Debbie Harry by Sienne Eve Anderson
Last night saw the press launch of the Isle of Wight Festival exhibition Experience 25 at London’s O2.
The man behind the festival since its revival in 2002, legendary promoter John Giddings was in attendance alongside Ray Foulk who created the original events circa 1968 – ’70.
The night was a celebration of the festival’s entire iconic history with an incredible archive of images and footage on display featuring Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Amy Winehouse and Joni Mitchell.
The Isle of Wight Festival is known for its countless mythologized tales, from The Who writing Teenage Wasteland about the state of the festival site post-gig, to David Bowie arriving for his 2004 headline set by ferry alongside the general public.
During his speech, John Giddings recounted some of his memorable moments promoting the festival “In 07 I came up with the idea of putting Amy Winehouse onstage with The Rolling Stones. I thought the hardest bit would be to get Mick Jagger to let Amy up there. So I went to him and he jumped at the opportunity… but then I went to Amy who said she could never do it; she was too nervous! It took me about half an hour to persuade her to do it but when you see the result of it… it was amazing“.
British band The Kooks were also at the event, with frontman Luke Pritchard sharing his own personal history of the festival “My Mum’s side of the family are farmers from the Isle of Wight. They were at the festival in 1969 when there was a shortage of food on-site. The family story is that my uncle went back to the farm with some friends and collected a load of sweetcorn to bring back and sell to the artists. He was selling food to Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell“.
The evening’s crescendo came when the winner of The Isle of Wight Festival’s Most Magic Moment was revealed. The competition allowed festival goers to vote for their favourite moment in the festival’s history. David Bowie took the crown for his final UK performance, whilst the top 5 rankings were as follows:
5) Andrea Corr & Gary Kemp performing ‘Starman’ in tribute to David Bowie, to a crowd of thousands wearing masks with his face on (2016)
4) The Rolling Stones playing their first UK festival since 1976 and being joined on stage by Amy Winehouse for an iconic performance of ‘Ain’t Too Proud To Beg’ (2007)
3) Jimi Hendrix‘s last ever UK performance (1970)
2) Fleetwood Mac – one of their first shows as a full band since the late 90s (2015)
1) David Bowie‘s last ever UK performance (2004)
Experience 25 incorporates the three Isle of Wight Festivals that were organised by Ray Foulk and his brothers – the 1970 one being ‘The Last Great Event’ at which everyone played, including Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Who and Joni Mitchell and over half a million people came to see them!
Plus the new Isle of Wight Festival exhibition from 2002 onwards – the hugely successful international Festival, which was restarted by John Giddings, and now sees 60,000 music fans arrive on the Isle of Wight every year to see artists such as Green Day, The Pet Shop Boys and The Prodigy (this year); Robbie Williams, Blondie and Pulp (2023); Fleetwood Mac (2016); The Red Hot Chili Peppers (2014); Bruce Springsteen (2012); Dave Grohl (2011); Paul McCartney, Pink and Jay Z (2010), The Rolling Stones and Amy Winehouse (2007) and David Bowie and The Who (2004).
