Isle of Wight Festival boss John Giddings has spoken to IQ about the new exhibition dedicated to the history of the legendary event – and outlines why 2025 is shaping up to be live music’s biggest year yet.

Exhibition 25 runs at The O2 in London until 13 November and boasts an archive of images and footage featuring the likes of Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Amy Winehouse and Joni Mitchell.

It incorporates the three editions organised by Ray Foulk and his brothers from 1968-70, plus the Giddings-led years from 2002 onwards.

“We’ve done 22 shows and Ray Foulk, the original promoter, did three, which made it the 25th anniversary, so we thought we’d make an exhibition of it,” explains Giddings. “We launched it a year ago in Dimbola Lodge – the museum overlooking the 1970s site – and it was successful so we moved it to Newport, while the festival was on this year, and then we got the opportunity to move it to The O2 for a period of time.”

Since the 2002 reboot, the now 60,000-cap festival has hosted icons such as David Bowie, Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Amy Winehouse, Jay Z, P!nk, The Who, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Petty, Green Day and Robbie Williams.

“As long as people keep coming, we’ll keep doing it”

Following a public vote, the winner of the festival’s Most Magic Moment was revealed at last month’s exhibition launch, with Bowie’s 2004 set – which turned out to be his final UK performance – taking the honour. While Giddings agrees with the choice, he stresses there have been countless other highlights down the years.

“Jay-Z brought out Kanye West [in 2010] and I turned to my left, and Chris Martin was standing there with Beyoncé,” he remembers. “It’s just incredible the amount of people that have come. It’s the sunniest place in the UK; I think in 90 to 100 days at festivals, we’ve only had about five days of rain, so long may it survive. As long as people keep coming, we’ll keep doing it.”

Set for Seaclose Park, Newport from 19-22 June 2025, next year’s Isle of Wight Festival will star headliners Sting, Stereophonics and Justin Timberlake, plus Faithless, The Script, Paul Heaton featuring Rianne Downey, Teddy Swims, Texas, Olly Murs, Clean Bandit, Example and James, among others.

“This year is the biggest year so far with early-birds,” reveals Giddings. “And now we’ve gone on sale with Sting, Justin Timberlake and the Stereophonics, we’re nearly at 40,000 already.”

“The council decided to invite anybody in the music business to come and tender to restart it, and I was the only person that could be bothered to go down there”

Here, the Solo Agency founder delves deeper into the event’s legacy, reunion tours and other hot topics in the following Q&A…

What sort of reception has the Isle of Wight Festival exhibition had so far? 

“We’ve had brilliant reviews. It’s had fantastic coverage, because there’s so much you can talk about. You’ve got the story of 600,000 people going to the island [in 1970] and it being the Woodstock of Europe, then the local MP decided to get it banned because it brought the island to a standstill. The population was only 100,000, so it was six times that and he brought in an act of parliament which forbade anybody having 5,000 people overnight anywhere on the island.

“After 32 years, the council decided to invite anybody in the music business to come and tender to restart it, and I was the only person that could be bothered to go down there. Everybody else in the music business thought, ‘How can you have a festival on an island you can only get to by boat?’ But I was sitting on the ferry thinking, ‘Fuck me, I came here in 1970 and saw Jimi Hendrix and The Doors. Why don’t I have my own festival? I book my acts on everybody else’s?’ And the rest is history.

“The first year was a one-day event with Robert Plant and The Charlatans, which had 7,500 people and I promptly lost the local council half a million pounds. So they gave me all the rights to it for the second year – they said, ‘Sod this, you take it over.’ I got the name, the venue, everything, and made it a two-day event, and I promptly lost half a million pounds. In the third year, I turned it into a three-day event with the Stereophonics, David Bowie and The Who, and sold out 35,000 [tickets]. It’s now 50,000 capacity and a going concern.”

When you relaunched the festival in 2002, did you think it would be for the long haul?

“Absolutely, utterly, no idea. It was a combination of stupidity and arrogance actually, because I think people were laughing at me behind my back, thinking it would never work. The only good news that I had was that I was in the music business and people trusted me to pay them.”

David Bowie’s 2004 headline set was voted the festival’s most magic moment, what are your memories of that performance?

“One of the most stupid things I ever did was put [a UEFA Euro 2004 football match] on the main screens. It was Germany versus England, and when I went to the dressing room to collect David, it was 1-0 to England, which was fantastic. But when I got back to the main stage with David, Germany were 2-1 up and David went on to complete silence from the audience. If it hadn’t been someone of David Bowie’s calibre, it would have been a disaster. So nowadays, I put in an extra screen somewhere on the site for the football; I would never screen it on the main stage again.”

It was actually England versus France…

“Oh, was it France? That shows how much I know about football! If it was a Grand Prix, I would know everything, but if you wrote what I knew about football on your little toe, you would have space left. I think I’m the only person in the music business who has absolutely no interest.”

“Next year is going to be the biggest ever. I think people are not looking to the future anymore, they’re deciding to have a good time now while the going is good”

How is 2025 shaping up for the concert business overall?

