She's got a brand new car, looks like a jaguar, it's got leather seats, it's got a CD player, player, player, player...

It's been too long since my last Isle of Wight Festival, Father. Back in the day (by which i mean 2002 rather than 1968) I was a regular attendee but things slipped a little when the little one arrived. I know there are cool parents who take a one year old to a festival and still look like they are having a good time, but we are not those people.

I missed some belters - most memorably Pearl Jam whom I spent my teenage years adoring (well, some of their stuff anyway, not the whingey stuff). My mind couldn't quite cope with the fact that they were playing on my beloved Island but I wasn't there. Texts from a High School friend sending commiserations didn't go down well either.

Finally, we are returning to Seaclose Park and the teenage excitement is returning even if I will be feeling a little sleepy by nine-ish.

Thankfully, the organisers have taken my tastes into account pretty heavily this year with a load of bands from a time when I was reading Melody Maker and listening to cover discs. 

Ocean Colour Scene, Richard Ashcroft, Feeder, The Wonderstuff, Reef, Turin Brakes and Cast will all offer the satisfying feeling that I am younger than the people on stage (I can confidently say the same about The Who and Iggy Pop as well).

There's also a great big list of bands who I have half heard of (The Kills, Twin Atlantic, Everything Everything) and others who have probably been top of the Pepsi Chart for the last month, but in my mind could well be served at one of the festival bars ("a bottle of Gutterdammerung please")

If previous festivals are anything to go by, the real highlights will be the slightly random things you stumble across whilst looking for something else. 

If you see me, come and say hello - I'll be the one with the big grin and the Melody Maker t-shirt.