BANKSY raises the BAR June 15, 2009

In the very space in which I held two exhibitions wooing football fans and non-believers at Bristol Museum years ago, young Banksy has gone and raised the bar, thrashing most exhibitions that have gone before. WITH FANTASTIC HELP FROM THE CURATOR. There were queues down the street when I attended. Still it’s not over until the fat lady sings – the rest of us must try to confine to history what he is achieving just now

Clarke on Springsteen at Glastonbury June 29, 2009

Bruce just stopped short of playing Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. As he refused to leave the stage he just kept booming GLASTONE-BURY, GLASTONE-BURY, GLASTONE-BURY, GLASTONE-BURY, GLASTONE-BURY, GLASTONE-BURY…

All day he had walked the Glastonbury site, making it his territory, his people. He looked in on fellow New Jersey natives The Gas Lamp Anthem, to share a song. When his own E Street Band arrived for the headlining set, management ordered all persons be cleared of the pit area. Bruce was to occupy here, inbetween staking out the stage and walking on the crowd, as rock stars have done before him. In his nice but fiercely competitive way, Bruce was out to outdo everything that had gone before him, that was on elsewhere, that would ever follow. Honour and outdo the claim by Franz Ferdinand playing at the same time on the Other Stage that they would be more intense; outdo any grief for Michael Jackson; outdo Neil Young the night before; outdo all who had headlined here before.

Bruce at 60 wanted to out-rage, to out-muscle, to out-sing, to out-minister. He became Billy Graham and James Brown and became possessed of the spirit of Barack Obama (who had announced he would have liked to have been Bruce!) Comically, he looked liked he was burning-up during THE RIVER – steam rising from every part of his body.

25 or so songs appeared in the set with no hint of a slowing up or loss of voice, til well after midnight , and on, always more, by which time the other main Glasto stages would have felt silent. He boomed on, Songs of guns and of America riddled the set, as did caresses and respect for Britain and for Glastonbury. This was his first ever UK Festival.

He started the show – stood before a mainly British audience – ridiculing his footwear…I was told that what with the rain and mud to wear something youd never want to wear again, he quipped. He threw his cowboy outlaw hat on the stage. He wanted to be with the crowd. No sooner had he repatriated to the stage and to the company of the Band, then he was back down the ladder, into the pit, and on to the front and very extremes of the stage, touching everyones hands, borrowing their placards and requests for songs for later use. BECAUSE THE NIGHT was bound to be electric, but WHEN I’M OUT IN THE STREETS surprised with its absolute love – love of people – love of here and now and of being Broooce. The Gaslamp singer joined him for NO SURRENDER – real love between two boys having fun, touching countless lives amassed around them – all the way up the hill and into the darkness and of course watching on tv.

Many people wont be comfortable with what Brooce did this night – he set off for the Moon but took in Mars and Saturn and all. Exhausting everyone save for Max the drummer, who kept up. This was all quite unbelievable.

GLASTONE-BURY, GLASTONE-BURY, GLASTONE-BURY, GLASTONE-BURY, GLASTONE-BURY, GLASTONE-BURY…