A concert for nice people

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50 years ago this past weekend, Bob Dylan broke a 3-year concert absence by appearing at the 2nd Isle of Wight music festival in late August 1969, instead of at Woodstock, which was a lot closer to home. Getting Dylan to the Isle of Wight (just off the south coast of England) was a major coup on the part of three brothers in their early 20s, their success based on a chain of circumstances and some huge slices of luck. The Festival turned out to be a triumph, with 150,000 people travelling to the Isle of Wight, which was more than the whole population of the island. Dylan wowed his audience by singing 17 songs, including 10 that had not been performed in public before. To mark the 50th anniversary of the event, the concert just held was much more low-key. A number of original audience members turned up, their advancing years recognized by the provision of facilities for carers and a quiet zone. Bob Dylan was not there, but he sent a poem that he had written at around the time of the first concert but which had never before been heard in public. One original performer who did appear was Julie Felix, now aged 81. Keeping the tradition of protest alive, she declared: "This concert is for the nice people, not the likes of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson".