Music, Gigs and Festivals

The Wednesday get-In This was our fifth visit to Bearded Theory Festival, one of the highlights of our year. We arrived on Wednesday, for the first of five nights of live music, great performances and DJ sets. The latter added to our tinnitus woes – ….read more

In October, CMAT (Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson) announced that her Brixton appearance was not going ahead due to an emergency wisdom tooth extraction, so Emma and Hannah had their schedule hastily rearranged. For me, I wasn’t too fussed, given the last time I saw CMAT I ….read more

Whilst on a trip to Pembrokeshire we popped over to see Chris and Clare, a lovely couple I know from my days in Southampton. They moved here a decade or so ago and have since retired. They are loving life and their new home in ….read more

Early arrival ——— This festival has become a firm favourite of ours – not just for its eclectic and varied lineup, but the chance to reunite with friends from Sheffield, soak up the energy and step away from everyday life. This was our the fourth ….read more

The Levellers always put on a great show, but this acoustic set at the end of their 2025 Spring Tour was better than most, and I’ve seen them a few times! The audience, who were mostly in our age group, initially sat in their allocated ….read more

With all three of us suffering a little with the lurgy, we didn’t head off to the Brook until quite late where the Underdogs were in full swing. Within half an hour we’d decided to override our colds, sink a few beers and have a ….read more

So much love was in the air last night in Camden, so many beautiful people under one roof, generating a vibe I’ll remember for some time. Fat Freddy’s Drop have been on my playlist since May when we were introduced to them by Kathy and ….read more

My sixth week of watching live music at venues across the South and abroad took me back to Papillon, the renovated church in Southampton. It was Emma’s first time here. We bought tickets to see Benjamin Francis Leftwich at the very last minute, jumping on ….read more

I wasn’t a huge fan of ‘The Wonder Stuff’ back in the day, they just weren’t on my radar. So when I got the opportunity to head back to Southampton for a night to see their front man Miles Hunt perform an acoustic set at ….read more

Last night saw us heading off to Camden to see Marc Broussard an American singer songwriter perform at KOKO. It was a packed house. He has a style is described as “Bayou Soul”, which is a mixture of all things “southern”. ‘Twas a last minute ….read more

I met Emma at Bedales after she finished work, Bedales is a nice little wine bar we’ve been to before. Borough Market was buzzing with tourists and people who had knocked off from work early. It’s a great place to sit and people watch. We ….read more

This weekend event in Southampton has been growing in both size and quality for a few years, and Saturday was just perfect – with the weather also playing ball too. I decided to spend the afternoon wandering around the pubs and clubs at just some ….read more

Festival camping in Dorset After dropping off my son and his friends at Reading Festival, we headed south west to Bredy Farm, near Burton Bradstock in Dorset. We’d booked tickets for their 19th micro-festival called “Be-Cider-Seaside” and encountered some of the friendliest people you could ….read more

The sun is shining 😂 so we headed for Hyde Park to see Kings of Leon, Paolo Nutini and the Vaccines. After a chilly start it turned out to be great weather where the sun shone for the most part. We got an early entrance ….read more

Well it’s that time of year again, so we headed off to one of our favourite places. Bearded Theory Festival in South Derbyshire.   We first came here two years ago and bumped into a bunch of beautiful people who are all connected in one ….read more

A Great New Years Eve celebration at the Brook, Southampton, with Emma, and where we met up with Kaz and Gez, a lovely couple, and old friends who I haven’t seen for an age. The Brook is within “staggering” distance from home, so ideal for ….read more

Another night out with Emma and Hannah, this time with a quick visit to Wembley Arena to see Noel Gallagher high flying birds. This is not my favourite location for music, especially if seated, but if you get standing room and there isn’t a huge ….read more

Watched Matt Maeson at the Electric Brixton, an American singer songwriter doing an acoustic tour across Europe.  Great evening with Emma and Hannah. The layout to the Electric in Brixton is similar to the Brook in Southampton – but much much larger. TOP TIP for ….read more

I’ve always loved the colours, dance and music of Notting Hill Carnival – and this year, the warm weather and blue skies made everything even more vibrant. We’ve not been able to make it here for a few years, so when the opportunity arose last ….read more

The final night for this old Blues band at the Platform Tavern Southampton. A great intimate venue by the waterfront just along the road from the Red Funnel terminal.

We headed for the small market town of Saffron Waldron and the English Heritage site of Audley End House, Cambridgeshire where OMD, Heaven 17 and Soft Cell were playing on a stage right next to a stunning 17th century country house.   Peroxide blondes and slap ….read more

A weekend away at Ynot music festival in the middle of the Peak District with Emma, Hannah and Rachael. It was the first time we’ve tried this one, and with about 30,000 people it is a little larger than many of the festivals we generally ….read more

Wow. Blur knocked it out of the park last night in a packed house at Wembley stadium. It’s the first time they’ve played here, and you could see how much it meant to them – and the audience! It was pretty emotional with Damien Albarn ….read more

So here we are again at Bearded Theory festival in Derbyshire, along with the group from Sheffield we met here last year. The pirate ship corner has been taken over by a green man with a mushroom head – but with infectious sounds, it still ….read more

A return to the Brook for an awesome band called Dub Pistols, who we’ve seen several times over the years. These guys are legends !

An early dash from Cornwall meant we avoided the traffic rush and managed to get to “Boomtown” festival with plenty of time in hand. Boomtown is an amazing festival, it’s a little like a movie set with multiple themes. The Dub Pistols were performing late ….read more

A great weekend with family at Bristol Harbour Festival! Live music and DJ sets everywhere, entertainment on every corner and pubs full to the brim. A huge West Country event. So glad we went! The perfect weather for camping out in the Mendip Hills, so ….read more

Four fabulous nights away at ‘Bearded Theory Spring Gathering’ with Em and a whole bunch of other crazy folk! Somehow we managed to dodge the rain – with blue sky and sunshine for most of the event. It’s a relatively small independent festival in Derbyshire ….read more

We’ve just about recovered from sensory overload at last week’s Isle of Wight Festival. We were surrounded by deliriously happy people and entertained by bands, many of which seemed to be playing for pure fun; thankful for the end of the live music drought and ….read more

Perched on the fields overlooking the Severn Estuary on the North Somerset coast, this year’s Music Festival at Watchet was simply sublime.Talented musicians everywhere and a real happy vibe. It was made even more spectacular by the weather. We didn’t see a cloud all weekend. ….read more

It’s not every day in the UK that you spot a pair of brightly coloured macaws flying in the forest over your head. But then this is Larmer Tree Festival – set in a magical corner of Wiltshire. What a great line up this year ….read more

Being only a short 15 minute drive from my home in Bishops Lydeard, we couldn’t believe our luck with the lineup this year which included Ferocious Dog, The Leylines, Dub Pistols and Aswad! It was lovely weather, and nice to be joined by our neighbours ….read more