Wednesday 31 May 2023

I feel alive, I feel the love

 “Enjoy the rest of your day,” the young woman said cheerily as she put her belongings back in her little crossbody bag and walked, in a faintly zig zag pattern, away from our table on the parched grass.  She had the sweetest, warmest smile.

My friend and I had just been giggling with her, giggling in that helpless way like we did when we were kids.  We'd spotted her walking in our direction, catching our eyes as she provided us with an unintentionally comedic scene: she was taking two or three steps at a time, then pausing to bend forward, hunching over to root around in her bag, but each time she did so the plastic beaker of wine in her other hand tipped forward too, spilling it on the ground.   She’d straighten up, take a few more steps, then repeat the bend and the rummage, totally oblivious to yet more spillage.  And again – more steps, another fruitless fiddle about in the bag and, oops, there goes the wine ...and she still hadn't noticed.

Wordlessly we motioned to her to use the table where we were sitting and she gratefully emptied her bag onto it, treating us to a running commentary on its contents, punctuated by infectious laughter.  It’s hard to find a lipstick in a deceptively deep bag when you’re a little worse for wear.  Bless her, she found it eventually, after the phone and the sunglasses and tissues and the hairbrush and TicTacs and a blister pack of paracetamol…  after which we provided her with the services of a talking mirror (“Yep, that’s fine! No, it’s not all over your cheeks!”) while she applied it blindly, trusting us not to let her walk away looking like Robert Smith.  Well, I felt a little flutter of  love for this girl in that brief moment, for her sweetness and her laughter and her tipsy candour, I glimpsed a little of my young self in her too.  Or perhaps it was just that I was feeling very mellow and just glad to be alive in the laidback, loved-up way that being outdoors surrounded by the sound of guitars and the smell of doughnuts can inspire.  The sun was shining too, at last.

The small music festival on my doorstep had started that day and, honestly, it was a proper tonic just to go and soak it all up. I’m so lucky, I’m sitting in my garden now as I draft this post out on a scrap of paper the following afternoon, and I can hear it from here: the bass a constant, some vocals drifting in and out as the breeze carries them to me, probably not even half a mile as the crow flies, across the green, the graveyard and a few rooftops. But on Saturday, to be right there (in a field very familiar to me for being populated by sheep and jackdaws the rest of the time) and just to “do” the whole festival thing was still special.  And even though the artists we saw were not ones I would have chosen to see in other circumstances, they were perfect for this moment; I let go of any pre-conceptions completely and just enjoyed what was on offer.

It was especially good too to witness three headline acts all featuring more "mature" women; very heartwarming when you are one yourself.   So yes, Katrina Leskanich is 63, Carol Decker is 65 and Natalie Imbruglia is 48.  They were all in fine voice, classy and energetic, and looked fab - and I felt kind of proud to have them on my home turf too.  Katrina & The Waves performing 'Going Down To Liverpool' was a highlight.  What's that you say?  Why yes, of course they did 'Walking On Sunshine'!  And whilst I can't think of any T'Pau songs I would actively decide to listen to, Carol Decker had some great between-song banter and I couldn't fault their performance.  Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night for me was Natalie... I've never really given her any thought; 'Torn' was one of those ubiquitous songs of the late '90s and that was about all I could think of but, you know, she really rocked out at times and I was far more impressed than I could ever have imagined; I got a bit of a Bangles / Susanna Hoffs vibe.  Good on her, because she turned me around completely! 

I could only make it to the festival on the Saturday night, but late on Sunday night we did at least get to hear Shaun Ryder's unmistakeable lilt drifting over to our windows and down the chimney on the northerly breeze.   Black Grape were playing and I hope he was suitably sweary, it wouldn't be Shaun without a few expletives surely?  

I'll be thinking about that, plus the girl with the giggle and the spilt wine, next time I walk through that field with the sheep and the jackdaws. They will still be just as much of a tonic.  

Any festivals happening for you this Summer?





24 comments:

  1. I saw Natalie live last year, also at a festival, and she was unexpectedly brilliant!

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    1. Oh, and talking of Susanna Hoffs vibes, I love the Bangles cover of Going Down To Liverpool, which benefits from a slightly bizarre video featuring Leonard Nimoy!

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    2. Interesting you thought the same about Natalie, I love it when our expectations are surpassed too.
      Yes I like that video and the Bangles cover is the one I think most people know; Katrina seemed to take great pleasure in pointing out that they were first!

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    3. Looking back at my review of the festival last year, I see I described Natalie as "the absolute musical highlight of the whole festival" and "the highpoint of the weekend's musical offerings." Blimey.

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    4. Natalie Imbruglia "unexpectedly brilliant"? I wouldn't have expected her to be anything less than brilliant! And no, I'm not being sarcastic. No chance of her turning up to our village show this summer though, sadly.

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    5. Martin - thanks for reminding me and well, I'm in total agreement with all you said last year , it was great to witness for myself. Go Natalie!
      Khayem - yes, let's hear it for Natalie, good to know you're already there! It was unexpected for me too, I must admit, but maybe all the sweeter for it. I wish I could go back and re-live the whole set now, in fact - and I can't stop 'City' from going round in my head. Fingers crossed she comes out your way soon and you can share a review - I sense a small fanbase forming here...

