Seeing a band you’ve seen before? The Festival Feeling that can be a huge delight or a major disappointment

You’re on your way to the festival of the year with all of your mates chatting about the line-up. “Aaah I saw them last year, they were incredible!” you might say, in response to that artist who topped the bill for you. However, their upcoming set can either remind you of their excellence and why you celebrated them so greatly, or it can completely tarnish your prior experience.

Take Madness as an example. ‘Suggs’ and his reggae pop group are a common occurrence on the line-up of many summer festivals, including V Festival in Hylands Park, Chelmsford and Weston Park, Staffordshire. I was fortunate enough to see these old favourites in 2010, when they appeared on the Main Stage. Playing all of their classic tracks such ‘Our House’, ‘Baggy Trousers’ and ‘House of Fun’, they graced the stage to a booming reception from the crowd, before starting the biggest party the park had seen all weekend. Standing at the barrier, I was surrounded by a range of age groups – teenagers like myself who have grown up listening to their parents playing Madness, as well as those who had been to see Madness in their hey-day.

Two years on and my excitement to relive this moment was one of my predicted highlights of the weekend. On the contrary, I was left disenchanted. Perhaps expectations were a little too high as a result of their performance the week before at the Olympics Closing Ceremony, or had the band prepared so much for the gig of their life and not so much for a standard festival performance? The band failed to get the crowd pumped and alive with many just nodding their heads and swaying instead of the party atmosphere I’d experienced in 2010.

Madness' Suggs in 2010

I had a similar encounter with the V Festival Main Stage crowd in 2010, where we all stood in anticipation of Paolo Nutini – an act I had praised to no end in 2009. After an electrifying and buoyant set from Katy Perry, the soulful Scottish singer had the audience in the palm of his hands, with everybody singing along to the hit tracks from his then new ‘Sunny Side Up’ album, as well as popular songs from his debut album ‘New Shoes’ and ‘Jenny Don’t Be Hasty’.

A year on and Paolo’s easy listening set had gone from bluesy to boring. He was missing a certain spark and his voice was under par in comparison to the previous year.

Paolo Nutini: From bluesy to boring

In the same year, it looked like V Festival was set for even more disappointments with the cancellation of Oasis’s headlining appearance. Instead, Snow Patrol slid up the line up to play the festival out on the Sunday night, with a performance that blew the crowd away. The set was nothing but mesmerising. Having seen the band in 2007 at the festival, I was already impressed with their ability to perform live tracks that sound so incredible that they outclass the recorded version. Their headline slot did not disappoint but instead, astounded the crowd with the sheer talent of frontman Gary Lightbody and his band. With rapturous glances at one another throughout, it was clear the band were euphoric at the crowd’s reaction, and have since praised the gig in interviews as the greatest of their life.

Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody headlining the Main Stage in 2009

Snow Patrol continued to impress me this year at the 2012 V Festival, where they appeared on the bill just before The Killers. The Las Vegas band last appeared at the festival in 2009, shortly after the release of their ‘Day & Age’ album. Every band that performs at a festival runs the risk of falling into the category of being one of those bands who perform their personal favourite unknown tracks or album tracks instead of the crowd favourites. However, Brandon Flowers and the rest of his group seem to strike up the perfect balance, playing the festival anthems ‘Mr Brightside’, ‘Somebody Told Me’ and ‘When We Were Young’, as well as simultaneously introducing you to their latest album. 

This could be relayed once again to their appearance this year, whereby the band avoided playing too many tracks from their new but unreleased album, instead playing just one new track, ‘Runaways’, which had already received some airplay on radio stations.

Brandon Flowers whips the V Festival crowd into a frenzy

Another name on this year’s V Festival line-up was Tinie Tempah, who completed a hat-trick of consecutive appearances at the festival, with each set being full to the brim with Tinie’s chart-topping tracks. Never failing to get the crowd dancing and swept up into mosh-pits, you can also guarantee that this set will be fuelled with energy and exuberance, whether you have seen him once, twice or ten times!

