Poster

WITH just over a week to go until Sir Elton John and the Magic Summer Live concert descend on Hatfield House, Welwyn Hatfield Times chief reporter Kelly-Ann Kiernan interviews Magic radio’s breakfast show presenter Neil Fox.

DJ Neil Fox inside the Magic studio

HATFIELD House is hosting its first live pop concert this summer as the highlight of its 400-year celebrations.

DJ Neil Fox, or Foxy as he’s more affectionately known, is leading the troops at Magic and like many lucky ticket holders is looking forward to arriving at the gates of Hatfield House on Sunday, July 17.

The 20,000-ticket concert takes place in the grounds of the stately home, which Foxy describes as simply “beautiful”.

“What a place to hold a concert. Hatfield House is celebrating its 400 years and the grounds are just beautiful.

Elton John

“Running these stately homes doesn’t come cheap and putting on these events and making these places commercially viable is essential for their future.

“Knebworth have been doing it very successfully for many years.”

Remembering back to previous concerts up the A1(M) at Knebworth House, he added: “We’ve all been there at Robbie and Oasis trying to get out of the car park.

“Hatfield has really great transport links.”

DJ Neil Fox talks about Magic Summer Live

He added: “We’re all hoping for that beautiful quintessential British summer day on July 17.

“It will be like a festival in a day.”

For Magic this is also a first – the radio station’s first big summer concert.

Foxy explained: “This is the first really big one, we’ve done small and intimate gigs with Robbie, James Blunt and other great artists, but this is the first really big one.

“We like to do things a little bit different at Magic.

“We all sat down and thought ‘what big artist would we ideally want?’

“And right at the top of that wish list was Elton.

“He is huge and has had so many hit songs.

“He’s a great, quality artist whose music has stood the test of time, and really does have an enormous fan base.”

Foxy, who hopes to bring wife Vicky and their three children, Scarlet, 10, Jack, eight, and Martha, five, along for the day, added: “This is the summer Magic puts itself out there.”