Chiefs despite the fact that we had only seen them a couple of weeks ago at Pub in the Park. They were once again excellent. There were so many people trying to see them they could have easily played the bigger stage and still attracted a decent audience. We stayed till the end of their set then headed off on the thirty minute walk back to where we were staying. Yet again when we got in we did have some tea before bed.

On the Sunday morning we went for a nice walk around Carisbrooke Castle. You get some great views of the Island from up there. We did not go in but walked all around the wall by what used to be the moat. Robbie had booked us dinner at a pub called the Blacksmith Arms. It was about a seven minute bus ride away and had great views of the countryside through the panoramic windows they have there. It was of course another place on the list of the recommended gluten free places to eat that I had given him. It was a lovely pub and the food in there was brilliant.

I had the scallops for my starter while enjoying a rather nice glass of Malbec that was slightly better than the festival wine, it is fair to say. For my main course I had the roast pork belly, which was amazing. The huge piece of crackling they served with it was tremendous. It was all gluten free and the way they presented the dishes there was very classy indeed. We all had a lovely relaxing meal before catching the bus back to the centre of Newport to then walk to the festival for the final time.

We arrived during James Vincent McMorrow’s set and positioned ourselves on the grass in the area of the main stage. As we had done a lot of walking and as it was the last day so we were a little jaded we stayed around this area for most of the day. Therefore we were still in the same spot enjoying a few ciders when the brilliant Imelda May came on stage next. When she had finished I had agreed to go on this big swing thing with Lynda. Robbie and James had already done it on the Friday but I had been less keen. However she really wanted to do it and it only seemed fair that I should join her.

This thing went up much higher than the big wheel we did on Friday and did not enjoy the luxury of being surrounded by Perspex. I was if I am honest a little apprehensive but once I was on it and we were up in the sky in was not too bad. I actually enjoyed it and we did get an amazing view of the whole festival from up there. Lynda was waving her arms and legs about while I chose to hold on very tightly to the metal bar in front of me. We both did the ride together and in the end I was glad that I did it.

Next on the main stage it was Supergrass. I thought they sounded ace and played all their big hits. They looked like they were really enjoying themselves. They are I think one of those groups where you know way more of their songs than you think you do. After a break for more drinks while they reset the stage it was time for The Script. I once saw Danny O’Donoghue at a recording studio in Battersea one night when he was working on his solo album.

The Script are a top band who played all the big songs. Danny knows how to work a crowd and made the show very interactive. At one point he got a member of the audience to phone an ex and then sang a song to them. Plus he was the only act who went down to the fans at the front. He had been struggling with his voice in the lead up to the gig so I think the drummer did a lot of the heaving lifting with the vocals but it all sounded great and you could not tell. They looked like they were just so pleased to be out and playing in front of a big crowd again.

The headliners for the whole weekend were Duran Duran. We had decided to head to an area at the back where they had some wooden benches to watch the eighties icons from. Simon Le Bon predictably came out wearing a white suit and they just tore through all of their many hits. I thought they were excellent, the lead singer’s voice was still pitch perfect and they sounded like they did on all their records. We even got some fireworks during their James Bond theme. They also did a cover version of the Calvin Harris song Acceptable in the Eighties. I thought that was a fun and cheeky way of highlighting when their peak time was maybe.

After they had finished we were treated to a fireworks display to the sound track of Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline. Razorlight were the last band on in the big top but we figured that would be rammed so after the explosive finale we decided to call it a night and stroll back to where we were staying. The next morning we got up, packed and then took a taxi to the ferry port to catch the boat back to Portsmouth. The weather remained good all weekend so it was once again a very pleasant crossing. Lynda and I had a quick look around the shopping centre where we had parked and then drove home to put an end to our first ever very successful visit to the Isle of Wight Festival.

A couple of weekends ago now Lynda and I actually ventured to her local cinema albeit on a Saturday afternoon in pre-brooked seats so we knew it would not be that busy. We both wanted to see the new film about the life of Aretha Franklin called Respect. It starred the brilliant Jennifer Hudson in the lead role. I enjoyed it and I did not realise quite what a tough and difficult early life she had and how well she knew and supported Martin Luther King jnr. It was very interesting and of course the soundtrack features all of her big songs. I do like movies about singers and I am very much looking forward to the new Elvis one that is being made at the moment and is being directed by Baz Lurhmann, I am hoping it will be good.

On Wednesday night Lynda and I went to see a friend of mine the lovely Mike Sterling do a gig in London. He was playing at Zedel in Soho doing his An Evening with the Phantom Show. He is a great singer and musical theatre star who has played both the Phantom and Jean Valjean in Les Miserable in the West End amongst many other roles. I always enjoy seeing him perform, he has an amazing voice. It was a great night seeing the show and then catching up with him after for a drink, a top man and top performer!

Tottenham Hotspur’s season after the international break has not been as good as it was prior to it. We have lost our last two league games against Crystal Palace and Chelsea by three goals to nil. I did know that the way we started was potentially a false dawn but I am a bit concerned about how quickly we have gone from one extreme to the other. It is going to be a long hard season I fear but I will be there supporting them all of the way as that is what us fans do. At least we are still in the Carabao Cup, just. Come on you Spurs!

A quick reminder that you can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninesprings https://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/

Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.