Odd times as we turn
I SETTLED down contentedly on the sofa to watch the late, great David Bowie’s superb Glastonbury set from the year 2000 on Sunday evening.
I was lucky enough to have seen The Thin White Duke live a couple of times, most notably when he headlined the opening night at the Phoenix Festival in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1996, part of an incredible feast of music that also included the likes of The Prodigy, Neil Young, Bjork and Massive Attack, all for the princely sum of £65 for four days.
Speaking of ’96, I also managed to squeeze on to Hill 16 in Croke Park that year to see my beloved Wexford crowned All-Ireland hurling champions for the first time in 28 years.
Watching Bowie belt out the classics at Glastonbury, a festival I also had the privilege of attending way back in 1995, it really made me yearn to be part of a heaving, excited crowd, whether it be at a concert or a massive sporting occasion.
This time last year, myself and the family watched Wexford win Minor and Senior
Leinster crowns among the hordes in GAA headquarters, but twelve months on we have to be content with Gaelic games re-runs and classic Glastonbury performances.
Of course, there is now light at the end of a once overbearing tunnel, but it may still be quite a while before we can turn the particular corner where tens of thousands can pack into a venue.
Although it was certainly sweet for long-suffering Liverpool fans to end a painful 30-year wait, they must have craved a normality that would have allowed them to roar their ‘Heroes’ on to the field at their next home game and get out in bars and nightclubs and celebrate in style. As Bowie might have said, ‘Let’s Dance’.
The one consolation is that at least they got to do it on the field of play, rather than have an asterisk forever attached to it.
However, let’s be honest, behind closed doors football really is a steaming pile of dung. No atmosphere, no sense of occasion, and no real joy. Just professionals getting the job done and that’s exactly what Liverpool have impressively achieved during