I had a lovely Sunday which didn't involve football in the slightest. I was in Hyde Park where I got to see Elvis Costello, Crowded House, John Grant, Beach House and some scouse bloke who was apparently big in the 60s.

OK, so there were two crowds during the Costello and Crowded House gigs: one for the bands and one for the (silent) screen showing the match behind the mixing desk. The football crowd was probably bigger, but aside from the odd mass groan it didn't interfere too much with the music. And I got the pleasing sensation of not being the only Englishman who couldn't give a toss about the match.

Costello and Crowded House were both very pleasant accompaniments to a blazing afternoon. John Grant played a tiny bandstand in 'the Volvo picnic park' or something; he started off being slightly drowned out by a nearby stage but soon came into his own and played most of his album rather beautifully. The crowd watching was tiny; someone was even leaning on the bandstand itself only a foot or so away from the singer. Yet he seemed to enjoy himself and spent some time chatting to various audience members afterwards. My only complaint was that he didn't play ..Marz, which is my fave. Beach House, who followed, were pleasant enough though they weren't really sunshine and cider music.

Finally, Macca came on and he was.... well, Macca. I can't pretend to know that much of his post-Beatles work, but it didn't really matter; if I was slightly underwhelmed by a track he came back with something truly wonderful a couple of minutes later. He does come across like a slightly batty old uncle though - rambling on in between songs about this and that, sometimes in a dubious Jamaican accent for no reason in particular. At times he seemed like a caricature of himself (at one point I wondered if he was trying to copy the guy who played him in Lennon Naked, which would be a strange piece of post-modern impersonation). The highlight had to be Live and Let Die, if only for the explosions and fireworks that accompanied it; that and Something played on a ukelele. Although the latter was somewhat overwhelmed by a new gig experience for me: changing 8 month old Monteeny's nappy on the floor. I'm so happy her first ever concert was McCartney - even if that won't mean much to her when she's in her teens.

So, a great day for me; not so good for the footie fans. Hope you all had fun in the sun whatever you were doing. Enjoy your Mondays...