Keep it bouncing: Tinie Tempah's brings energy to V Festival

Although there can be that fear of tainting a previous memory of a certain artist, more often than not, you’ll find those festival gems who continue to leave a lasting impression on sell-out crowds year after year.

Have you had a similar experience to those described above? Have you ever been left disheartened by a lacklustre performance from an artist you loved? Or have you been continuously charmed by a festival favourite? Leave a comment and let us know.

Age Limbo – The confusion over the labeling of ‘adult’

For the past two years I've been having the same frustrating conversation every time I step onto a bus. From the age of 16, public transport is quick to classify you as an adult, whereas other areas of society are desperate to wait until you are 18 to permit certain actions.

Currently studying for my A Levels in my final year of school, I step onto the bus in my school uniform. Although we do not have a set uniform, our black skirt-white shirt dress code alongside my 3:30pm daily departure clearly identifies my journey home from school and my involvement in education.

Approaching the bus driver I ask “a single to the bus station please”, or if I’m unfortunate enough to be taking the bus to school in the morning, it’s “a single to Moulsham school please”. If the school uniform didn’t give it away, the ticket to school surely should – I’m a student and should therefore pay an appropriate fare that matches that.

“Is that child or adult?”, I’m asked by the driver. If you have to ask, give me the benefit of the doubt and charge me the more reasonable price – the thought that immediately springs to mind. My conscience and need to be honest kicks in and despite knowing the answer already, I respond “well that depends what a child ticket is classed as”.

‘Under 16’ is quickly snapped back at me; instead of kicking up a fuss, I decide to store my aggravation and pay the extortionate £2.50 adult fare. Although this may not seem too bad, take the bus four times and you’re already paying £10 within the week, when you could be paying a £1.50 child fare instead.

£2.50 Adult Single - The need for student tickets

I appreciate that at the age of 16 it may not be right to be classed as a child, however, it is also not right to be classed as an adult and be forced to pay so much extra, especially if you’re still in full-time education. Within the next few years, it will soon be compulsory to stay in education until you are 18, meaning that there shall be even more students on the bus facing the same dilemma as myself. If we cannot be classed as a child, the bus companies should be forced to introduce a student fare to accommodate for this age limbo between 16 and 18 when it cannot be universally decided whether we are children or adults.

When you consider some of the age limits in place in the UK there are some terrible peculiarities where this age limbo comes into play yet again.

Take driving as an example; you must be 17 before you can start to learn how to drive a car, yet there is no age limit at all to start having flying lessons. It stands solid that flying a plane thousands of feet in the air must surely be more dangerous than driving a car on steady ground with an instructor, so why the confusion over the age guideline?

Another example can be found with the armed forces, whereby at the age of 16, you are eligible to join the army. However, in order to have any involvement in choosing the politicians and government who make decisions about the army, the eligibility to vote is saved for the age of 18. Is it right to be allowed to join an organisation where you are expected to fight for your country and risk your life when you have no right to vote for the political party you believe best supports that organisation?

Much worse things could happen than paying an extra £1 on my bus fare, but the principle behind it is one that correlates to various other life circumstances and therefore needs to be looked at. If everyone under the age of 16 is always a child and likewise, everyone over the age of 18 is always an adult, the middle-ground between is a huge grey area that provides much irritation to the teenagers caught within, especially when it is apparent that it consistently goes against them. 

Why Glastonbury?

Each and every year a certain festival attracts 135,000 visitors to Worthy Farm in Somerset. But what makes Glastonbury Festival so prestigious?

On Sunday (7^th October), tickets for the festival sold out in just one hour and 40 minutes, leaving many members of the public fighting with their computer’s refresh button to get their hands on a ticket to one of the UK’s greatest summer events.

2012 saw Glastonbury take its ‘fallow year’, with the immense hype for 2013’s festival being even greater. Despite being 150 miles away along the M4, the biggest summer of sport occurring in Stratford would have caused a lack of infamous festival portable lavatories and even more importantly, an overwhelming shortage of police officers and security presence, as reported in The Guardian.

