Cale not the answer

29 Jun 2003

Sometimes things don't quite work out how you would hope at Glastonbury. Being neither a fan of Radiohead nor the Super Furry Animals, I found myself lured by the intriguing thought of John Cale in the New Bands tent. Amusing Glastonbury joke, that, putting the hoary old Welsh wizard in New Bands.

He was looking great, in leather trousers and a white shirt but, sadly, did precious little for me musically. Playing with a band consisting of drums, bass, guitar, keyboards plus banks and banks of laptops, he stood in front of two keyboards, one perched on top of the other.

The band were quite tight, and Cale, occasionally, played the odd twiddle of freeform jazz piano, but tunes were at something of a premium. And I really couldn't fathom his stream-of-consciousness lyrics.

At one point, he embarked on a ramble amount a man selling AA batteries on the New York Subway. I swear he was making it up on the spot.

The thought of Cale playing live was undoubtedly intriguing, but the actual experience left me thinking that he was a poor man's Tom Waits. Can't win 'em all.

Steve Boxer

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