Bristol. June 09
I think it was this year. I had to go and see my girlfriend to say I was going to be late home. I was in an enclosed space with a piano and a kind of upside down barber’s mirror. It was a really interesting space. Anyway I was talking, and they kind of closed the space, and I was stuck in there. And I really did not have any time for live art. I really did not have any time for it at all. I wanted to leave, but I had to stay because it was disrespectful to leave the performance. And it was stunning.
This guy came in and he moved the full weight of the piano onto himself, and played this gorgeous song. It was quite pointed, not an ‘oh-I-love-you’ song, but an ‘I-am-going-to-miss-you-but-I-will-be-fine’ sort of thing. The piano was really heavy, and it seemed to be crushing him, and there seemed to be this kind of struggle that was coming from him holding the piano. But the struggle gave the song much more poignancy. It was actually really positive and uplifting, and I felt desperately privileged to be there. It was beautiful, and I think that for about 3 days, maybe a bit more, the performance was my first thought. It just stayed with me, especially the song. It inspired me to move on. He really got deep inside me. It showed his strength, to hold this piano up. Like it was right on top of him. Every sinew in his body was stretched to the limit, and he had to pause between lines to get his breath back and to sing. I have never forgotten it.