There was no doubt that the demand for 2013 tickets would have been overwhelming, as understood by organisers Michael and daughter Emily Eavis. The pair, who own the most renowned farm in the country, spoke of how ‘genuinely humbled’ they were by the desire of thousands to visit the festival. ‘We dearly wish we could have you all along’, said Michael Eavis CBE, who was voted by Time Magazine in 2009 as one of the world’s top 100 most influential people.

Michael Eavis receives his CBE from Queen Elizabeth II

Whilst most other festivals reveal a date when tickets will go on sale, the Glastonbury ticketing process is much more rigorous. Anybody wishing to go must register their interest, filling in all of their details and uploading a photo. Once registration has closed, wishful spectators must rush to their laptops and phones to attempt to pay their £50 ticket deposit, guaranteeing themselves a ticket, with the full balance to be paid in April 2013.

With a big festival comes an even bigger price tag, with the 2013 event fetching up to £216 once the booking fee and postage has been applied. With an addition of £10 to the ticket price each year over the past 4 years, the public are left asking how much more the price can increase. What sparks festival go-ers to return year upon year, and what excites newcomers to attend Glastonbury over any other festival?

Abbie Elsey, a college student from Chelmsford, Essex, will be attending Glastonbury for the first time in 2013.

“I’ve watched it on TV for years now and it has always looked like one of the liveliest festivals.”

“It wasn’t until my dad mentioned he was going as he’d never been before that I decided to go. It always has music and bands for ever generation which I think makes it look so much fun!”

In 2011, 2000 performers played on 60 stages, with artists from all walks of life and from all genres of music being able to play to the crowds. With so many acts, there truly is something for everybody.

Will Smith, 19, a student at the University of Derby, will be returning to Glastonbury for a second time in 2013 due to the variety of spectacles it offers,

“I chose to go to Glastonbury because of the sheer amount you can do in one weekend. Some of the other attractions at the festival are amazing – you wouldn’t be able to see them anywhere else on earth.”

Worthy Farm: The vast site of Glastonbury Festival

For Sophie Hennessy, 17, from Chelmsford, the media response to previous Glastonbury festivals has kindled her desire to go. “It’s constantly voted best festival in NME and Q magazine.”

Despite missing out on seeing her favourite band Coldplay headline the festival last year, the bands’ reaction has inspired Sophie to buy a ticket. 

“They said it was their best performance ever. There are always massive headliners and the artists that play there talk about how important it is for them to play there.”

Ryan Booty, a student at the University of Staffordshire, attended the 2011 festival and says it was ‘the best weekend of my life’.

Ryan, who has experienced Glastonbury just once, said: “Because of how large it is, it’s hard to do everything in one year. We can take the memories of last year and do everything else this time around.”

The line-up is due to be announced later in 2013 but the organisers have said that the headliners have already been chosen. But who would be your ultimate headliner?

Abbie: “I would absolutely love to see Mumford and Sons. They’re so cool. The Prodigy are amazing live and I would just love to see them again.”

Will: “Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys and Oasis, but it’s not going to happen!”

Sophie: “The top three headliners would be Red Hot Chili Peppers, Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes.”

Ryan: “I would love to see Coldplay again but I would also love Blur, Snow Patrol and Take That. That won’t happen though!”

If you’re lucky enough to be heading to the festival in June, tabloid reports suggest that you may witness the last ever Rolling Stones gig. Keith Richards has revealed that the band has been booked to play shows in the UK, but you’ll have to keep your eyes peeled on This Festival Feeling to find out if these rumours are true.

"Is the youth-radio bubble doomed to burst?" It's a simple answer...

“Is the youth-radio bubble doomed to burst?”

It’s a simple answer – NO.

With the latest news of Chris Moyles’ departure from the Radio 1 breakfast show, the BBC station is being continuously mentioned in the press for its aging listeners. As recent statistics show that the average age of a Radio 1 listener stands at 32, higher than the target audience of 15-29, the press are quick to judge that Radio 1 must be doing something wrong in engaging a younger demographic, or that teenagers and ‘youths’ won’t be interested in the radio industry for much longer.