“It’s incredible. Between Oasis, Coldplay, Taylor Swift, it’s extraordinary the amount of tickets that are being sold and the amount they’re being sold for. The live music business is alive and well, because we all thought things might start tailing off after Covid and Brexit, but it’s got bigger every year. Next year is going to be the biggest ever. I think people are not looking to the future anymore, they’re deciding to have a good time now while the going is good.”

Are you concerned at all about the way ticket prices for big shows appear to be heading?

“I think it’s down to the market deciding. I mean, it still costs a lot more to go to a Grand Prix for two hours as opposed to getting entertained by the Rolling Stones or Taylor Swift. If people didn’t want to pay it, they wouldn’t pay it. It’s their choice, and just by the number of tickets that appear on secondary sites – however much we try and stop it – it still occurs, so there’s huge demand out there. And it costs a lot more to put on the show since Brexit and since Covid, because the costs have gone up so much.”

You caused a bit of a stir recently claiming Glastonbury couldn’t afford Oasis…

“I also said they wouldn’t play the Isle of Wight because I couldn’t afford them either [laughs]. They’ve decided to reform, have a good time and give an audience what they want. It’s up to them. You can’t dictate that a group must play festivals.”

What do you see as the secret of a successful reunion?

“It has to be after a period of time when nothing has happened and the demand goes up and up. Oasis are the soundtrack to lots of people’s lives, the same way the Sex Pistols were. We’ve reformed the Pistols with Frank Carter and it’s going gangbusters because everybody wants to hear Never Mind The Bollocks played live. The way that music is nowadays, the 15 minutes of fame happens a lot quicker and the older groups – Genesis, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones – have still got audiences. Audiences are living longer as well, which is quite relevant. People 60 years old-plus want to go out and be entertained, which wasn’t the case when I was a kid. The demographic has become older and it’s also become younger. I remember when we first did the Spice Girls, I saw people under 10 coming to Wembley Arena and I suddenly realised there was a whole new audience out there.”

Lastly, how do you plan to ensure the Isle of Wight Festival can thrive long into the future?

“I’ve always said that we book acts from the past, present and future. I think it’s a combination. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle you put together because there are 15 stages at the festival and I don’t want people to stand in front of the main stage all day long and watch 10 rock bands. I want there to be a diversity of talent, a breadth of talent. It takes a lot of energy coming up with ideas to put it together and you need other people to help you do it.”

PHOTO (L-R): John Giddings, Caroline Giddings and Luke Pritchard of The Kooks

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

IQ has spoken to Caroline Giddings, Isle of Wight Festival director, to get her take on 2024 and the state of the sector.

The UK festival is one of the most iconic names in music history. Resurrected in 2002, it has gone from strength to strength, and in 2024, almost 60,000 fans made the ferry journey to see headliners Green Day, Pet Shop Boys, and The Prodigy alongside a host of top rock and pop artists.

As the festival celebrates its history with a dedicated exhibition, Giddings recapped this year’s event for the September edition of IQ…

IQ: How would you summarise this year’s Isle of Wight festival?
CG: It was another fantastic year for us, thanks to the hard work of the entire team behind the scenes. This year was a particularly proud one as we’ve been working to get Green Day to perform for years, and the excitement on site during Sunday was palpable. From when we open the gates on Thursday until the last camper leaves the site on Monday, our team are working day and night to make sure things run as smoothly and safely as possible.

Taking place on a relatively small island of just over 100,000 residents, we are always aware of the important position that the festival holds for many of those islanders and are thrilled that many thousands of them, of all generations, join us each year. We had an incredibly successful on-sale for our 2025 early-bird tickets the week after the festival, which I always take as a hugely positive sign.

It’s very important to us that people want to come to the Isle of Wight Festival because they trust us to put on an amazing show, long before they know what the lineup is going to be. We work hard to make sure that the intangible ‘Isle of Wight feel’ is at the heart of what we do to build that ongoing loyalty from our customers.

“We were pleased to work with GeoPura to integrate their hydrogen-powered generators into our backstage area”

Were there any new ideas or initiatives that you launched this year?
Like most forward-thinking festivals, we’re always trying to look for new and innovative ways to improve the sustainability of our show. The key challenge for us, and all festivals of any size, is to turn focus onto the core emissions-generating activities that are inherent to what we do. As part of that, this year, we were pleased to work with GeoPura to integrate their hydrogen-powered generators into our backstage area.

Those generators provided power to crew catering and the artist village, through zero-emission electricity thereby removing the need for diesel generators in these areas. We are always striving to improve the customer experience and, this year, we introduced a new area, Steeler’s Wheel, which showcased local DJs and proved to be one of the most popular areas on-site across the weekend.

What were the biggest challenges you and your team had to deal with this year?
Like other events, we come up against escalating costs and a difficult economic background. It’s a delicate balancing act to manage those whilst not skimping on customer delivery. Our goal is always to offer an excellent value ticket, give people a great experience on-site, and deliver a world-class event each year.

“The UK has a fantastic festival circuit – there is something for every musical taste right across the country”

You’ve been involved in launching an Isle of of Wight Festival exhibition, what’s the plan there?
We are grateful to be continuing the legacy of one of the most iconic festivals in rock music history and, while we innovate each year and aim to deliver a cutting-edge experience for fans, our look and feel still echo those landmark 1960s shows. Experience 25 is an exhibition dedicated to the festival’s unique history, and we’re pleased to say it’s open from 19 September until 13 November at the O2’s Innovation Centre in London.

