11 July – Summer Swing, Kew Gardens – Jools Holland and his Blues Band

Been to this event a few years running now, but this year was my favorite. Mr Holland and his band blow you away with their talent. Great sound from the PA. Big group of friends sharing a picnic. Champagne. Cigars. Whisky. Dancing. Fireworks. Not even the great British summer weather could put a dampener on it, and the tone for the summer was well and truly set!

25 July – 2 Aug – Ealing Festival, Walpole Park, W5

Ealing is blessed with this festival each year. It’s been running for decades and each event is just £1 to enter. What you get are two marquees with live music (main stage and a slightly more fringe one), a huge beer tent, all the usual food and craft stalls, and an excellent atmosphere. The music started on 25 July with a day of blues, followed the next day with world music and then almost a week of jazz. Great for kicking back in the sun on a weekend afternoon/evening with a rug, a picnic, a box of chilled Chardonnay and soaking up the vibes with friends … or getting more energetic – I have top memories last weekend of dancing at the front with my 8 year old friend, Alfie on my shoulders!

14 August – U2, Wembley

Ok, confession time – I have never been to a U2 gig. I narrowly missed out on one in 1993 when I broke up with my girlfriend at the time just before their Zooropa tour and she took the tickets back. I’m a big fan but I feel like the football fan who’s never been to see their team play! Well, all that ends this year. U2 play Wembley on their 360° tour with a grand revolving stage … and my superstar sister got us tickets before they sold out in half an hour! I actually like their last couple of albums, but if I’m honest, I really hope they play a lot of the old stuff from the 80’s and early 90’s.

28-31 August – Greenbelt Festival

Greenbelt has been running for over 25 years and is a music and arts festival with a Christian ethos. A lot of the music is mainstream however – Athlete are headlining this year, and I’m looking forward to hearing Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip. Also a good lineup of talks including Douglas Alexander MP and Bishop Gene Robinson.

Post-summer, White Lies at Wembley sounds excellent, but no tickets yet.

I’ll leave it there for now as the final day of the Ealing Jazz Festival is calling. Photos will be up on Flickr soon.

Ale2.0
When: Thursday, 4 June, 7-9pm
Where: The Harp, Covent Garden
Dreamt up by the chaps at VI, Ale2.o is a meet-up for people in digital, PR, design etc who also enjoy supping pints of ale. Sounds very fine to me.

Being-Digital ‘09
When: Tuesday, 9 June, 9am-7.30pm
Where: CBI Centre, London
This event is produced by the mashup team and is designed for businesses in digital technology, particularly start-ups. I’ve got a particular interest in this one as the programme includes some ‘Angel’s Den’ speed pitching. Exciting stuff!

Sadly, I wasn’t quick enough to pick up tickets for FOWA ‘09 later this year – they sold out in ten minutes flat. Will be watching the twitterfall and the videos for that one.

Several of us Twitterers in the Ealing area are holding a whisky tweetup. If you fancy sampling and imbibing a variety of single malts from across the Scottish regions, comment to this post with your twitter username and the bottle (single malt please) you’re bringing so we get a nice selection. One other thing – you need to bring a poem … of your choice … poems and whisky go together.

Details:
18th April at 7.30pm
Chez moi (address on request)

In the mix so far:
@richward
@Wardybits
@iampauldixon
@paulpambakian
@johnpvdixon

This could become a regular event. Join us for the inaugural one!