This couldn’t be more wrong.

Not only am I a huge fan of BBC Radio 1, but I’m a radio enthusiast with a dream to work as a radio producer in years to come. It could seem that my view is biased; however, I’m not the only one and there are plenty of other teenage, budding radio stars out there in the UK.

With so many new fresh opportunities being introduced to radio, the industry is going from strength-to-strength. 

Social media has a consistently growing role in radio. The use of Facebook and Twitter have an immense impact on the shows themselves, as well as giving immediate response and feedback to the stations, presenters and producers, which can be used instantaneously.

 

And vice versa; most importantly is the impact that radio has on the social networking sites too. By taking a look at the ‘trends’ on Twitter, once you’ve escaped the daily 1D and Bieber tweets, you can often find the names of artists being interviewed on Radio 1 and even more notably, artists playing in Fearne Cotton’s Live Lounge. By clicking on the link or hashtag, with some radio features such as the Live Lounge making use of this twitter feature, a feed of discussions and opinions of the show appear at once.

Twitter really comes to life during a media-frenzy. The X Factor, the Olympics and other key TV and sporting events always dominate the Twitter trending topics. On July 11^th, one of these media frenzies occurred as Chris Moyles stepped down from the breakfast show, with Nick Grimshaw being announced as his replacement. As a controversial media figure, everybody had something to say about Moyles’ exit, causing a stir as the UK’s top trend for most of the next 24 hours. Such a reaction would not come from a media ‘doomed to burst’; this proves just how popular radio really is.

Another sensation that radio has been introduced to over the past few years is the use of visual media. Surprising for a radio show, you may say, but every day on the Radio 1 website, you would be able to watch a segment or a feature streamed live on a video link on their homepage. The BBC Red Button has also been of frequent use to Radio 1, with a 52-hour, strangely addictive, live feed being used during Chris Moyles and Comedy Dave Vitty’s world-record breaking marathon radio show. 

A Facebook page, titled ‘We want The Chris Moyles show on the Red Button every day’, has just under 3000 likes, proving the popularity of making radio visual. Some people may argue that radio is just becoming TV, however visual radio is very different; the insight into the studio and the feeling of snooping into an unseen world is incredibly compelling, engaging and fascinating.

It’s not just the young radio enthusiasts who understand the enormous involvement that radio plays in our day-to-day lives, but also the artists who are played on the stations. Since Top of the Pops was taken off air, the need for artists to have their music shared to the country has been left to radio. Although it is necessary to create an interesting, attractive music video to be shown on MTV, the necessity to appear on the Radio 1 playlist is additionally significant.

Split into an A, B and C list, an artist’s weekly play count depends on their position in the playlist. A weekly playlist meeting with producers is the judgement day for musicians hoping to achieve a chart hit. The impact of Radio 1 on the chart positions of certain songs is extraordinary, so it is understandable that artists today become so motivated to achieve a spot on the list, as seen above with the tweet from pop group Scouting For Girls.

In the words of Radio 1 fanatic, Gerald Somers, “radio has a long way to go yet”. Gerald, who writes his own blog about Radio 1 news, said: “Radio is fun, interactive and becomes a companion in a strange sort of way.”

This idea of radio providing companionship is shared by even more radio enthusiasts, including Amy Byford, 18, and Maddie Faiers, 19, both from Essex. Maddie, a presenter on Keele University’s student radio station, KUBE, said: “Radio is an essential part of my daily life.  It provides me with the news, music that I love, as well as new music I may not know, entertainment, debates and company. I feel like the presenters are my friends!”

Amy said: “I think people take it for granted sometimes. Without radio, many people would get into their car for a long journey and not have a presenter talking to them.” As an aspiring radio producer, like myself, Amy continued: “Although it is a hard industry to get into, I believe that if you want something enough, you will be successful.”

Just like Amy, James Lewis from Bristol, has great aspirations for reaching his career goal. “My dream for the future is to present on BBC Radio 1. I am immensely determined to achieve this aim, and will stop at nothing to ensure that I, one day, will broadcast a show on Radio 1.”

