Saturday 24th July, the first gig back, should have begun with uncontrollable excitement. It didn’t. Is this safe? Should we be here? Trust in science was the only thing the brain could summon to urge me to go.
Strolling into Dreamland, the knots in the stomach remained. Despite a few surging to the front for Black Grape, a clear sense of trepidation prevailed.
And then.
The rush of ‘Riverboat Song’s intro surged through the veins like never before. The psychedelic blues were greeted with an overspill of love. Eighteen months of pain ebbed away into Albion’s ether as Simon’s flawless vocals echoed across the coastline and Steve’s guitars shimmered upon the sunset!
The joyous “if I walk, if I walk, if I walk” reminds everyone of what they’d missed. The collective love of a crowd joining forces with artists. A chance to belong, to hug a stranger in sheer delight once again!
‘Second Hand Car’ and ‘Get Blown Away’, at any time, can plunge the emotions to despairing depths. After everything, you could have heard a pin drop and during Craddock’s mesmerising solo on the former. ‘Get Blown Away’, sent shudders through anyone with pain lingering in their hearts. All that might have been flashed before the eyes and loss swelled in the hearts. For four minutes, tears touched checks, fists punched the air, and lyrics were sung with death-defying defiance. The human spirit alongside British rock ‘n’ roll is a fucking a triumph!
OCS, with no ego and beautiful humility, guided us back to a feeling of hope. What started out with uncertainty ended up being an adventure of our own!