Isle of Wight festival, UK. (Sep 21)

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 delighted to be in front of big crowds.

The overriding message from many artists was simply to live in the moment, love life and not take people and things for granted…. Some sets got a little more emotional than expected, like Snow Patrol, whose performance was on a different level. They simply nailed it.

So many great old bands, like Kaiser Chiefs and James, Get Cape, Lightning Seeds, Supergrass, Script as well as new ones: the Clause, Marlow, Rosellas. Lots of great bands on the smaller stages also, too many to mention. Liam Gallagher was his usual swaggering self, but put on a great show.

We each clocked up around 115,000 steps over the weekend, meandering between the many stages and watching bands as close to the front as we could possibly get.
It was a great all round festival experience made all the more sweet by circumstance. A superb long weekend!

Emma and I were joined by my sister – Sandra and her husband Paul. I even bumped into one of my old workmates Matt Wilshaw-Rhead, who was blending in perfectly with an understated wardrobe choice!
Spent Monday exploring the south part of the island, walking along beaches and coastal paths.
Covid tests have been negative so far – and based on figures after the earlier Latitude Festival there was a 97% chance of avoiding it, so fingers crossed.