This week John Byrne does a sofa tour of the Electric Picnic, tunes into Jamie Oliver's new show and sees what happens when Baz Ashmawy bring his mother to Morocco for adventure
Reviewed: Electric Picnic 2014 (Saturday, RTÉ Two); Jamie's Comfort Food (Mondays, Channel 4); 50 Ways to Kill Your Mammy (Mondays, Sky 1)
As someone who wouldn't even consider going to a music festival - I don't like fields, hate tents and can't enjoy music unless it's sonically restricted by four walls, a floor and a ceiling – I've always enjoyed the great coverage the BBC provide to the annual Glastonbury Festival. I can enjoy some favourite acts, catch a few new ones, have a few jars and never even have to get up from the sofa. And after it's all done and dusted, all I have to do is crawl upstairs and enjoy the comfort of my own bed. Now, that's living.
So when I heard that RTÉ Two were planning a four-hour dip (it ultimately became five) into Electric Picnic 2014, I cleared the diary for August 30th and made sure we had a well-stocked fridge for the night and positioned the sofa accordingly.
After a slight detour (Roma were opening their Serie A campaign with the visit of Fiorentina to the Olimpico and it was live on BT Sport), herself and myself settled down for the night, hoping the neighbours would finally come to terms with our tuneless singing.
Things started well as the set where Eoghan McDermott and Jenny Greene were to get numb bums over the course of the next few hours looked just perfect. The two hosts were a good foil for each other as Jenny's slightly formal and Eoghan's a tad more enthusiastic.
As well as plenty of live music, the guests came thick and fast, ranging from new boy Hozier (it's pronounced Ho-zee-uhr, he confirmed), to gregarious Glaswegian Paolo Nutini, to geriatric rockers The Stranglers, and the likes of Ham Sandwich, Benjamin Booker and retro rockers The Strypes.
As well as talking to and taking in some of the acts, the programmes also had some entertaining colour pieces from the likes of Blathnaid Treacy, Barbara George and – best of all – Al Porter. Between them they painted a broad picture of what it's like to be at the Electric Picnic. I've never felt happier at home.
The live footage was surprisingly good, although it would have been nice to see a bit more (especially of Portishead, who performed on Saturday night). Cameras were pointing stage-wards from all angles and it worked a treat. Kicking-off with the racket that is Foals, younger acts included the aforementioned Strypes and Hozier, but the key acts featured were Paolo Nutini, and several veteran acts who could (and probably would) do festivals in their sleep.
Skipping between live coverage (the likes of Nutini and Chic) and footage from Friday night (such as Blondie and The Pet Shop Boys), both Green and McDermott grew increasingly excited by it all as the evening wore on. Al Porter was almost dived on when he made an appearance in studio. Nice socks.
The most peculiar piece was when Bonnie Tyler was interviewed around footage of her performance, which teetered somewhere between kamikaze karaoke and her own Bizarro World tribute act. Apparently, the crowd loved it, the tent was jammed, and everyone sang along, etc. I was baffled.
The Pet Shop Boys, as always, put on a rather unique and entertainingly pretentious show. Neil Tennant is finally old enough to look capable of little more than the minimum amount of on-stage movement that is his trademark. They were so ironic, it looked as though they didn't care at all. Blondie, on the other hand, came across as a bunch of leather-faced pros, although they looked a little uncomfortable in daylight.
Chic? Well, I may be the only person on the planet who thinks so, but they were much, much better back in the late 1970s, when Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson made up a marvellous rhythm section. They were certainly entertaining, and Nile Rodgers is up there with any of the musical greats of the last 100 years - but it was a little too Las Vegas for my liking.
Great fun, though, and the missus and I had a wonderful night being entertained by a great package of music, chat and the craic. Fingers crossed this can be done to the same high levels next year. And we've a bigger fridge to fill.
Jamie Oliver's back cooking on the box again and he's discarded all that 'Lovely Jubbly' barrow boy nonsense and now resembles a cross between Shane Richie and Mark Kermode. But he still has a very approachable style of cooking that doesn't seem as hopelessly unattainable as many other TV cooks.
His new show, Jamie's Comfort Food (Mondays, Channel 4), comes with a great premise: there's nothing wrong with indulging in a bit of comfort food now and again, and his aim is to add something to standard, mainstream dishes. I sat down with my bowl of pasta, chicken and Weight Watchers' sauce in great anticipation. Even the dog sensed that something special was cooking, and joined me on the rug.
First up was the classic burger in a bun. Jamie was aided here by a friend called Christian, whom he praised as some kind of barbecue Jesus. These guys could sell viewers anything. Vowing to take on the basic advice of getting chuck steak (never even heard of it before) to make the best burgers, I'll certainly be giving this recipe a bash, barbecue or not. A good burger is one of life's great pleasures.
Jamie also served up a rather tasty-looking lobster mac and cheese, but being the squeamish type I just couldn't bear the idea of smashing a lobster to bits. According to Jamie, the tastiest part of a lobster is inside its head. Note to self: offer to make burgers, and get the wife to handle the lobster mac and cheese. Finally, the show ended with a magnificent pavlova, which should carry a government health warning and come with a portable defibrillator.
Needing a little exercise after all the excess from Electric Picnic and Jamie's Comfort Food, I also took in a bit of someone else's physical activity to round off this week's glance at the goggle box. 50 Ways to Kill Your Mammy (Mondays, Sky 1) looked like one of those annoying TV shows where someone gets a broadcaster to bankroll a trip to faraway places they want to visit. And while I enjoy such shows, the envy I feel towards those involved isn't doing my blood pressure any good. The Trip to Italy was particularly annoying. GRRR!!!!
Anyway, it's up to episode two of this show, where TV and radio head Baz Ashmawy brings his 71-year-old mammy, Nancy, around the world to sample a few dangerous delights. Last week it was the West Coast of the USA and Las Vegas, and I have to admit to feeling short-changed, but this episode was the business.
Baz – who clearly has a great relationship with his Ma as they never stop arguing and bickering with each other – brings Nancy to Africa, where she nursed for ten years in Libya, the place where she met Baz's dad. But there was little time for reminiscing in Morocco, as the dynamic duo took in rally driving across the desert, hot air ballooning, while Nancy also faced her fear of snakes and gradually plucked up the courage to mam-handle a cobra and a viper.
There was also a trip to an outdoor leather tannery, a disgusting place full of camel pee and the like that's used to treat and colour animal hide, but Nancy kept her stomach in check and partook in the puke-inducing process, which involved immersing herself in a tub full of animal hide and effluent. She's more of a man than I'll ever be, and – in stark contrast to the title - this show is turning into quite a distinctive love letter from Baz to his beloved, brave Ma, the woman who brought him into this world.
As Homer Simpson once said: "You think you got guts? Try raising my kids."
John Byrne