There is a lot of fascinating archive material from the original festivals in 1968, 1969, and 1970, alongside information on how the festival was revived in 2002 by John [Giddings] and how it’s grown into the landmark event it is today.

Much has been said this year about a number of UK festivals closing down, what’s your view of the broader UK festival scene right now?
We’re grateful that, in the current economic climate, we have a loyal fanbase who return to the festival each year. The UK has a fantastic festival circuit – there is something for every musical taste right across the country. The growth has been remarkable over the last few decades, but there’s never a guarantee that growth can be maintained as tastes and fan behaviour change. The best festival teams are well aware of that and spend each year working to ensure that they change and improve to continue appealing to their audience.

Given the huge choice available to fans every weekend of the summer, the most successful festivals need a clear understanding of their identity and an unremitting focus on quality and delivery. As the industry has professionalised, the expectations of our customers have grown year on year, and the challenge for us is to meet and exceed those for each edition.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

The first wave of top UK festivals have made their first lineup announcements for next summer.

Set for Seaclose Park, Newport from 19-22 June, Isle of Wight Festival 2025 will be headlined by Sting, Stereophonics and Justin Timberlake.

The festival will also welcome Faithless, The Script, Paul Heaton featuring Rianne Downey, Teddy Swims, Texas, Olly Murs, Clean Bandit, Example, James, Alison Moyet, Dean Lewis, The Lathums and Lottery Winners, among others.

An exhibition celebrating the history of the iconic festival, Experience 25 is running at London’s The O2 between 19 September and 13 November to mark this year’s 25th edition – including the three original events held in 1968-70.

Elsewhere, Sting is also the first headliner confirmed for Latitude Festival, which is slated for Henham Park, Suffolk, from 24-27 July. The STING 3.0 Tour launched at Radio 2 in the Park in Preston earlier this month.

“We’re thrilled to announce Sting as our first headliner for Latitude 2025,” says Latitude director Melvin Benn, MD of Festival Republic. “His unparalleled artistry and the exciting new direction of the STING 3.0 shows perfectly align with Latitude’s mission to deliver a rich and diverse cultural experience. Sting’s extraordinary ability to transcend musical boundaries and deliver unforgettable live performances makes him an exceptional addition to next year’s lineup.

“Latitude is known for captivating audiences with a mix of global headliners and emerging talent, and Sting is just the first of many incredible acts to be revealed – there’s much more to come.”

Sting will also visit Tetbury Forest Live, Westonbirt Arboretum (18 June), Liverpool Pier Head On the Waterfront (22 June), Glasgow Summer Sessions @ Bellahouston Park (25 June), Cannock Forest Live, Cannock Chase (27 June) and Cardiff Depot Live, Cardiff Castle (28 June).

“Everyone we are announcing today is an absolute music icon and we can’t wait to welcome them to Lytham”

In the North West, Alanis Morissette, Justin Timberlake and a double bill of Simple Minds and Texas will headline TK Maxx presents Lytham Festival 2025, which takes place from 2-6 July. Details of the two remaining headliners and special guests will be revealed soon.

“Everyone we are announcing today is an absolute music icon and we can’t wait to welcome them to Lytham,” says Lytham Festival co-founder Peter Taylor of promoter Cuffe & Taylor. “And we’ve not finished there. Watch this space as we still have our Wednesday and Thursday headliners plus a lot of special guests to announce in the coming weeks.”

Cornwall’s Eden Sessions has confirmed The Script as its first 2025 headliner. The group will appear on 25 June, with support to include Tom Walker.

Meanwhile, the UK’s Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) is launching a bespoke free business support programme for multi-venue festivals thanks to funding by Arts Council England.

Launching in October, the project will offer free custom online training and support over the next six months alongside access to a dedicated in-person programme at AIF’s Festival Congress in Bristol in February 2025, as well as creating a new network with new resources.

It also promises to provide custom business support and industry skills development for this cohort through online, expert-led webinars, as well as peer-to-peer roundtables and training in key areas of pressure or opportunity based on research carried during the programme’s design stage.

Topics covered will include: preparing for The Protection of Premises Bill (aka Martyn’s Law); managing multi-venue PRS licensing; identifying accommodation and travel partnership revenue opportunities; environmental and accessibility event challenges; and an introduction to funding opportunities for promoters, artists and industry professionals.

“It’s thrilling that festivals of all sizes will be able to come together to meet, share and learn”

“I’m delighted that, with the support of Arts Council England, we can offer free direct support to festivals outside of our membership though this bespoke six-month programme,” says AIF CEO John Rostron. “We have never been able to do this before, and it’s thrilling that festivals of all sizes will be able to come together to meet, share and learn, connecting with festival professionals across legal, licensing, revenue generation, funding, sponsorship, and so much more.”

In addition, there will be responsive, bespoke training to meet the particular requirements of multi-venue festival promoters, with each festival to be allocated a small fund for one-on-one legal, financial or licensing health checks or advice as required for their own challenges or needs.

