I was at the stage the Lemonheads played on at Glastonbury—not for them, or Portishead, but hours before, to see Billy Bragg.
He was twenty minutes late. An impatient guy with a lager hollered, “Come on, Bragg! Come on!”
I’d never seen him; never had any friends that were fans. Here I was in a crowd of strangers yelling along to “Little Time Bomb.” He played “Levi Stubbs’ Tears” and the whole audience joyfully sang the trombone solo.
He played “The World Turned Upside Down.” I’d never heard it. How can I have been a Billy Bragg fan and never heard it? But I was.
It was like falling into a tunnel. My whole body was gooseflesh. I’ve been trying to imitate that maniacal guitar line since the day after that show.
The world was absolutely new.