Those of you
who read this blog will be well aware that football and music are my releases.
My personal Article 50 - the exit clause to set me free, momentarily, from the
stresses and strains of everyday life. This week has been a typical example.
Last Saturday my
boys and me watched a stubborn Wigan team frustrate Aston Villa, in what was a
pretty dull game. That is until the 88th minute, when Jack Grealish
made it worth the admission fee, unleashing a wonderfully creative strike of
improvisational genius that came from nowhere. The goal provided an uplifting,
joyous, jaw dropping release from the gloom. Hats off to you Jack.
On Sunday I was
off to The Roundhouse – for the
fourth time this year – to see the always-inspiring Kate Tempest perform her latest album, Let Them Eat Chaos, which was number 2 in the HSD Top 10 Albums of 2016 (HSD Albums of 2016 - No.2.) She is such an incredibly important
voice and with the world in the state that it is, you need people like her to
make sense of it all. Kate is a bewitching talent, with a wonderfully profound
sense of creativity, who has so much more to come. Through her spoken word,
politically infused, character led stories, she will be my cypher of sense and
conduit of reason, for years to come
Wednesday was Cate Le Bon at Islington Assembly Hall. Her album Crab Day came in at No.7 in my end of year chart (HSD Albums 2016 - No.7) and
I admire her esoteric style. She ploughs an independent furrow, exclusive to
her and her alone. In Cate’s case this involves intricate, spiky guitar
melodies and abstract lyrics. She gave a delightfully eccentric performance,
with her and the band wearing hand made gold crowns constructed from cardboard,
as if they had raided the dressing up cupboard at the local primary school. Her
performance was polished and precise but always possessed a sense of humour and her appropriation of Last Christmas, presented unmistakably in her own inimitable style, was a splendidly festive touch.
As I write
these words, the De La Soul album ...
And The Anonymous Nobody, is coming
out of my speakers. One of the original hip hop pioneers who took musical
expression to a whole new level. It is this uninhibited freedom,
which makes music and live performance great. From a Jack
Grealish wonder strike to the live shows of Kate Tempest and Cate Le Bon,
these are the moments that move us, inspire us and are our personal Article 50s allowing us to temporarily opt out for something better. Creativity will set you free...
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