Scott broadcasts from Children in Need Rocks in Manchester
Scott and Beccy took the show to Manchester’s MEN Arena for Children in Need Rocks, broadcasting from a makeshift studio in a corporate box behind the stage. It was not exactly a luxury view, but a door opened directly towards the stage, so every soundcheck threatened to become part of the programme. The supposed soundproofing amounted to jumpers packed beneath the panels, which did not inspire much confidence.
Beccy’s backstage spotting gave the afternoon its first major distraction. She saw a group of men in leather trousers doing neck exercises, then found that one of them had dropped a Lady Gaga all-access pass. Scott pointed out that the pass could have taken Beccy virtually anywhere around Gaga’s operation, but she had returned it rather than trying to pass herself off as one of the singer’s dancers.
Scott kept trying to turn the night into a possible premiere for the listener-made Lady Gaga song, built around the line “enjoy the boob” from his Big Weekend interview. He floated a rumour that Gaga loved it and might put it in her set, then admitted that the source was essentially himself. Beccy did not quite share his faith that it would outrank Gaga’s actual hits.
Coldplay’s Chris Martin joined them amid the soundchecks, with Gary Barlow’s rehearsal audible nearby. Martin said the band were pleased to have been asked to play and explained that, while road crew could stand in for them when necessary, they did still take live television soundchecks seriously. Scott used the chance to tease him about whether Coldplay had become too famous to do their own work.
The outside broadcast was a suitably chaotic build-up to the concert, with performers, stage-door rumours and music bleeding into almost every link. Scott’s enthusiasm for being so close to the action was clear, even if the day’s most tempting backstage opportunity was the pass he and Beccy decided not to exploit.
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