“Multi-venue music festivals are particularly important to me, as they are where I cut my teeth as a music promoter,” adds Rostron, who co-founded Cardiff’s Sŵn Festival. “Working with the built environment, they so often bring a town or city to life – acting as a catalyst for a music scene, or celebrating a particular place, genre or music ecology. Working in existing venues, or creating new spaces in and around the area, they regularly change shape as the area develops or as their audience grows or moves, which can be as exciting as it is challenging.”

Shared resources will be collated and developed following online expert sessions and Festival Congress, and will be openly available via the AIF website as a legacy resource for any multi-venue festival to access.

Festivals wishing to find out more information should email [email protected]

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

The 2024 festival season in Europe is beginning to take shape after a raft of top events made their first line-up announcements for next summer.

In Germany, Eventimpresents/DreamHaus’ twin Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals, held at Nürburgring and Nürnberg, respectively, will welcome the likes of Die Ärzte, Avenged Sevenfold, Queens of the Stone Age, Green Day, Broilers, Billy Talent, Måneskin, Parkway Drive and Kraftklub from 7-9 June.

FKP Scorpio’s flagship festivals Hurricane, in Scheessel, and Southside, in Neuhausen ob Eck will also return from 21-23 June with acts such as Ed Sheeran, The National, Bring Me The Horizon, Avril Lavigne, The Offspring, The Hives, Jungle and Fontaines DC.

Denmark’s famed Roskilde has also announced its first batch of artists for its 52nd edition from 29 June to 6 July, which includes PJ Harvey, Kali Uchis, Romy, Trueno, The Armed and Blondshell.

“We have a long-running history of being a progressive festival with an international perspective, and we consistently push ourselves to further that purpose,” says Roskilde programme director Anders Wahrén. “We aim to inspire every single one of our 130,000 festival participants with a diverse lineup characterised by artistic curiosity and groundbreaking headliners presented in a unique festival setting.”

“Roskilde Festival is a very communal event where dreams and new ideas for a better tomorrow are being addressed”

He adds: “Roskilde Festival is a very communal event where dreams and new ideas for a better tomorrow are being addressed, exchanged, cultivated and eventually tried out by our participants. And music and art play a big part in inspiring us to even think and sense those new ideas to begin with.”

Set for 6-10 August, Norway’s Superstruct-backed Øyafestivalen will celebrate 25 years with headliners including Pulp and PJ Harvey, while Croatia’s biggest open-air music festival INMusic, which was cancelled in 2023 due to financial challenges, will return to Zagreb from 24-26 June, topped by Smashing Pumpkins and The National.

Elsewhere, Ed Sheeran was unveiled last month as the first headliner of Rock in Rio Lisbon’s 20th anniversary edition. First held in 2004, the biennial festival returns to Portugal for a double weekender between 15-16 & 22-23 June 2024.

Isle of Wight Festival today became the first major UK event to show its hand. Headlined by The Prodigy, Pet Shop Boys and – in a UK festival exclusive – Green Day from 20-23 June. The bill also includes The Streets, Keane, Simple Minds, Crowded House, Blossoms, Nothing But Thieves and Zara Larsson, among others.

“We’re thrilled to announce our 2024 headliners today and to continue to showcase a truly exciting array of talent for next year’s festival,” says IoW organiser John Giddings. “From globally-recognised and pioneering artists, to chart-topping talent and rising stars, we can’t wait to welcome everyone to the island next year.”

Glastonbury has pushed its 2024 ticket sale back by two weeks

Also in the UK, Derbyshire’s Bearded Theory will welcome the likes of Jane’s Addiction, Amyl and the Sniffers, Sleaford Mods, Orbital and Dinosaur Jr to its 15th anniversary from 23-26 May.

And Slam Dunk, the UK’s biggest independent rock festival, will bring You Me At Six, The All American Rejects, I Prevail, Funeral For A Friend, Asking Alexandria, Waterparks, Palaye Royale and Pale Waves to Hatfield Park (25 May) and Leeds’ Temple Newsam (26 May).

Meanwhile, Glastonbury has pushed its 2024 ticket sale back by two weeks to 16 November (tickets plus coach travel) and 19 November (general admission) “out of fairness” to people who discovered they were no longer registered to attempt to buy tickets, despite believing they were.

“Following this year’s festival, we alerted everyone with a registration which pre-dated 2020 of a scheduled review of the details held by See Tickets in the Glastonbury Festival registration database,” says a statement. “This was in order to ensure that the details we hold are current and that we do not store individuals’ information for any longer than is necessary. These registrants were asked to take action to confirm their registration if they wished to keep it.

“Unfortunately, it has come to light that some individuals hoping to buy tickets for 2024 have discovered after Monday’s registration deadline that they are no longer registered, despite believing they were.

“Out of fairness to those individuals, we will be re-opening the window for registration at 12 noon on Monday, 6th November. It will remain open until 5pm on Monday, 13th November.”

