So went in to hospital on 6 April 2009, had some tissue removed and another test, which I won’t bore you with, to help decide if the cancer had spread. Good news, no spread as far as they can tell, so escaped the chemo. Radiotherapy for me - on the affected area only.
Luckily I never felt ill before or after surgery or during the radiotherapy. Three months off work: good weather: didn’t feel poorly - result!
During this time Bruce was never really in doubt as far as we were concerned. To be fair the medical staff were always prepared to work around any holidays etc providing it wasn’t going to be detrimental to my health. My only concern beforehand was that I wouldn’t be strong enough to go anywhere.
As it turned out this was never an issue but the Hard Rock Calling trip turned out to be not as easy as we first thought. We had booked it on impulse with a travel company - a package including coach, ticket and four star hotel near Hyde Park. Great price and we could get picked up just down the road.
We hit a problem straight away - they didn’t pick up just down the road unless it was worth their while - i.e. more than eight people getting on. The staff at the company seemed sure there would be enough people but failing this we would have to drive to another pick up point.
Then out of the blue a letter - the whole thing had been cancelled due to lack of interest!! We had choices - cancelling altogether, ticket only, ticket plus hotel voucher - we chose the third option and booked a train ticket. We would arrive just in time to check in and go to the gig.
But but but… hold on a minute - the night before we settled down in front of the TV to see the Glastonbury set. The Beeb actually did us proud, I thought, and we got a big chunk of the show. We enjoyed it. My brother, Ian, who is a huge music fan but not particularly a Bruce fan asked me who the idiot with the guitar was (Steven). He was hoping to see more of Nils - as a guitar player himself he is a big admirer of Mr Lofren.
Should Bruce have done a different set? It’s a difficult question - as a performer I am sure he didn’t want the crowd to feel he hadn’t moved on since the 80s/ 90s. He was proud of the latest stuff and wanted to show it off but it seems, listening to comments from the casual or non fan, that they wanted to hear the hits.
Glastonbury is a funny phenomenon in that the tickets are sold out before the performers are announced. The crowd buy into the festival itself rather than any particular band. So they may know nothing about the performers other than the music that got into the top twenty. Add to this the fact that Bruce and the band aren’t the obvious fare for a quintessentially English festival and I wonder whether someone should have taken more note of the type of crowd. Is Bruce there just to please the audience? - you decide.
Anyway my 2002 edition of British Hit Singles lists 22 different songs that got into the top 75. He played six together with ’Because The Night’ which everyone will know. Of these the two tracks that reached the top ten weren’t played until the very end when the non fan will have lost interest/fallen asleep. After all a lot of these young kids don’t have the stamina to go for three hours!! - hee hee. The only person I have spoken to who was actually there said ’He went on for too long’. She is in her twenties.
A lot of the Hyde Park crowd, like us’ had bought tickets because they knew Bruce was playing so although it was a festival the demographic of the crowd was very different.
Very little point in me saying much about Bruce’s set as you will all have seen the DVD by now. The announcement of the DVD made me realise that I am not a real die hard fan though. I didn’t even notice that ’Rosie’ wasn’t on the track listings. Actually I couldn’t have told you whether or not he played it even though I was there!! Maybe there are fans out there that memorise set lists - no - there will be fans out there who memorise set lists and they, presumably, were the ones that spotted this straight away.
Anyway all’s well that ends well and the whole set was recorded for prosperity … or for Bruce fans to criticise!
Can’t remember the name of the first band - I tried to be enthusiastic but soon gave up. Then Gaslight Anthem - I think they were second up. They were brilliant. We knew what to expect. We had seen their Glastonbury set on TV so it wasn’t a surprise surprise surprise (Mike's joke) when Bruce came on stage. It was still a thrill though and probably my favourite bit of the whole day. Here's the Glastonbury version for a change
Great to see our main man perform with the band which is the latest addition to our list of favourites.
James Morrison had a thankless task and he knew it. I began to feel a bit sorry for him. Then The Dave Matthews Band - I know he probably has a bigger following than Bruce in the States but I just didn’t like it. Too much showing off their musicianship instead of getting on with the songs. Sorry folks I know lots of you think they are brilliant but they didn’t do it for me.
Actually I wasn’t seeing them at my best as by this time I was bored and hot and tired. My feet hurt and I was beginning to wonder whether I could stay upright for Bruce’s set.
After Dave Matthews the crowd thinned and we got a bit nearer the stage - about 10 to 15 rows back on Clarence’s side but the longer we waited the more I thought I would have to give up and go and sit at the back.
All this was forgotten when Bruce came on stage of course. I danced, jumped, pumped my fist, waved my arms and sang my heart out - all with a huge sense of relief that I had made it.
The walk back to the hotel afterwards was more difficult than it should have been. We could see our destination but because of the crowd control we had to go round the houses to get there.
Then we got our biggest shock of the day - 2 bottles of cider in the bar - £11.00!
Our first festival experience and I don’t think I would go to another.
Really looking forward to the Dublin trip now.
Set List
London Calling
Badlands
Night
She's the One
Outlaw Pete
Out in the Street
Working on a Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
Youngstown
Good Lovin'
Bobby Jean
Trapped
No Surrender
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
The Promised Land
Racing in the Street
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born to Run
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Hard Times (Come Again No More)
Jungleland
American Land
Glory Days
Dancing in the Dark
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