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  2. Sounds like a cracking day. Sometimes you can't beat the old pros. I have fond memories of seeing Kid Creole being driven across a muddy field sitting on the back of a tractor covered in a large plastic cape to keep the rain off his immaculate purple zoot suit. Him and the Coconuts put on a great show.

    Claim to fame: In the early 1970s my former French teacher was in a band with Kimberley Rew, writer of all Katrina & The Waves' hits (and former Soft Boy).

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    1. That's true about the old pros - sometimes I worry that they're not going to be able to cut it and it could be a bit cringey (can think of a few bands/artists who really should have given up a while back) but it's brilliant when you feel you're in safe hands and they do themselves proud. It was cringe-free. (Apart from at a few audience members, the ones who just call out for the obvious chart hits all the way through the set...)
      What a fab picture you paint of Kid Creole! Ah, I want it framed.
      And I like your claim to fame! Also like the Soft Boys... Underwater Moonlight in particular is such a great album. Did the band your French teacher was in with Kimberley ever record anything? I'm intrigued...



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    2. They did. The band was called Puzzle and they were formed in Cambridge in the early 70s. My former French teacher was the drummer.

      In 1973 they had a couple of tracks on a local compilation called "The First Lame Bunny Album" alongside local legends Public Foot The Roman (named after a broken sign that had originally read "Public Footpath to the Roman Remains").and others.

      One of Puzzle's tracks is on YouTube and the video includes the sleeve notes, which you will be pleased to note are written in hand (just the way you like them). Here is the link: https://youtu.be/2Pfzi5CfqDo

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    3. Coincidentally, Mr. Creole is performing in Stroud in a couple of weeks' time. With a ticket asking price of £40 incl. fees, I suspect the Kid won't be arriving to this gig on the back of a tractor...

      I thoroughly enjoyed the Puzzle song at the end of your link, but they missed a trick by not calling themselves Dewi Lewis & The Rews, surely?!

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    4. Ernie - ooh, that's brilliant! I really like that Puzzle track (and of course the hand-written notes) and your lovely extra info, first lame bunnies and public foot Romans, it's all delightfully abstract sounding and very early '70s Cambridge (was there something in the water?) More to investigate... thank you. I don't live that far from Cambridge and in the early '80s I went to the same art school there that Syd attended before he went to Camberwell, the place always used to have that slightly off-centre arty music vibe about it (not so sure it does now).
      Khayem - inspired!

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  3. Beautiful writing.

    JM

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    1. Ah, thanks John. Needed to get writing again!

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  4. I seem to be falling foul of internet gremlins again...possibly retribution for my 'humorous' comments above! Third time lucky, I'll just say briefly how wonderfully evocative your post was, C. A great read and if I can come back to leave a longer reply tomorrow, I will!! ;-)

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    1. Your comments all arrived safely, thanks Khayem - hope it hasn't been too much of a faff getting them to publish. Anyway thank you for this, I felt suitably inspired to write again at last - must be the Natalie effect :-)

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    2. Thanks, C, it's the tech at my end, I think...or maybe the tech operator ;-) I definitely have problems leaving comments on blogs via my phone. Quite a few occasions where it appears to have posted but is nowhere to be seen when I revisit the blog. Some might argue not a great a loss in the scheme of things!

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    1. Oh thanks SA, glad you enjoyed the read.

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  6. Wonderful - it was almost like I was there. Probably a good thing I wasn't: Carol Decker had a restraining order out on me in the 80s...

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    1. Thank you Rol, these comments mean a lot - I'm so worried about losing my 'writing' voice.

      Ah yes, I'm sure Carol said something about you in that between-song banter I mentioned...

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  7. Yet again I am very late to this one C for which I apologise. Sounds like you had a great time at the festival though and to have it happening on your doorstep makes it even better as you can soak in the "vibes" all weekend from your own garden. I'm still so disappointed that I didn't go to our local festival last year but hopefully this year I'll make amends.

    Great to hear the more mature ladies are doing us proud although I still think of Natalie as being a young whippersnapper! Where does the time go? Bet she's still really beautiful too, always was, always will be probably.

    Liked hearing about Kid Creole on the back of a tractor. Back in the day I saw him at the Capitol in Aberdeen and for a long time if anyone asked me what my favourite "gig" ever was, I would have said that one! What a show.

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    1. Oh no worries, Alyson, I know the feed has stopped and I struggle to keep up with everyone's blogs so much of the time. Hope you'll get to your festival this year and can tell us all about it too. Look forward to hearing more about your Kid Creole gig as well, must've been great!

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  8. I’ve just spotted your comment on Martin’s post at New Amusements.

    Have a very happy birthday weekend, C! I hope there are lots of surprises and delights in store and the weather’s as favourable to you as it seems to be on t’other side of the rock today.

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    1. Ah thank you Khayem, very kind!
      A relaxing weekend is in order, with a suitable amount of Prosecco and some wickedly indulgent food, of course. Can't quite believe the number, though!
      Have a great weekend yourself.

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