Isle Of Wight Festival 2013 Review
Image: Sarah Lincoln photography
Yes thats happened to us before! You booked Bastille and Imagine Dragons months and months ago. Now theyre both massive. Is that down to your prophetic ability, or is there a certain amount of luck involved? Its a gamble. You want to think you have an ear for it, and that you can see whats coming and get a feel for it, but there is a gut feeling there that things are going to happen. It was the same with Everything Everything and Palma Violets, I thought both bands were great, so you have to snap them up early days to get them on the bill. Yes I can imagine. Everything Everything and Palma Violets yesterday were both excellent. In the past you said you really liked the albums by Imagine Dragons and Bastille how informed by your own personal taste in music are the bookings that you make? Very informed! But you listen to others. My daughter was the person who persuaded me to book Lawson, the pop act in the Big Top, and they tore the place apart! I took her reccomendation and Im glad. Fun, for example, I thought would actually be fun. But they were more fun than I could have guessed! That guy, he is a star on the making. I can see them being the next Killers. Ellie Goulding too was brilliant. Its a case of looking at bands all year round, seeing how audiences react to them. Always listen to young people, not the old people who are stuck in the sixties! The dance tent line-up this year is phenomenal, probably one of the strongest at any UK festival. Have you noticed a change in the festivals demographics as a result of that? Was it part of a deliberate strategy? Yes it was. And thanks for the compliment. I didnt think the festival was appealing to young enough people, and I know how much they love dance music. And the truth is I know that I know nothing about dance, so I got a couple of club promoters in from the mainland to book the dance tent for me. I said heres the budget, make it happen, and theyve really delivered. When youre in this business, all I can say is get to know what you cant do, and get someone to do it if you can. Be humble, dont be arrogant, and get someone in who knows the job. A good mantra! Michael Eavis was quoted in 2011 as saying festivals are on the way out It seems a very premature statement given the traceable rising popularity in festivals over Europe But it begs the question how do you see this changing over the next ten years? Well remember Michael said that the year that Glastonbury was having a fallow year! So hes a bit of a PR man really, hes not just some West Country farmer he is very savvy. He was just having a laugh and tempting fate Its just a quip: half joking, half facetious Michaels a good guy, he does an incredible job and he deserves everything that goes with it. In terms how I see the festival changing, I just want to continually improve it, I dont want it to get bigger, just better, Im striving for beyond brilliant. I want everyone to have the best time ever! And Ill never be satisfied, there will always be little niggles. Like today for example its windy, and the screens on the floor cant come up as high as they should theyre about a foot lower than they should be, and thats something Ill look into fixing for next time... Nobody else would notice, its just my own festival OCD... Something you must have to keep you on your toes! Whos blown your mind this year? Ellie Goulding, Fun, Palma Violets The Roses last night - in fact a few people said its the best gig theyve done since they reformed. James Walsh was great too, hes about to do a secret gig at the Tim Burgess Tea Rooms. Its hard getting to see everybody though. Any more secret gigs? It depends what they feel like. Suzanne Vega might play somewhere, James might be walking around busking because he likes music that much! Travis said they might come down but Ive yet to see them. If youre a musician you like to gig, and a secret gig well theres no pressure Ok, imagine you only have a chance to catch one more band now for the weekend, who would it be? Thats a tough call. A really tough call! I think it would be Imagine Dragons. So let me ask you something a bit more random. Last time we spoke you said you were massive Game Of Thrones fan Did you see Season 3 Episode 9 AKA The Red Wedding? Haha that was unbelievable able wasnt it! Oh god Ive been in shock, speaking about it all the time, I had to watch the end again to see that it had happened. It was pretty graphic in parts. The tenth episode was pretty good and whacky too. Yes the exchange between Tywin, Tyrion and Joffrey was excellent! It was, those actors are brilliant! I was recently on a plane to Scandinavia and I turned around and Jaime Lannister the Kingslayer was stood next to me I had to check that he still had two hands! That must have been funny! Thanks a lot John. Good luck with the rest of the festival and Im sure its going to be amazing if it carries on like it has been so far. We will hopefully see you next year!Thanks for reading... Where you at the Isle Of Wight 2013 festival? How was it? Let us know below! ... FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER