Chapter Eight Sample
ALCHEMY AND A DAY OUT
OK. Here's how it is. 7 August. Saturday. Three weeks to go and already I'm feeling a strong sense of anticipation. Won't be long now. Every year for the last few years, I've indulged myself at this time of the year. Just for a day, no more. I don't think I could take more than a day of it now. I had begun to think of myself as old, but I appear to be in good nic and was heartened this morning by a radio programme about how people were living longer, fitter and even beginning new careers when previously it was expected that a “retired” person would sink into forgetfulness, grumpiness and cranky creakiness.
In earlier times, I went to rock concerts, particularly in London and was lucky to be on that particular scene in the late sixties and seventies when rock music was really taking off. I never went to any of the outdoor festivals though and that was a regret, that is, until a few years ago when I bought a ticket and spent a day at the Reading festival, held every year at the end of August. Reading is perhaps the “heaviest” of the round of annual music festivals that have grown in popularity and size over the last few years. This has been, I suppose, in part thanks to the national TV coverage that they attract, but also because there is a plethora of new and not so new bands that are creating quality, original and meaningful music - and entertainment. Reading attracts a hardcore youth audience, while Glastonbury, for example, can be a family affair.
The first Reading festival I went to was several years ago and I'm making it an annual pilgrimage. The first one in burned into my memory for all sorts of reasons. Here's one of them. That year was the time of the summer floods in many parts of the country, especially around my own part of the world and there was a real possibility that the festival would be cancelled. It wasn't but the organisers had some rearranging to do. One of the car parks was still too muddy and to accommodate this, when I arrived I found that I was redirected round twisty country side roads until I reached the park. This was in a huge field, elevated and some distance from the festival site...
OK. Here's how it is. 7 August. Saturday. Three weeks to go and already I'm feeling a strong sense of anticipation. Won't be long now. Every year for the last few years, I've indulged myself at this time of the year. Just for a day, no more. I don't think I could take more than a day of it now. I had begun to think of myself as old, but I appear to be in good nic and was heartened this morning by a radio programme about how people were living longer, fitter and even beginning new careers when previously it was expected that a “retired” person would sink into forgetfulness, grumpiness and cranky creakiness.
In earlier times, I went to rock concerts, particularly in London and was lucky to be on that particular scene in the late sixties and seventies when rock music was really taking off. I never went to any of the outdoor festivals though and that was a regret, that is, until a few years ago when I bought a ticket and spent a day at the Reading festival, held every year at the end of August. Reading is perhaps the “heaviest” of the round of annual music festivals that have grown in popularity and size over the last few years. This has been, I suppose, in part thanks to the national TV coverage that they attract, but also because there is a plethora of new and not so new bands that are creating quality, original and meaningful music - and entertainment. Reading attracts a hardcore youth audience, while Glastonbury, for example, can be a family affair.
The first Reading festival I went to was several years ago and I'm making it an annual pilgrimage. The first one in burned into my memory for all sorts of reasons. Here's one of them. That year was the time of the summer floods in many parts of the country, especially around my own part of the world and there was a real possibility that the festival would be cancelled. It wasn't but the organisers had some rearranging to do. One of the car parks was still too muddy and to accommodate this, when I arrived I found that I was redirected round twisty country side roads until I reached the park. This was in a huge field, elevated and some distance from the festival site...
