Baby Lemonade had been performing as LOVE since 1993, once playing in a
club where only three people, with one being the sound guy, showed up,
so playing in the Glastonbury Festival was a very big deal...and Arthur
knew it. As mercurial as Arthur Lee could be, he showed no concern in
playing before 65,000-and-growing Glastonbury concert-goers, who all
came to see if Arthur Lee & Love could pull off Forever Changes in a
festival setting. The talent and abilities of each musician on that
stage was unparalleled and Rusdty, Love's musical director was the link
between the amazing ensemble of Swedish string and horn players and this
loud, kick ass, take-no-prisoners rock-and-roll outfit. The blend was
perfect. It was Mozart meets Thin Lizzy.
After a really cool introduction, and with the sun squarely in their
eyes, they hit the stage and rocked the crowd with "Your Mind & We
Belong Together." Somewhere in the middle of a guitar solo, one of the
speakers blew, creating a noticeable drop in volume and tone. Guitarist
Mike Randle simply asked the monitor dude to "Crank the guitar in my
monitor!" and kept going. Arthur introduced the Stockholm Strings &
Horns and theywent down the line, playing every song on Forever Changes,
in the order it appeared on the Album, a 36-year-old album played with
the energy of a new release. By the time we'd hit the last notes of that
one, the sun was setting and left this beautiful orange and red trail
of clouds in its dust.
At the end of the set, Arthur thanked everyone and then said, "This next
song is called Seven... and Seven... and Seven...1! 2! 3! 4!" The band
tore into that first A minor chord, echo fuzz bass, tremolo reverb, and
machine gun snare like it was the end of the world. Arthur stepped to
the microphone and spat out the words like it was the end of the world.
Love came to Glastonbury with the hopes of just playing well and having a
good time, but they left with so much more than that.
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