Yesterday it was announced that annual action sport and music festival NASS, held near Bristol, will not take place next year as a result of rising costs. Meanwhile, the debut of new Dutch heavy metal festival South of Heaven has been postponed for a year after “no certainty could be given about obtaining the necessary permit for the first edition”. The event was set for 31 May and 1 June, promoted by TIRR Music Agency, Muziekgieterij Maastricht and Doomstar Bookings.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Isle of Wight Festival promoter John Giddings says “business is booming” ahead of one of the UK’s biggest live music weekends of the year.

The 210,000-cap Glastonbury welcomes headliners Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Elton John from tomorrow to Sunday, while AEG’s British Summer Time Hyde Park (cap. 65,000) kicks off in London tomorrow with All Things Orchestral, followed by two shows by Pink.

Solo Agency boss Giddings has worked on Beyoncé’s recent Renaissance stadium dates and Madonna’s upcoming Celebration tour for Live Nation. With Festival Republic, meanwhile, Solo is staging Dog Day Afternoon, a one-off outdoor show at Crystal Palace Park on 1 July, featuring Iggy Pop, Blondie and punk supergroup Generation Sex.

“I was really worried at Christmas about the cost of living crisis, but it doesn’t seem to be evident – people want to go out and have a good time”

“Beyoncé sold out to the rafters, we’ve sold out Madonna in the autumn, we’ve got Iggy Pop and Blondie at Crystal Palace Park a week on Saturday and we’ve obviously got some acts at Glastonbury, so there’s a lot knocking around,” Giddings tells IQ. “Business is booming – booming. I was really worried at Christmas about the cost of living crisis, but it doesn’t seem to be evident – people want to go out and have a good time and enjoy themselves.”

Giddings is also basking in the glory of last weekend’s sellout Isle of Wight. The 55,000-cap event was headlined by Pulp, George Ezra, the Chemical Brothers and – for the first time in his career – Robbie Williams.

“It was incredible,” says Giddings. “You always wake up on Monday morning and think, ‘How the fuck am I going to beat that?’ I mean, Robbie Williams was a different level, he was absolutely extraordinary. He told his whole life story, warts and all, and played the songs to go with it. He’s such a showman.”

“We’ve definitely established Isle of Wight as one of the Premier League festivals”

More than 22,000 tickets for this IoW 2023 were sold in the week after last year’s festival.

“That’s better than usual,” he says. “Early birds [for 2024] go on sale this Friday. And it’s interesting that as soon as we sell out, I get a million emails and phone calls saying, ‘I haven’t bought a ticket yet.’ So I said to everyone, ‘Buy one early this time!'”

He adds: “I think half the audience come because they love the event and the other half come because of the lineup. We’ve definitely established it as one of the Premier League festivals. You can’t compare Glastonbury because that’s in its own league, but we’re up there with Leeds-Reading, etc.”

“You can’t do the same thing year in, year out. It’s like a Formula One car – you have to develop it as it evolves”

Giddings revived the legendary festival in 2002 after a 32-year hiatus and has continued in his leadership role since Live Nation acquired a controlling stake in 2017. Other acts on the bill this year included Courteeners, Blondie, OneRepublic, Sugababes, Anne-Marie, Sam Ryder, N-Dubz, Niall Horan and Manic Street Preachers.

“It’s just making it better for the general public because they pay us to come, and we pay the artists to come, so in a sense the audience are more important than the artists and you have to create different areas for them to be entertained,” says Giddings. “We’ve got 15 stages and I discovered things that I didn’t even know existed. There’s a special Cabaret Club at the back of the Intoxicated Tea Rooms, and we develop new things every year.

“This year we had a drone show, which came all the way from Australia because I used it with The Corrs last November, and it had an image of the Isle of Wight Festival evolving into the needles and stuff like that. It just makes it more interesting for people.

“You have to just keep doing things to keep everybody interested and you can’t do the same thing year in, year out. It’s like a Formula One car – you have to develop it as it evolves.”

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Solo Agency has struck a “groundbreaking deal” with an Isle of Wight biogas firm to generate more than 950,000 kWh of electricity using grass from the Isle of Wight Festival site – almost twice the amount of energy used during the festival.

The Newport-based Black Dog biogas plant supplies power to the Vestas Offshore Wind Blades facility, further contributing to the sustainability outcomes of the project.

Solo, owned by Isle of Wight Festival leaders John and Caroline Giddings, has turned over the land it holds for festival camping to biofuel production – with grass harvesting being conducted either side of the June event.

“I’m really pleased that we’re able to give our land a new lease of life, helping to generate renewable energy and making sure the fields are used productively year-round,” says John Giddings. “On top of delivering one of the UK’s best music festivals on the island, we have also sought to play a positive role in the local community and we’re proud that we will be doing our bit in the push for a more sustainable future for the island.”

“We want the Isle of Wight Festival to be the most sustainable festival in the UK”

The new project is the latest in a host of initiatives designed to make the festival more sustainable. Organisers are currently working with the Isle of Wight Council on a scoping exercise around installing a new electricity sub-station near the site. The move would enable the most energy intensive areas of the festival to be powered from the grid rather than generators, leading to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

“We want the Isle of Wight Festival to be the most sustainable festival in the UK,” adds Caroline Giddings. “Year on year we have done more to ensure that our event is as sustainable as possible, from small scale changes, such as the type of cups and cutlery we use, to systemic shifts such as the push to get the main stage area on the electricity grid. This latest initiative builds on that decade of work to keep us at the forefront of environmental activity in the industry.”

