Thomas Messenger

…this was by and large wonderful. A perfect set focused heavily on the hits (did anyone in the room want to hear anything different?) and when things came together, they really did and the old magic shone through. Daltrey’s voice remains phenomenal which, at 81, is no mean feat. A bucket list show.

To the Royal Albert Hall last night for one of The Who’s annual Teenage Cancer Trust gigs (an excellent charity and it is a credit to Daltrey that he backs them so vociferously). Despite the number of tech issues, dodgy mixes, and references to knee replacements and being in their “geriatric” age…

Herbie Hancock: 'YouTube rabbit holes delayed me making album for 15 years' Herbie Hancock on 80 years of playing the piano and being this year's recipient of the Polar Music Prize.

Reassuring that one of the all-time greats gets distracted like the rest of us. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Spotify ‘ghost artists’: they’re on your playlist but are they real? The author of a book ten years in the making reveals why the streaming service commissions anodyne stock tracks attributed to artists who don’t actually exist

This sounds like a fascinating book - on something I've suspected for a long-time. This kind of thing has such a disproportionate impact on jazz and classical musicians. www.thetimes.com/culture/musi...

Punch really was phenomenal at the Young Vic last night. I can’t remember where I read it, but this is a play the Govt really should throw money at so it can reach as many young men as possible.

The Traitors a good example of how despite the many strengths of Netflix and co they can’t come close to creating the national discourse moments, the WhatsApp group chats, next day in the office discussions that live TV, and in particular the BBC, do so well.

YouTube video by Zarastro1040 Bruce Springsteen w. Sam Moore - Hold On... / Soul Man - Madison Square Garden, NYC 2009/10/29&30

So, so good. The very essence of rock and soul. youtu.be/RTplny76s7M?...

YouTube video by EdBlackmail Sam and Dave - Hold On, I'm Coming

Sam Moore. Quite genuinely, one of the very best. youtu.be/Fowldx4hRtI?...

Gavin & Stacey: The Finale becomes the UK’s highest rating scripted show with 19.3 million viewers and counting Smashing the show’s own record from five years ago, the last ever episode of the hit British sitcom took the top spot on Christmas Day

The Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special is the UK's most watched scripted programme since 2002! 19.3 million viewers (and counting) is genuinely remarkable in this day and age. www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...

There’s a new Paul McCartney album coming in 2025. I’m a big fan of Egypt Station and McCartney III so good news!

Sunday Morning with Sarah Walker on BBC Radio 3 providing an on-point Christmas soundtrack to the “chaotically packing because we’re leaving for Christmas in an hour” tradition in our house for this day of the year.

Now this is a Christmas treat. An unheard live Bruce Springsteen recording from 1975, released 1 day shy of its 50th anniversary! www.nugs.net/12-20-2024-b...

I'd recognise my hometown anywhere!

A truly astounding show - without hyperbole, one of the best I've ever seen. I feel lighter today because of it!

Is there a better live music moment than being in the same room as the man who wrote 'Let It Be' singing 'Let It Be'? The best moment of the evening... the "we'll see you next time" as Sir Paul was leaving the stage. Long may he continue.

Blown away by Paul McCartney last night. Without a doubt one of the greatest shows I've ever seen. 3hrs of unbridled joy with some of the greatest music ever written performed by one of the most influential icons in cultural history. It is genuinely astounding he still performs at this level at 82!

Discovery of the day. Apparently getting married adds £100 to your car insurance renewal! 1 hour later on online chat and the 'marriage premium' has been removed... they seemed as confused as I was...

Sam Fender at the O2 tonight. A brilliant warm-up for stadiums next year and a Christmas treat to see him in a venue of this size for one last time. His new material is more understated but excellent, and is there a more cathartic triple-punch of Dying Light, 17 Going Under and Hypersonic Missiles?

Proper treat last night seeing the return of Feathers McGraw (one of the *great* cinematic villains) at the BBC preview screening of the new Wallace and Gromit. Cracking Christmas Day fare.

This CD player was my birthday present in 1997 along with the incomparable Fresh Hits 1997. I found it recently and COULD NOT BELIEVE how rich the sound was, after years of streaming Spotify on my phone. My column today is about this phenomenon, which I’m calling “qualitynesia” on.ft.com/3ZlwHf5

Absolutely loved the Dr. Strangelove play with Steve Coogan tonight. Sometimes stage adaptations of films are hit and miss but this is anything but - absurdist, surreal and genuinely hilarious, while also adding something to the original rather than just being a carbon copy. So good.

Bob Dylan and The Band in The Last Waltz (1978)

Levon Helm of The Band in The Last Waltz (1978)

Neil Young and The Band in The Last Waltz (1978)

Muddy Waters and The Band in The Last Waltz (1978)

The Last Waltz (1978) dir. Martin Scorsese 🎬
We are not American, but today we are thankful for some of the great music that has been produced over the pond. This awesome concert rockumentary was recorded on #thanksgiving day 48 years ago and contains some of the best there ever was. #filmsky

A simpler time, that.

Mishal Husain to leave BBC

One of the very best. www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...

An Intimate Evening with Jason Isbell | Barbican GRAMMY award winning singer-songwriter Jason Isbell brings a night of self-confessional storytelling to the Hall.

Coming two days after his European tour wrapped up, this is a very nice surprise. www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/202...

Smithfield and Billingsgate: Meat and fish markets to close Smithfield and Billingsgate markets, which have traded in London for hundreds of years, face the axe.

I have no skin in this game as I'm hardly ever in this part of London, nor have I ever really visited the Market - but it's still a crying shame when support for something which has existed since 1327 is revoked. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The alternative timeline where John Healey unexpectedly wins the 2020 Labour Leadership election.

Powerhouse of a show from Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at the Apollo tonight. Does anybody else deliver gut-punch lyrics with quite the same ferocity as him and his band? Great set with a heavy focus on Weathervanes (one of their very best) and Southeastern.

The BBC’s brilliant #ScamSafe Week starts in earnest today with a massive amount of related work across the organisation. I’m so glad the BBC is leading the way on this with its unique platform and reach.

There’s tons on inc Morning Live, Scam Interceptors (twice today!), Radio 1 & Eastenders…

Genuinely amazed that the Times has the 'petition for another election' story on the front of their web edition and have gone so far as to provide 'data analysis'. So many red flags with this...