A celebration of the life and radio contributions of Radio 1's visionary and perennially hip DJ John Peel, who died on 25 October 2004, aged 65. The first annual John Peel Day features live music from gigs across the UK, plus highlights from last night's London tribute event with New Order, the Fall, Super Furry Animals, Misty in Roots, Venetian Snares, Laura Cantrell and Jaw Bone.
It's almost exactly a year since John Peel died while on holiday in Peru but rather than mark this with a maudlin, miserable documentary, Radio 1 has decided to celebrate their best ever DJ's life with a massive, nationwide sequence of gigs. The network has asked as many people as possible to organise concerts, offering a downloadable logo so that a church hall or local pub can just as easily be the venue as an established concert hall. Peel's daughter, Dander Ravenscroft, told the BBC "I think that he would have been incredibly flattered that everyone wants to do this." Readers with access to the internet can check out details for gigs in their area by visiting the Radio 1 website ([web address]). People who can't get to a live concert but would like to remember John in a musical way, should tune in to tonight's pre-recorded tribute concert, headlined by New Order and featuring Peel's firm favourites, the Fall.