Almost 12 years after their last ever concert (the one which I didn’t get to), and then 6 years after their last ever concert (the one we did get to), and then 2 years after we saw them in Cape Town, here’s… er… the new single from a-ha:
Predictably lovely stuff.
New album – True North – later in the year.
Whenever this sort of thing happens, people always ask if I feel cheated because they said that they were going to retire and now they haven’t.
No. No, I don’t. I’ve loving it.
Really enjoyed an impromptu club visit after the dinner thing last night. I was actually a bit reluctant to go along: I thought that maybe I was getting a bit old for that scene now and I wouldn’t know any of the music, but wow, it’s like nothing has changed.
I was actually surprised that the “young ‘uns” of today enjoy so much of the same sort of thing I did when I was their age.
It just goes to show that truly great art is timeless. Why else would they be playing Daydreamer by Menswear to a bunch of giggling teenagers? Amazing.
Anyway, I’ll definitely not be ruling out a return visit at some stage in the very near future.
Lots of people: it’s a big festival. But three that I specifically want to see: a-ha (which is how I ended up on the Montreux website), Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, and Gabriels who have been doing some really amazing stuff lately.
And, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, all their sets will be available for livestreaming… live… as they perform.
a-ha are on at 11pm tomorrow (Friday) evening, Nick Cave 11pm on Saturday and Gabriels at 8:30pm on Wednesday the 6th July. All for free. Gratis. Mahala.
Click here for more details and for more free streams of other artists at the festival.
I loved his line from the Breakfast Show this morning:
Diana Ross: let’s just say that she’s not exactly over-endowed with humility.
I do so enjoy it when presenters “break the rules”, and share the truth about allegedly untouchable (although) prima-donna pop stars.
…watching and listening to Glastonbury via the BBC. It’s back after two (so actually, three) years!
(Glastonbury, that is. The BBC never went away.)
If you are a Brit or you can pretend to be one via internet subterfuge and naughtiness, you too can enjoy 4K coverage of many of the performances from the Glastonbury Festival.
Here on the radio (no subterfuge required).
And here on the radio, but with pictures, aka the internet.
Here’s an guide to what’s on and when.
Please don’t throw things when I say that I’m not very keen on any of the headliners this year (William Eilish, Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar). Nor Diana Ross in the Legends slot.
They’re all probably great, but they’re just not my thing.
I mean, compare and contrast REM, Radiohead and Moby in 2003. No contest.
But don’t hate me: there are plenty of other acts that I would love to see: Wet Leg, Pet Shop Boys, Elbow, Skunk Anansie, Little Simz, Róisín Murphy, Kae Tempest, Phoebe Bridgers, Arlo Parks, Metronomy, Caroline Polachek, Billy Nomates, Jon Hopkins, Tim Burgess, Floating Points, Amyl and the Sniffers, Bicep, Confidence Man, Nubya Garcia, Warmduscher, St Etienne, Sigrid, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Sleaford Mods, First Aid Kit, Khruangbin, Primal Scream and maybe Mitski.
And we’re still only scratching the surface, because you can always find something new to listen to on a weekend like this.
So it will be this lot and Series 3 of Stranger Things for the duration. See you on Monday.