An intriguing 24 hours in Liverpool, where I had been invited to attend the TUC General Council dinner at the Hilton Hotel.
Tag: Events
Ashridge GC
An excellent day at Ashridge Golf Club in Hertfordshire, courtesy of Peter Leathem and all our colleagues at PPL. The forecast had been for hot weather of above 30 degrees C and so it proved.
Mitch Dalton
Legendary session guitarist Mitch Dalton played the Pizza Express basement club in Dean Street this evening with his top class band, which included piano and keyboard player David Arch (of Strictly fame).
Greg & Jennie
Julie, Ben and I enjoyed a wonderful day in the stunning grounds of Swarling Manor, Canterbury, for the wedding of Greg Fitzgerald and Jennie Griffiths.
MMF Summer Party
My thanks to the Music Managers’ Forum for the invitation to their Summer event this evening at Two Tribes Brewery, Campfire Taproom, Tileyard Road, N7. Great to catch up with Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, Paul Scaife, Stephen Budd, plus MMF’s leadership, Annabella Coldrick and Anneliese Harmon.
Ashes drama
Ben and I were to be found on the Laker balcony at the Oval today for the last day of the Ashes series. The weather once again did the teams no favours.
MU Conference
A successful and satisfying week in Birmingham as the MU hosted its biennial Delegate Conference at the Park Regis Hotel at the top of Broad Street.
UK Music party
UK Music’s annual Summer Party took place this evening in the elegant surroundings of the Institution of Engineering and Technology in Savoy Place, central London.
Yvette Cooper MP
I joined members of the local Labour Party this evening at Ruskin House in Croydon, as Yvette Cooper MP addressed those in attendance about current party policies and the state of politics in general.
ELO Experience
Julie, Ben and I drove over to Croydon this evening for a much-awaited performance in the Ashcroft Theatre by the renowned ELO Experience. The band is the leading tribute to the marvellous songs and recordings of Jeff Lynne.
MPG by the River
A pleasant evening courtesy of the Music Producers’ Guild at the BFI, The Riverfront on the Southbank. Their summer event certainly attracted an enthusiastic crowd from across the industry. My thanks to Executive Director Cameron Craig for the invitation.
A crucial win
Ben starred as Beckenham CC 5th XI scored an important away victory this afternoon in Dulwich over league rivals Streatham & Marlborough CC.
Friday blast
A raucous evening at the Oval as Surrey hosted Kent in a T20 Blast fixture. We were blessed with spring sunshine, a party atmosphere and some special cricket.
Music Week Awards
I met up with highly-respected producer James Reynolds in Battersea last night, as we joined over 1,400 guests at the Music Week Awards.
Cumberwell Park
A regular date in my relatively slim golf calendar is the charity event hosted by Neil and Sarah Davies at Cumberwell Park in Wiltshire.
Eurovision up West!
It’s Eurovision week! A joy to meet the wonderful Sandie Shaw and Katrina (of the Waves) this evening.
NEU Conference
A busy few days on the road in preparation for the MU’s involvement in the NEU Conference at Harrogate. Mark and I drove to Warminster on Thursday to collect our stand furniture from Neil Davies, our long-term stand installer, before organising and loading the promo and merchandise at HQ in Snowsfields.
Photo of the Year
Jonathan Stewart and I met up in Soho this evening to attend the inaugural ‘SO.CO Music Photographer of the Year Awards’, an international competition – sponsored by Affinity Photo – to celebrate the best music photographers.
Tribute to Horace
A marvellous afternoon at Casa do Frango, a Portuguese restaurant in Borough Market, London Bridge, in the company of MU colleagues and partners.
Guitar Show
I travelled up to Birmingham on Friday to oversee the installation of the MU stand at this year’s Guitar Show, organised as ever by Jason Hunt and his team. Joining me during the two-day weekend event were the excellent duo of Stephen Brown and Benson from our Midlands office.
Education Expo
Following the customary build up day, when Mark Batchelor and I joined Neil Davies at the Business Design Centre in Angel, Islington, this year’s Music and Drama Education Expo was fully underway this morning.
Final mix
Always a pleasure to visit Greg Fitzgerald in Canterbury and to work on tracks in his rurally based studio. Thanks to a quality contribution by session supremo John Thirkell on trumpet and flugelhorn horn, we polished a final mix of Promises at Midnight, which now features a heartening balance of horn flourishes and lead guitar courtesy of the excellent Ashley Blasse.
Americana Awards
The UK Americana Awards returned to the Hackney Empire tonight and reminded us all of the huge value and reward of a supportive community and uplifting live music. The Awards ceremony is the culmination of a week in Hackney featuring an industry conference, which was attended by 300 delegates, plus two nights of showcase gigs with 80 artists across six venues.
Conference launch
A cracking evening at Night Tales in Hackney, as the UK Americana Music Association kicked off their annual Conference with a superb series of performances by former winners of the Bob Harris Rising Artist Award, all backed by the Northern Cowboys supplemented by the excellent CJ Hillman on pedal steel and guitar.
Stacey Brothers
Mark Batchelor and I met up this afternoon at the Nellie Dean pub in Dean Street, Soho, ahead of attending a superb performance at Ronnie Scott’s by the Stacey Brothers’ Big Band Steel Dan Project: aka the Royal Scammers. The 14 piece band deliver an amazing collective sound and reflect the depth and nuance of their world-renowned inspiration.
BBC Corporate Affairs
I was kindly invited by Vanessa Elliott, the Head of BBC Corporate Affairs, to the Department’s first Christmas reception this evening at the ‘old’ Broadcasting House in Portland Place.
UK Music at Groucho’s
An excellent dinner for music industry comms representatives and journalists was held by UK Music at Groucho’s in Soho this afternoon.
Live Awards
An entertaining evening at The Brewery in The Barbican, courtesy of the inaugural Live Awards, which has been established to reward all those organisations, individuals, venues and festivals that give so much to the live music sector.