The immense passion for developing a career in the radio industry is held by so many young individuals, making these positions so sought after, proving that the 'youth radio bubble' is continuing to grow.

A love shared by many teenage and student radio fanatics is radio's vast scope of creativity and the immediacy that allows for this creativity to be shared.

James continued: "The main reason that I love radio as a medium is that it is so immediate and therefore I can directly interact with listeners and improvise and change my show depending on how the listeners react. This lends radio a more personal feel that I think makes it a more two way experience for the presenter and listeners.”

Chris Quillietti, 17, a hospital and school radio presenter from Scotland, said: “Creativity is and always has been the life blood of the industry and I really enjoy working with energetic, creative and enthusiastic people. I love radio because of its fast pace, accessibility and how creative you can be.”

Oliver Dean, 16, from Milton Keynes, has been working at his local BBC radio station for the last 3 years and is a self-confessed 'radio geek'. Oliver said: "Radio has a piece of my heart. I don’t understand why more people don’t want to work in radio, I don’t think there is a better job in the world... getting to talk, play music and entertain millions of people for a few hours in a day. What could be better?"

A final thought comes from Luchina El Badawi, 19, from Guildford and presenter of the University of Plymouth’s student radio station. Luchina said: “It is just plain old fun. You get to have a laugh with the people you are doing it with.”

The newly redeveloped BBC Broadcasting House
 - ready for the next generation

Radio isn’t simply just a dying media for ‘greying listeners’, as a recent article in a Sunday newspaper suggested, but is a trendy and constantly developing industry. It is an industry that relies on creative, intelligent and passionate individuals, who spend hours putting together and broadcasting fantastic shows that continue to attract listeners, even viewers and many discussions on social media sites. There are many more individuals like this out there who are just waiting to get stuck in with the next exciting generation of the advancing radio industry.

Lonsdale Boys Club @ O2 Academy Islington

After seeing a link on the Orange Rockcorps twitter page, I quickly entered a competition to win meet and greet tickets to the Lonsdale Boys Club’s upcoming London gig. As I didn’t rate my chances of winning particularly highly, I forgot that I had even entered until…

On Wednesday 8^th August, I took a look at my phone to see I had a missed call from an unknown number. I called my voicemail to hear a message from Ben at Orange Rockcorps asking for me to call him back, as my mind tried to consider what it could be about. I swiftly recalled entering the competition and was ecstatic to hear that I had won!

Just under a week later on Tuesday 14^th, my good friend Vickie and I travelled to the O2 Academy Islington for our exciting day ahead. For the two of us, this day had been a long time coming.

Earlier in the year when organising our school talent show, we had booked for the Lonsdale Boys Club to come to our school to judge the show and to perform. After so much support from the boys, we unfortunately had to cancel their appearance and we were absolutely gutted!

Prior to this, I also took part in a feature called ‘DIY DJ’ on Fearne Cotton’s Radio 1 show whereby I had to choose a song by an upcoming band to be played on air, where I chose ‘Light Me Up’ by the Lonsdale Boys Club. The boys sent me a lot of love over Twitter for this and we had spoken every now and then on the social networking site ahead of the Islington gig.

So our moment finally came and we headed into the venue just after 6:30pm to go backstage to meet the boys. We were joined by 4 other girls who had won meet and greet tickets via other websites, including Becky and Sophie who we coincidentally also knew from our school.

I was not surprised in the slightest to find out that frontman Charlie, bassist Topher and Loz on the keyboard were all lovely! We had around 20 minutes with the boys were we discussed the previous talent show arrangements and my appearance on Fearne Cotton’s show, as well as the looming show that we were all so hyped up for. The boys were also interested to find out that we were from Chelmsford, the location of this weekend’s V Festival, where the boys will be playing on Sunday on the Virgin Media Undercover Stage, with an agreement that we would each be looking out for each other.

After leaving the backstage meet and greet area, we made our way to the stage, where we had prime position at the front. In such an intimate venue, we could not have been any closer to the stage if we had tried, even being able to perch on the edge of the stage to give our legs a rest!