The 2023 Isle of Wight Festival takes place between 15-18 June at Seaclose Park, Newport, featuring headliners Pulp, George Ezra, Chemical Brothers and Robbie Williams.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Another spate of European festivals have announced headliners and main stage artists for their 2023 editions.

Dutch festival Pinkpop has confirmed that British pop star Robbie Williams will return to Landgraaf for the first time since 2015.

He will close out Saturday night at the festival – which is said to be “the oldest and longest-running annual dedicated pop and rock music festival in the world” – while P!nk will top the bill on the Friday night. English indie rock band Editors and Dutch electronic band Goldband are also on the 2023 bill.

The 52nd edition of Pinkpop, promoted by Live Nation-owned Mojo Concerts, will take place between 16–18 June, next year.

Williams is also set to perform at the UK’s Isle of Wight festival, alongside Pulp, George Ezra and Chemical Brothers. Sugarbabes, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Anne-Marie, Gabrielle, Blondie and Ella Henderson have also been confirmed for the event, which runs between 15–18 June in Seaclose Park, Newport.

The festival is promoted by Solo Agency’s John Giddings and Live Nation.

Lowlands: “The oldest and longest-running annual dedicated pop and rock music festival in the world”

Elsewhere in the UK, DF Concert’s TRNSMT festival will see Pulp, George Ezra, Niall Horan, Sam Fender, Kasabian, The 1975 and Royal Blood perform at Glasgow Green in Scotland between 7–9 July next year.

Further South in the UK, Latitude will bring Pulp, Paulo Nutini, George Ezra, The Kooks, Metronomy to Henham Park, Suffolk, between 20–23 July.

In Poland, promoter Alter Art has announced Arctic Monkeys for the 2023 edition of Open’er, slated for 28 June to 1 July at Gdynia-Kosakowo in Gdynia. The English rockstars will close the Orange Main Stage on the Friday night, in support of their new album The Car.

And in neighbouring Czech Republic, Colours of Ostrava have confirmed US pop rock band One Republic as the first headliner for next year’s instalment, set for 19–22 July at Dolní Vítkovice in Ostrava.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Isle of Wight Festival promoter John Giddings has told IQ the event sold almost 50,000 tickets for its return to its traditional June date.

IOW’s 2021 edition at Seaclose Park was held last September due to the pandemic, but was back on more familiar ground this year from June 16-19.

“It was a brilliant weekend,” says Giddings. “It was back in its natural slot and it seemed like we were back in gear to be honest because last year seemed a bit scrambled. Although everybody was good natured, it was slightly odd being in the wrong month, and this year, everybody was just really up for it.”

Headlined by Muse, Lewis Capaldi, Kasabian and Pete Tong, other artists included Madness, Nile Rodgers + Chic, Sigrid, Blossoms, Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott, Jessie Ware, Rudimental and Tom Grennan.

“Muse were incredible, Nile Rodgers was as brilliant as usual, and Kasabian blew me away, they were phenomenal,” beams Giddings. “You always worry when the singer changes, but [Serge Pizzorno] has taken it to a new level.”

“It went from a heatwave all the way up to Saturday lunchtime, then the temperature dropped like a brick”

The only minor negative was provided by the fluctuating weather, with high winds resulting in the main stage action being briefly suspended on Saturday on safety grounds.

“It went from a heatwave all the way up to Saturday lunchtime, then the temperature dropped like a brick and the wind blew and I had to stop Blossoms halfway through,” explains Giddings. “But we turned it around and Kasabian and Pete Tong went down a storm. And then Sunday was fantastic, finishing with Muse. Ninety per cent was brilliant weather, 10% was dodgy.”

Despite the well documented supply chain issues impacting the live events business, Giddings says the run-up to the festival went largely to plan, notwithstanding the reduced lead time.

“We only had nine months as opposed to a year,” he says. “But the fact that we paid our bills quite quickly mean we seem to have been a priority for suppliers.”

“Some festivals are struggling this year because there’s three years’ worth of touring in one year”

However, Giddings acknowledges the ongoing challenges affecting the wider sector.

“We were lucky, we sold just under 50,000,” he says. “But I’m aware of the fact that some festivals are struggling this year, because basically there’s three years’ worth of touring in one year. If you’re called Adele or Harry Styles, you’ve done great business, but there are people out there not doing as well.

“There’s just too much on in a short period of time. It’s always the mid range which is going to struggle and there’s a serious cost of living problem and if you’re going to spend some money, you’re only going to spend it once as opposed to three times.”

The Isle of Wight County Press reports two people suffered minor injuries when a metal pole came loose in a small bar tent in the Octopus Garden area during high winds on Saturday. “Medical attention was provided within four minutes by the onsite medical team, the structure was safely secured and both people were discharged back into the festival,” said a spokesperson.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Heavyweight agents Alex Hardee and John Giddings served up a treat for ILMC delegates by starring in one of the most entertaining panels yet seen at a music business conference.

