"I've recently had the most amazing weekend of my career, and probably the best I will ever have. I went to Philadelphia in the US, where I produced the UK commercial radio output for 200 stations of the Live 8 event out there. Now, to be asked to do a job like that in the UK is one thing, but being asked to leave Nutfield and go to one of the most historic places in America for one of the most historic events of all time was such an honour.

"I went with Jamie Theakston from the breakfast show I usually produce for Heart 106.2, and it was a great opportunity to get to know my newest radio colleague.

When we got there on the Friday (July 1) at about 3pm the enormity of this amazing event hit us. Even the immigration officials at the airport who usually would not be likely to give you the time of day had an opinion about Live 8.

"That evening we were invited to Will Smith's pre-show party across town, but we were so tired, we declined (I know, I think about it now and shake my head!). Jamie's co-host for the event from Philly was US singer and American Idol judge Paula Abdul, who I had to greet and entertain that evening when a colleague got held up at the show site. So much for swapping Will for an early night I finally got to bed at 1am, 6am in the UK!

"I went down to the Live 8 site in front of the Museum of Art at 6.30am the next morning. There were already thousands of people on the streets stretching down Benjamin Franklin Parkway, just like the thousands of people did for the Jubilee celebrations on The Mall a couple of years ago and the concert was not due to start there for another five hours. With our technical guy, I helped set us up in one of only eight tents for accredited broadcasters. As with all these things, we had huge technical issues and I couldn't actually get us on air until 45 minutes before we needed to be and we had no live feed (visual or audible) of any of the concerts, including ours!

"But even without these feeds, it still felt very special. Although the celebs still acted as celebs do, with their gigantic motor homes and their entourage count hitting the hundreds, everyone came together for one worthwhile cause.

"At one point, I walked round to the stage structure and actually stood with Paula Abdul two metres away from where Stevie Wonder was performing not something you do every day! This was just a great moment. I looked at the amount of people there from all over America, united with the world debt message in mind, and a lump filled my throat. And I thought, how do they feel? There were an estimated one million people there were they experiencing the same emotions as me? No matter what you were doing there, the overall message from Bob Geldof was in the forefront of your mind, all the time.

"I spoke to a couple from the UK who were massive fans of the Kaiser Chiefs and were there to support the band. They said that as far as music was concerned, they would never have chosen to see Destiny's Child or Alicia Keys in a month of Sundays, but it didn't matter as the message made them put their musical differences aside and enjoy the performances.

"By the end of the concert (which over-ran like it did in London), the audience was flagging. The temperature was in the mid-80s and very humid following the most spectacular electrical storm I had ever seen the previous night, and would you believe the normally stuffy US establishment turned on the fire hydrants to let people cool down. Another amazing sight.

"That evening after we cleared away our equipment, Jamie and I went out for a night on the tiles with thousands of other people, all talking about the same thing: the concert. A concert on the other side of the world that we would usually have had nothing to do with, but I'm glad we did this time. Being in a country with such a political push in the world and seeing Americans come together, how can the message of world debt not be sorted out once and for all?

"But do you know what? Coming home should have been an anti-climax, but it wasn't. Even when you've been to a Live 8 concert 3,500 miles away, the rolling North Downs and home in Nutfield always feel great. Except this time, with the experience of the weekend, my return was a little subdued as the images and thoughts of Africa's problems preyed on my mind. And then I thought: "Let's hope we don't have to go to do another concert like this again. Sounds silly, but it's true."