Thomas Messenger
@thomasmessenger.bsky.social
Work in Westminster. I used to tweet about politics, I now mostly post about music. Otherwise most likely found up a mountain or listening to Bruce Springsteen. (S)W1A.
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…
March 31, 2025 at 6:57 AM
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…
Reassuring that one of the all-time greats gets distracted like the rest of us. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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.
www.bbc.co.uk
March 18, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Reassuring that one of the all-time greats gets distracted like the rest of us. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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...
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
www.thetimes.com
March 16, 2025 at 8:19 AM
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.
March 15, 2025 at 7:40 AM
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.
Reposted by Thomas Messenger
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.
January 24, 2025 at 9:39 AM
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.
Sam Moore. Quite genuinely, one of the very best. youtu.be/Fowldx4hRtI?...
Sam and Dave - Hold On, I'm Coming
YouTube video by EdBlackmail
youtu.be
January 11, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Sam Moore. Quite genuinely, one of the very best. youtu.be/Fowldx4hRtI?...
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/...
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
www.bbc.co.uk
January 3, 2025 at 2:30 PM
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!
December 22, 2024 at 1:52 PM
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.
December 22, 2024 at 11:29 AM
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...
Bruce Springsteen, Toronto, ON, December 21, 1975
<p>Out today is the latest release from The Live Archive Series, the final night of the first leg of the Born to Run Tour. Read archivist Erik Flannigan’s essay on the storied night in Toronto, ...
www.nugs.net
December 20, 2024 at 6:57 PM
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...
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!
December 20, 2024 at 12:08 PM
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...
December 13, 2024 at 7:24 PM
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?
December 12, 2024 at 11:24 PM
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.
December 12, 2024 at 10:28 AM
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.
Reposted by Thomas Messenger
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
December 3, 2024 at 9:18 AM
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.
November 29, 2024 at 10:10 PM
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.
Reposted by Thomas Messenger
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
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
November 28, 2024 at 12:32 PM
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
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
One of the very best. www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...
Mishal Husain to leave BBC
www.bbc.co.uk
November 27, 2024 at 4:24 PM
One of the very best. www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...
Coming two days after his European tour wrapped up, this is a very nice surprise. www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/202...
An Intimate Evening with Jason Isbell | Barbican
GRAMMY award winning singer-songwriter Jason Isbell brings a night of self-confessional storytelling to the Hall.
www.barbican.org.uk
November 27, 2024 at 11:38 AM
Coming two days after his European tour wrapped up, this is a very nice surprise. www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/202...
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...
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.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 27, 2024 at 11:14 AM
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.
"there's been a military coup prime minister"
"really, where?
"here"
"oh"
"really, where?
"here"
"oh"
November 26, 2024 at 5:31 PM
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.
November 25, 2024 at 11:47 PM
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.
Reposted by Thomas Messenger
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…
There’s tons on inc Morning Live, Scam Interceptors (twice today!), Radio 1 & Eastenders…
November 25, 2024 at 7:40 AM
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…
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...
November 25, 2024 at 1:59 PM
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...
Finished Ludwig tonight which was wonderful. It works so well because it is both a cosy semi-serious Sunday evening drama and a total parody of a cosy semi-serious Sunday evening drama at the exact same time. David Mitchell is hilarious and there’s something about it which is just so British. #BBC
November 24, 2024 at 10:52 PM
Finished Ludwig tonight which was wonderful. It works so well because it is both a cosy semi-serious Sunday evening drama and a total parody of a cosy semi-serious Sunday evening drama at the exact same time. David Mitchell is hilarious and there’s something about it which is just so British. #BBC