Coda Agency co-founder Hardee, now of Wasserman Music, and Isle of Wight Festival promoter Giddings, of Solo Agency, sat down in front of a standing room only audience to review their respective career paths and retell some of the many stories of their lives in the concert industry.

Here are six of the best tales (that we can print) from the double act’s ‘Dragons’ Den’ masterclass…

Why they became agents…

John Giddings: “I couldn’t get a real job. When I was 14 at school my mate said his group had split up and why didn’t I learn to play bass and pull a few chicks, so I thought it was a good idea. But then we were playing Harpenden Youth Club and a skinhead came and stood in front of me and said, ‘If you don’t stop playing now, I’m going to hit you,’ which was the end of my musical career. But I was better at booking the gig than being in it and my mate was social sec at the local college and he got a job in the music business. So I knew if you went to university and became social sec, you’d meet people in the music business and get a job. I got offered a job… Barry Dickins couldn’t decide between me and Paul Loasby, so he employed both of us.”

Alex Hardee: “Believe it or not, I actually was doing aeronautical engineering at university. My brother [the late Malcolm Hardee] was a comedian and he introduced me to lots of other comedians like Steve Coogan, Eddie Izzard… And I started booking them while I was a student. Then I got a 2:2 in my second year in aeronautical engineering and [careers’ advice] said, ‘If you work really hard and get a 2:1 then you will be able to work in Enfield Aerodrome and get £16,000 a year.’ And I went, ‘Fuck no, I’m already earning £25,000 a year!’ So I left university the next day and that’s how I became an agent. I mean, some still say I am a comedy agent…”

“Groups should pay little commission when they start and more commission when they earn money”

Changing client relations…

JG: “When you start, you’re petrified about losing an act because you need to earn the money to pay your mortgage. And then finally, when you earn some money and you buy your house, the relationship changes. If a group comes to you and says, ‘We want to do this tour of beaches and rent a big top and go around the UK.’ And you can tell them it’s a fucking stupid idea which you couldn’t tell them before because you’re worried about losing them. But then when acts get to a stadium level, it’s a different level of representation. I’ve always thought groups should pay little commission when they start and more commission when they earn more money, but… it doesn’t work like that. Try telling a group they should pay you more money when they get bigger. And the poor little group has no money to pay you in the first place.”

AH: “As soon as you’re worried about losing an act, you’ve already lost them. What’s quite interesting is when an artist starts to become unsuccessful they can’t fire the record label. So probably first thing they’d do would be to fire the agent, because they don’t have a contract. But it’s interesting in Covid… I thought there’d be a lot more change. But the agents couldn’t get blamed for nothing happening for the last two years so they couldn’t get fired!”

“The middle is being squeezed and it’s going to be quite a tough summer. A lot of shows aren’t going to hit that breakeven point”

The ’22 summer season…

JG: “Shows that went on sale before Christmas have done quite well, but shows that have gone on sale since then are beginning to struggle and it’s becoming soft in the market, because there’s three years’ worth of touring in one year. So we’ve all got to watch out. I don’t think it’s going to come completely back to normal until the start of ’23. Everybody’s putting on a brave face, but there’s a lot out there and it costs a third more to fill up your car, or your electricity bill now… If you’re a punter, you’re going to worry about your food bill, as opposed to buying a ticket for a festival.”

AH: “This year, there’s too much on, there are too many shows. There’s more tickets on sale, but the P&Ls for the individual shows aren’t making profits. So it’s a good year to be an agent or a ticketing company, but the promoters are going to suffer and that will have to get readjusted the following year. The middle’s been squeezed and it’s going to be quite a tough summer I think… A lot of shows aren’t going to hit that breakeven point.”

JG: “The kids are still going out. I mean, the Little Mix tour we keep releasing production seats and they sell like hot cakes. Harry Styles sells out.”

AH: “Billie Eilish… The top never gets squeezed but the middle acts, the middle festivals, the middle events, there’s a lot of trouble there. it’s going to be hard.”

“I looked around and Prince Harry’s there with a crate of beer”

Best festival memory…

JG: “Jay-Z was playing [Isle of Wight] and the audience of going wild. I thought, ‘An audience can’t go more wild than they are now,’ and then Kanye West walked on behind him… I turned around to my left, and there was Beyoncé standing next to me and I thought, ‘This is worth it.'”

AH: “This isn’t my best one, but it’s reminded me of a good one: I was at Hyde Park and I managed to blag on stage to Jay-Z. There was Beyoncé, Sacha Baron Cohen, Madonna and somehow me on the side of the stage and I was fucking desperate for a drink but there weren’t any. I looked around and Prince Harry’s there with a crate of beer. I go, ‘Can I have a beer mate?’ And he goes, ‘Here bruv’. And I thought, ‘Fucking “bruv!”‘ I went, ‘Oh thanks. where are we going afterwards then? I hear it’s all back to yours because yours is the closest.’ That’s a true story!”

“All the contracts in the world are meaningless, you have to deliver on your word”

Least favourite thing about the live business…

JG: “When people bullshit you – it’s so boring. The easiest thing in the world is to tell the truth, because then you can at least remember what you’ve said. All the contracts in the world are meaningless, you have to deliver on your word. And it’s so disappointing when people let you down and don’t deliver… It’s rife with bullshit, that’s the thing I like least about it.”

