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05.07.2005 -
Hi, the last
few days have been quite incredible and I am somewhat relieved it's
all over. It feels like the day after a wedding. The party is over and
I am on a buzz. Two big events have happened to me. One was Live 8 and
the other the Salzau Jazz festival in Germany.
Cut to a week
ago: We are preparing for the Live 8 show at Sting's house in
Wiltshire. "Message in a Bottle", "Driven to Tears" and "Every Breath You
Take" are not songs that are particularly challenging but they needed
to be rehearsed anyway. One cannot be to cocky with songs one knows
(anyone who saw my performance of "Fields of Gold" in Paris will
identify) so we worked them quite a few times over. Plus we were
working with a new guitar player (Lyle Workman) who needed to be
brought into the fold to make him feel comfortable and confident. We
had "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You" rehearsed as a possible alternative
to "Driven to Tears". But after a band vote we decided on the latter as
it was felt to be more appropriate.
Day of show:
We all had a choice of when we wanted to be there. Some went at the
start of the event, some a bit later and I asked to be taken there an
hour before our performance. I didn't want to be backstage at an event
like that with all those celebs, entourages and so on. It's not my
kind of environment. Since it was only ten minutes away I stayed at
home and watched TV. The tennis. Venus Williams v Lindsay Davenport at
the Wimbledon final. What a match! I am so glad Venus won because she
really wanted it. She played with such passion, grace and fire. A true
athlete. I think Lindsay is great too but she was clearly struggling
with the power coming from Venus. I also think her backhand let her
down. Fantastic match.
Back to
reality: It was time to leave the house and go to Hyde Park. I felt
quite relaxed, grounded, prepared and to be perfectly honest, ****ing
scared, nervous, insecure etc... There was no way out of it. I would
have to play in front of 250,000 people, plus a couple more billion on
TV. The show was running late so I had to endure backstage and run
into a few people I hadn't seen for years and be polite. Celebs
everywhere, people having conversations with each other while looking
around. Not really my cup of tea. Madonna is putting on an amazing
set. We are two or three acts away. I agreed to meet my daughter Misty
for a quick hello to see if she was alright (she and Rufus were in the
audience near the front). She was loving it and wished me well. Rufus
texted me doing the same.
Our tour
manager tells us it's time to make our way to the stage while Velvet
Revolver are on. We walk through the congregation of who's who. They
are looking at us as if we are about to go into space. A look of pity
and envy if you can imagine that. I felt like I was an astronaut about
to go into space and have suddenly realized, too late, I know nothing
about rockets. Quite surreal really. Everything was silent in my head
and the world was going by in slow motion. I felt sick but ready.
We go on stage
and all these insecurities vanish. I feel great, in control of my
faculties and dare I say confident? Or worse cocky? And we put on an
amazing show. What helped me feel this way was perspective. This
wasn't about my guitar playing. It was about the world raising
awareness with poverty. It wasn't about me getting the right chord on
the bridge of Every Breath. It was an opportunity to detach myself
from myself if you know what I mean. Kind of like meditation but in
front of an audience. It wasn't so much that I felt in control but
more that my higher power was helping me do the right thing. I loved
every second of it and I only wish I could find the words to describe
what I really did feel like playing to that audience.
We walk off
and I get a text from my daughter saying "great guitar solo dad...
loved it!" then another from my son Rufus. I was so happy to receive
them. I decided to leave ten minutes after our performance because I
couldn't and wouldn't hang out there any longer. I get home and watch
the rest on TV. I thought The Who (especially Pete Townsend's guitar
playing) were fantastic. Pink Floyd? ****ing awesome. I got to sleep
eventually at around 2.00am.
6:00am the
following morning. My alarm goes off, I get dressed, do a quick
inventory check and make my way to the airport to catch my flight to
Hamburg. I am picked up by the festival car (Jazz Baltica in Salzau).
Joining the driver is Susan Gluth who has been making a documentary
about me for the last year. I know I haven't mentioned this much
before but I now feel I can disclose this to you. I arrive at this
beautiful castle in northern Germany and go straight to rehearsal for
the headline show later that evening. I haven't played with Trilok
Gurtu before and am looking forward to it. He is an amazing
percussionist from India. Nicolas Fiszman (awesome musician!) is on
bass and my friend Mike Lindup is on piano. We have never played
together as a band so we must learn the tunes. We rehearse for four
hours or I teach them my tunes and some of Sting's. I felt more
nervous about this because I was doing my own thing with musicians who
I have never played these tunes with and would have to perform them in
front of a large audience of Jazz lovers from around Europe.
Thankfully I saw some of my friends/fans who gave me confidence. We
had a coffee and chat together while I was on a break.
My dear
friend, musical partner and surrogate brother Sting showed up an hour
before the show. We were ready. The reason he was there was because
originally I was due to play there the night before (Live 8 day) and
to cut a long story short (which was alluded to in my last newsletter)
I did his show and he reciprocated by doing my rescheduled one on this
day. A true sport!
Show time
midnight: We did a great show. The band were fantastic, Sting was
great, the vibe was amazing, I was happy and many of the musical
chances I took paid off. The audience were warm, generous and fun to
be with. It was quite tricky because Sting came on at the beginning so
I had to keep the audience from leaving. This worked by continuing
with something gentle (Eclipse) without trying to compete. We worked
up a crescendo to end a great set. I then signed autographs, took
pictures and talked to the fans for a while and finally went to bed
one happy camper.
I am grateful
to be in a position to be able to express myself as a musician in
Sting's band and with my own music. I thank all of you for this gift.
I will continue to work hard so I can carry on sharing this journey
with you.
Love,
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