(Photo: Clockwise from bottom left – Nadja with Nick Mulvey, the set at Maidstone Studios, being herded into the studio, backstage with Nick Mulvey and Hurray for the Riff Raff!)
Last week I was invited to watch the filming of the BBC’s weekly live show, ‘Later…with Jools Holland’. With a stellar cast list featuring Chrissie Hynde, Kelis, Nick Mulvey, Ed Sheeran, White Denim, Judas Priest, and Hurray for the Riff Raff!, it was one big beautiful musical jamboree!
Let me clarify something before I begin – I’m a big, no scrap that, a MASSIVE fan of ‘Later…with Jools Holland’. I’ve been watching his show for years and have always dreamt of going to watch a live show being recorded. So the news that I was invited down to the studios in Kent had me skipping about like a hyperactive toddler fresh from downing a packet of neon skittles.
If you don’t know the show, or the annual Jools Holland Hootenanny, you should immediately call in sick, close your blinds, stock up on survival snacks and dig in for a major youtube binge. Jools Holland is a phenomenal pianist, bandleader, composer, veteran TV presenter and former member of new wave band ‘Squeeze’.
Each week, Jools and his team handpick a group of artists that they are genuinely passionate about, spanning all genres, nationalities and formations. This means the shows are not only laced with incredible talent, but showcase a truly unexpected combination of guests. No matter your musical taste, one of your heroes will have performed on his show in the past 22 years.
So last Tuesday I found myself in a (very undignified) state of frenzied excitement as I was herded with the other guests into the studio. Minutes later the artists arrived all looking like gold star cameos of themselves. Kelis, strutted in looking every inch the fiery diva in towering heels and resplendent in a coral masterpiece with mega hair, and Judas Priest cruised through all leathered up and wearing sunglasses and hats despite the semi darkness of the studio. Indie kids Nick Mulvey, Ed Sheeren and the members of White Denim and Hurray for the Riff Raff! kept it casual in the usual nonchalant musician’s uniform of choice – denim and sneakers. Meanwhile Chrissy Hynde wowed with her rockstar legend style thigh-high boots.
What followed was one full-on musical whirlwind. First they filmed the hour-long show to be shown that Friday, and then minutes later it was all action stations for the live Tuesday night broadcast.
I was lucky enough to be just behind Jool’s sleek grand piano, as he interviewed Pretender’s legend Chrissie Hyndes, and then later jammed with Ed Sheeran. Seeing Kelis unleash her fiery energy on the delighted audience with her performance of her 2003 hit ‘Trick me” was a huge treat as ‘Tasty’ was my pre-party warm-up album of choice for months back in the mid-noughties. White Denim really grabbed my attention with their loud, multi-layered, psychedelic blues-rock. Chrissie Hynde rocked out with tracks from her long awaited solo album whilst Ed Sheeran got the whole studio moving with his hit ‘Sing’. Nick Mulvey held the crowd in awed silence with his song ‘Fever to the Form’ and the voice of Hurray for the Riff Raff! singer Alynda Lee Segarra was also truly mesmerising over their blend of southern gothic American folk-blues.
But all good things must come to an end, and just like that it was all over. As the crowd moved out, the crew were already swooping in to dismantle the studio, I went over to congratulate Nick Mulvey on a stellar performance and join for some post-performance catch-up beers. I got back to London exhausted but exhilarated – one more off the bucket list!
P.S. Unfortunately, cameras aren’t allowed during the performance and then in my excitement I totally failed to get any proper pictures, but I did manage a few cheeky (slightly crappy) phone camera shots as you’ll see above!