Backstage secrets of the Isle of Wight festival
It wasn’t festival favourite Mick (he’s a mascara man). Or headliner Jay Z (he could have borrowed Beyonce’s). No, it was Paul McCartney – but, reveals the man behind rock’s wildest weekend, he had a pretty good excuse...
By day, as a successful music business agent, John Giddings steers the live careers of Madonna, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and U2. He also represents clients as diverse as Iggy Pop and Barbra Streisand. His ‘other gig’ is as owner, booker-in-chief and co-ordinator of the Isle of Wight festival. As part-time jobs go, it’s right up there. But it can be demanding. Giddings is the unflappable chap who sorts out nervous breakdown-inducing pre-show problems for the Stones, co-ordinates late-minute choppers for Bob Geldof, ensures Bowie’s backstage buffet is suitably nutritious and arranges emergency fingernail technicians for former Beatles. This year, proving Giddings packs more power than the national grid, his Isle of Wight headline acts will include Pharrell Williams, Fleetwood Mac and Blur. ‘I invite the groups I love,’ says Giddings, 61. ‘I pay them millions of pounds to play in a field, and have my mates come and watch them.’ It all sounds so simple but, since reigniting the legendary festival in 2001, Giddings’ outdoor calling has been no stroll in the park.
‘I had absolutely no intention of running a festival, let alone one you could only reach by boat,’ he admits, relaxing in his funky, guitar-strewn west London office. ‘First year the council lost half a million pounds. Second year, I lost half a million pounds. The third year we sold out, with David Bowie and The Who and Stereophonics. It took five years to break even. ‘Fourteen years later we’ve got 55,000 people coming.’ With an estimated 450 festivals in Britain each year, the ‘roof-free fun’ business is booming. Michael Eavis, founder of the Glastonbury Festival, offers credibility and BBC coverage, but Giddings is one of a few moneyed music moguls that the world’s most successful musicians call when they fancy some lucrative al fresco action.
By: Adrian Deevoy
Source: The Daily Mail
