Monday 23 June 2025.

Sunday 22 June 2025. FOREVER NOW FESTIVAL is live at Milton Keynes Bowl. A mega collection of bands over two main stages. Kraftwerk, The The, Billy Idol, Death Cult, Johnny Marr, Psychedelic Furs, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Happy Mondays, The Damned, Public Image Ltd, Berlin, Theatre of Hate, She Wants Revenge, Chameleons, The Motels , John McKay's Reactor and UK Decay. Have been to Milton Keynes Bowl many times in the past although not so many bands playing there these days . My first three gigs at MK Bowl. Michael Jackson - 1988 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - 1993 Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne Band -1998 All the bands will be playing shorter than usual festival sets. -------------- The weather forecast said it would be scorching hot today, but thankfully they got it wrong , as it's just a decent enough day. Nice to bump into several friends during the day. Two main stages in meant some clashes and misses etc. JOHN MCKAYS REACTOR on at 2pm for 20 mins. Looking forward to seeing this lot as John McKay played stunning jagged guitar on the first two Siouxsie & The Banshees albums , but has had a low profile since then. On vocals is Jenny Drag from The Priscilla's , who always looks the perfect goth rock chick. Due to some technical problems on stage their 30 mins set is cut to 20 mins, and the sound was still a bit messy. A six song set ...three from Johns solo album and three Siouxsie classics , included a mega ' Hong Kong Garden'. Many of the bands later , including The Damned , on the second stage had their set cut by 10 mins , as they also technical issues etc. THE CHAMELEONS arrived on stage at 2.55pm for their 35 mins set. They were on the main stage which had big screens. A really good set of their indie guitar songs. PSYCHEDELIC FURS arrived on stage at 3.55pm for their 45 mins set....I get near the front for them... Richard Butler all cool hand gestures and mime. A great set, that was my fave of the day Full FURS setlist.... President Gas Heaven Wrong Train The Ghost in You Mr. Jones The Boy That Invented Rock & Roll Love My Way Pretty in Pink India Then a dash to see five of the seven song PiL set. The Sex Pistols with FC are headlining big shows , but PiL were halfway down the bill on the second stage here. John Lydon is still a punk legend, who is full of attitude. Home Know Now World Destruction (Time Zone cover ) Warrior Open Up ( Leftfield cover) Rise Chant BILLY IDOL arrived on stage at 6.30pm for his 55 mins set. Billy Idol still rocking the bleach blonde hair style. LIke last them, there were a few costume changes . Lots of hits played in his very good set. A bit different to many years ago, when Billy supported Bon Jovi here and was promoting his 'Cyberpunk ' album by wearing his hair in dreads. Still Dancing Flesh for Fantasy Eyes Without a Face 77 Mony Mony ( Tommy James & the Shondells cover) Too Much Fun Blue Highway / Top Gun Anthem Rebel Yell White Wedding THE THE arrived on stage at 7.55pm for their 60 mins set. The sound and Matt's vocal quality was top notch. The band are all totally excellent musicians. They were joined by Johnny Marr for a couple of songs. A really good set. Full THE THE setlist... Cognitive Dissident Sweet Bird of Truth Armageddon Days Are Here (Again) The Beat(en) Generation (with Johnny Marr) Dogs of Lust ( with Johnny Marr) Icing Up Slow Emotion Replay This Is the Day I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life) Infected Uncertain Smile KRAFTWERK arrived on stage at 9.20pm for their 70 mins set. I watched the first 60 mins. As expected , they have fantastic visuals on the big screen with the four band membes standing behind their keyboards. They played all their big songs , in a very good set. Full KRAFTWORK settlist. Numbers / Computer World / Computer World 2 Home Computer / It's More Fun to Compute Spacelab The Man-Machine Autobahn The Model Geiger Counter Radioactivity Tour de France / Tour de France Étape 3 / Chrono / Tour de France Étape 2 Trans-Europe Express / Metal on Metal / Abzug The Robots Boing Boom Tschak / Musique Non Stop A dash over to the other stage to see DEATH CULT play a great version of 'She Sells Sanctuary'. It was a great day of quality live music.

Posted 23rd June 2025