AH: “Smoke and mirrors is much harder nowadays, everything’s a stat, you can’t say I sold out Brixton if you didn’t sell out Brixton. Within two seconds, you can find out every ticket count, everyone can find everything.”

JG: “One thing that’s changed in the music business is, when I joined it, everybody used to lie about ticket sales and say they were less than they really were. And they still lie about ticket sales, but by saying they’re more than they really are. So they’ve never actually told the truth in the whole of my career.”

AH: “The promoters used to say they were less?”

JG: “Yeah, because they didn’t want to pay you as much and now everybody’s embarrassed by it so they inflate it when they tell it to you. Unless you speak to Simon Moran, who knows every ticket sale for every show throughout the universe…”

Advice they would give their 16-year-old selves…

AH: “Don’t.”

JG: “It’s so long ago I can’t remember, seriously. I mean, to be in this business you have to work really hard. You have to work the room and you have to deliver on your word. It’s not brain of Britain stuff, but people have to be able to trust you. If people can trust in you then they’re confident in what they’re doing.”

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Solo boss John Giddings has told IQ how Genesis’ The Last Domino? Tour has navigating the challenges of Covid to triumph over adversity.

The legendary Phil Collins-fronted band last toured in 2007 before announcing a reunion in 2020. The European leg of the tour is due to finally wrap up at the fourth time of asking with a three-night stand at The O2 from 24-26 March.

The London arena dates were originally scheduled for November 2020 before being postponed multiple times thanks to the pandemic, including last October, when they were due to wrap up their UK run.

Giddings, who will appear alongside Paradigm agent Alex Hardee as part of ILMC’s popular Dragons’ Den sessions at next month’s conference, explains the course of events.

“Last November, two of the band got Covid the first night in Glasgow, so we had to cancel the second night in Glasgow and postpone the three O2s,” he says. “So I postponed the three O2s to the end of March and suggested to the band that we play some European shows prior to The O2 – because you can’t just do it on its own – as a farewell thank you to all the European fans.”

However, the emergence of the Omicron variant late last year – and the subsequent tightening of restrictions on gatherings – threatened to derail plans once again.

“Getting it all together at two weeks’ notice was pretty hard”

“We sold all of the tickets, then something called Omicron came along and all the countries kind of closed down again,” sighs Giddings. “So three weeks ago, we had three shows at The O2 [lined up], but we couldn’t play France, Holland or Germany.

“I think the first country that opened up was France, so we could play two Paris shows and three Londons, with a week in between, then Holland said it was looking likely.”

But going ahead with the German stretch – two nights at each of Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, Hanover’s Zag Arena and Lanxess Arena in Cologne – was not as straightforward.

“I wrote a letter to the minister of culture in Germany asking for special dispensation because they said we could the play gigs, but only to 60% capacity,” says Giddings, “and anybody in the music business knows that just pays for the costs of the show.

“Germany consists of five different countries really, five different states – so we had to go to the local governments of each of them and beg to be able to do them, saying everybody has to wear a mask, tests have to be shown, anything to make the shows happen.

“Eventually, we got permission. The first to give us permission was Hannover, then Cologne and then, with about two weeks to go, Berlin. Getting it all together at two weeks’ notice was pretty hard with equipment, trucking, coaches for the crew, etc, but here we are and it’s going incredibly.”

“Germany is their biggest market, France second and Holland is probably third”

The tour, which has been met with glowing reviews, continues tonight (17 March) at the 40,000-cap Paris la Défense Arena in France before returning to Germany’s Lanxess Arena in Cologne, followed by two nights at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome in the Netherlands (21-22 March).

“The responses are phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal,” reports Giddings. “Audiences love this group, love their history and realise it’s the last time they’ll ever see them live. Phil sits down for the whole show, but his personality shines through. He’s singing better than ever, and the band are playing better than ever.

“Germany is their biggest market, France second and Holland is probably third, but some people were flying in from Ukraine to come and see some of these shows and obviously they can’t get here, which is horrible. Phil refers to it during the show and dedicates a song to them, Land of Confusion, which was originally written about a different subject, but is pertinent in today’s world.”

The trio – Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford, toured North America last November/December. The tour was the 54th best seller of 2021, according to Pollstar, shifting 134,323 tickets for a total gross of $23,743,403 (€21,461,200).

“We did 21 shows just ahead of the new wave of the variant,” notes Giddings. “America was interesting because you talk about different countries in Germany, the different states in America had different rules. The Democrats had certain rules, obviously in New York you had to show Covid passes and all that, and in the Trump states, nobody gave a fuck! You had to remember where you were.”

Isle of Wight Festival promoter Giddings is currently appearing in the four-part BBC Two series Rock Till We Drop, which offers the chance for a band of musicians aged over 64 a chance to appear at the festival. He gives a brief update on this year’s IoW, which will be headlined by Lewis Capaldi, Kasabian and Muse from 16-19 June.

“It’s shaping up really well,” he says. “We’re just under 40,000 tickets so far and it’s picking up like there’s no tomorrow, it’s going to be lovely.”

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.