With two great warm-up acts, four-piece alternative rock group ‘Dance A La Plage’ and former number-one singer-songwriter Josh Kumra, we were well and truly warmed up for the headline act. Chants of ‘LBC, LBC’ welcomed Loz, Charlie and Topher to the stage, alongside screams and cheers from the passionate crowd of fans.

Playing their former singles ‘Sista Shake’ and ‘Light Me Up’, upcoming single ‘Ready To Go’, as well as fan favourite ‘Hooligans and Hulagirls’, the boys had the crowd dancing and jumping for the whole hour of their set. With an insight into some of the tracks on their upcoming album, it stands solid that this group, signed to Gary Barlow’s record label, have a very promising future!

I’d like to thank Charlie, Loz and Topher for such a fantastic evening and for being such genuinely lovely people when we met them. Huge thanks also go to Cath at Charm Factory and Ben at Orange Rockcorps for making the night possible!

Topher

Loz

Charlie & I

"Record-keeping in need of improvement" at Broomfield Hospital

Broomfield Hospital has been warned about their record keeping.

After recent spending cuts to the NHS, the Care Quality Commission, CQC, issued a formal warning to the Mid Essex Hospitals Trust about the keeping of patient records, especially at the Chelmsford hospital.

As part of a routine check by the CQC on April 13^th, inspectors found that in nine of the patient records which were looked at, there were numerous gaps in food and fluid charts.

Some food charts had been discontinued with staff unsure why, posing a risk of a lack of information when making decisions over patient hydration and nutrition.

Patient discharge checklists also had issues of clarity whereby it was difficult to establish what plans had been made in supporting people after being discharged into the community.

Andrea Gordon, CQC’s Deputy Director of Operations in the region, said: “We will be returning to the trust to follow up on progress and, when we do, we will expect the trust to be able to demonstrate it has made improvements.”

“CQC has a range of legal powers it can use if it is found the required progress has not been made. Where necessary we will use these powers to protect the people who use this service.”

In response to the report, Chief Medical Officer at Broomfield Hospital, Dr Ronan Fenton, said: “The patients whose records were inspected by the Care Quality Commission did receive good quality care, but it was the record-keeping aspect that was in need of improvement."

With ‘extremely hard-working and dedicated staff’, Dr Fenton continued to say: “We are confident that we can demonstrate to the CQC that we are strong on these assurance disciplines as well as the many standards of care quality that have been commended by the CQC.”

Broomfield Hospital: the Chelmsford hospital has recently had a major renovation

UNISON has branded the warning from the CQC as ‘inevitable’ and a wake-up call about the impact of spending cuts. As the largest union in the CQC, they work to represent the staff at every level.

Eastern Region Regional Manner at UNISON, Margaret Lynch, said: “Government spending cuts are beginning to bite”.

“UNISON has drawn attention to the Government of the crippling impact of spending cuts – and this CQC warning should be a reminder to all politicians in charge of this government of the dangers of making cuts in hospitals.”

Fundraising triumph for the Amy Winehouse Foundation

A fundraising event at Stock Brook Manor helped to raise over £20,000 for the Amy Winehouse Foundation, with help from Grants SEAT.

Foundation logo

Organised by Amy’s father Mitch, the Golf Day on May 24^th was the first event to be organised by the foundation since Amy’s death at the age of 27 last July.

Mitch and daughter Amy Winehouse before her tragic death in 2011

The car dealership in Braintree sponsored a series of prizes for the golfers, including a SEAT Leon worth £15,000 as a prize for a hole-in-one.

Managing director Darren Williams and his wife Katie, communications manager, were invited to the following gala dinner and charity auction. The star-studded event included guests Ray Winstone, Katie Price and new charity patron, Barbara Windsor.

Speaking after the event, Katie Williams said: “It was an enormous privilege to play a part in helping to make the Amy Winehouse Foundation’s first fundraising event a huge success.”

“It was clear from the numbers of people who attended and the generosity they showed on the night that Amy’s legacy lives on.” 

Darren & Katie Williams from Grants SEAT dealership