Line-up! magical festival tour

The latest announcement from Isle of Wight festival is that Paul McCartney will play main stage on Sunday. The news headline was: Ticket to Ryde! Genius, no?

Macca joins an already impressive IOW line-up: Calvin Harris, Doves, Florence & the Machine (1), Pink, The Strokes, Blondie, Biffy Clyro, Crowded House, Friendly Fires, Editors, Spandau Ballet, Courteeners, Vamptire Weekend, Suzanne Vega and someone called Jay-Z.

... I'm most excited about Isle of Wight because a) It is the 1st festival, on 11th June b) I've been before and really enjoyed it c) Crowded House are one of my favourite bands (2) d) Macca. Enough said. e) I'm a self-confessed geeky 80's fan and quite looking forward to Blondie/Spandau

The line-up for the other festivals is equally exciting though:

Oxegen line-up. One word: Muse. Awesome.
A few more words: Kasabian, Fatboy Slim, Goldfrapp, Faithless, 30 Seconds to Mars, Temper Trap, Stereophonics, Black Eyed Peas, Eminen, Newton Faulkner, Paolo Nutini ...

Rock werchter line-up. That word again. Muse. Doubly awesome.
Other acts include: Faithless, Skunk Anansie, Ting Tings, Gossip, Pink, Editors, Green Day, Jack Johnson, Pearl Jam, Arcade Fire, Alice in Chains, Ramsteinn.

Benicassim line-up. Prodigy, Kasabian, Leftfield, Echo & the Bunnymen, Ian Brown, Klaxons, The Specials, Temper Trap, Calvin Harris, Vampire Weekend, Mumford & Sons and more.

Cooooooooooool.

(1) Half looking forward to seeing Florence and the Machine, half scared. The album is great. But she is a complete nutter. As if the lyrics for 'Girl with One Eye' were not disturbing enough, last time I saw her live she dedicated the song "To all you two-eyed f*ckers out there. I'll carve your eyes out with a spoon". Or something equally charming.

(2) I think my all-time top ten would be: Beatles, Crowded House, Muse, Depeche Mode, Foo Fighters, Blur, The Delays, Pink Floyd, Snow Patrol, Fleetwood Mac. But my current favourites tend to change ...

Newbie blogger, jammy winner

I'm new to this, be gentle with me.

I decided to blog about my prize.

I won a competition on Absolute Radio, a Summer of festivals with 500 days of summer. I had to create a Spotify playlist (1), inspired by the film 500 Days of Summer (2).

... I waited on the line. Jeff Lloyd announced my line number. I had apparently forgotten how to count, and lost the power of speech for a moment, only managing 'Hello ...?' as in "what? do you mean me???". Duh. I was a bundle of nerves and elation live on-air, and managed to string together a few vaguely coherent reasons for my selection, before threatening to go jump around the room in excitement. And I did. I think I damaged my newly laid flooring.

My absolutely fabulous prize includes flights, transfers, camping tickets, and insurance for 2 people to attend 4 European festivals:
1. Isle of Wight
2. Benicassim, Spain
3. Oxegen, Ireland
4. Rock Wercter, Belgium

I will try my damnedest not to boast, but rather share my experiences with you lovely people, review the bands and post lots of photos. Enjoy!!


(1) For those of you interested, I chose Depeche Mode, Just Can't Get Enough, Ladyhawke Delerium, Godley & Creme Cry. To be honest, I was feeling quite sorry for myself and rather tipsy, as you can tell from my playlist description. I did have fun playing around on Spotify, if you have not used it before I thoroughly recommend it.

(2) 500 Days of Summer is a 'romcom' but strictly not what you would expect, it is more about often false hope, obsession and break-ups than love and the perfect relationship. Think High Fidelity for the noughties. It is a sweet, charming and fresh film - wonderfully acted, cleverly directed, wry, and very very funny. In my review I gave it 9/10. The film soundtrack would get 10/10

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