Beetlebum - Damon Albarn

6

26th June 1994

The band was quiet, overwhelmed with nerves. We were set to preform on the NME stage in a hour and it would be our biggest performance to date.

We sat their, in our small designated caravan/dressing room. Each act got their own caravan behind the stage.

The band Echobelly were the first act on the stage today, they were in the caravan to the left of ours, we were set to preform after them, they'd just left to start their set so the tension was high in anticipation.

The caravan was filled with smoke, a mix of weed and tobacco.

"I'm gonna go meet the other acts." I stood up, telling the band.

They all grunted in response, briefly looking up from staring into space at me, I couldn't blame them, I was anxious to play at the boardwalk in Manchester never mind Glastonbury.

The fresh air from outside was a nice contrast from the stuffy cabin. I took a breath, stepping down the few steps onto the grass.

I flattened out my black tennis skirt, underneath were some black fishnets paired with dark red ankle gogo boots that matched not only my hair and nails, but the white Rolling Stones logo t-shirt I had on. The majority of my outfit was covered by one of Liams Adidas jackets, being oversized on me, keeping me warm.

I trekked my way the short distance to the next cabin, stepping up the unsteady stairs, I reached my slender arm up to the door and knocked.

Within seconds the door opened and I was met with the face of a girl, she had short auburn hair, she wore a sex pistols, god save the Queen white t-shirt, tucked into some acid wash jeans.

"Alright," I nodded at her, "I'm-"

"The lass from oasis." A voice behind the woman was heard saying. Their Northern accent being prominent.

"-Astrid." I finished.

"I'm Candida." The girl said letting me in.

Their caravan was identical to ours in every means, from the smoke to the smell, the same dark green coloured sofa on the left wall and long metal table on the right.

There were four other people besides myself in the room, Candida handed me a can of carlsburg, "this is Jarvis, Nick and Steve."

"It's lovely meeting you." The same voice that labelled me as the 'lass from oasis' said, it came from the man pointed out to me as Jarvis.

I smiled at him, "You're Pulp?" I asked making sure I got it right.

He nodded at me.

"Are you nervous about preforming?"

"Not really," he started, "we've been doing this for a while. Gotten used to it."

"I've never played anything this big." I lit myself a fag, "We're all shitting it next door."

"Who'd've thought that singer of yours 'ed be nervous." Nick chuckled to himself, handing me a can of carlsburg.

"It's just there's a lot of big acts played yesterday and we don't wanna mess it up."

Cheering could be heard from outside, Candida was looking out the window as I leant against the wall next to her, "You'd know all about this big act."