Stuff: General Election, Coldplay @ Glastonbury and more

I suppose I should mention the UK General Election which reaches its conclusion on Thursday. From its soggy birth through wet campaigns its not been the most riveting event even if Ed Davey ends up flying to the Moon.  It feels as if none of the parties have an agenda to inspire which may be a sign of the times. Bold political thinking is long gone which means that manifestoes tend to seem similar overall and you sort of know that whichever side wins the same people will benefit and most won’t .

 

There’ll be austerity whether or not it’s called that and even though it has NEVER worked. There’ll be rolling back of the more promising sections of the manifesto while the less pleasant ones will carry on. There will be that disconnect between what people in general are interested about and the priorities of politicians. And no doubt there will be revelations to further undermine our faith in politicians. Yet I reckon its still better to vote than not.

At some point I think politics will evolve and become more grown up. When we shed our ancient traditions and replace them with a modern way of governing that puts solutions before party dogma and those left and right wings people cling to. If we keep voting generations to come will change the way we do politics, if we don’t then those with extreme agendas will put in the work and lead us down more dangerous paths. I’ll be voting Labour on Thursday but that’s because they’re the closest to a political ideal and I’ve heard a lot of people say that about whomever they intend to endorse. It suggests there is a growing feeling that the current system needs to change to make it more representative in every respect and above all more about practical solutions than reams of ultimately untenable policies.

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I’m not one to spend a whole weekend watching the BBC’s admirably expansive coverage of Glastonbury and, yes, I am one of those adults who had never heard of SZA. Then again, I’m not supposed to know. I did however make a point of seeing two performances. I suppose Declan McKenna is the youngest artist I’m aware of these days and I suspect it’s because his music contains so many echoes of music from earlier decades. He’s managed to shake off the sobriquet `Baby Bowie` that was rather inaccurately given him a few years back thanks to the more relaxed third album `What Happened to the Beach’. Several songs from that collection are aired in a rammed tent and it  takes a while to liven the audience. Not all of his stuff is ideally suited to the stage but he wisely runs with those that are with `Nothing Works` and the ubiquitous `Brazil` the highlights before he tops it off with a searing `British Bombs`.

Reviews of Coldplay’s  Saturday headlining set have been grudgingly appreciative as if it is somehow a bit wrong to like it.  Not that Chris Martin and co need worry. A gigantic crowd joined in a show which understood the fundamentals of how festivals work. With a catalogue packed full of songs that often contain singalong bits deployed with a barrage of lights, lasers, confetti cannons and those glowing wristbands everyone had been given this was a show that could not fail. The first forty-five minutes were one banger after another and you could see that everyone was just having tremendous fun.

When the set moved into some of the less straightforward corners of their repertoire it showcased that this is a band who are more versatile than given credit for. Leaving `Violet Hill` to the superb Laura Mvula and a choir was a perfect demonstration of this. The highlight for me was `Arabesque` from the less well received `Everyday Life` album, a track that utilised a number of guest musicians (including Fela Kuti ) to work its grooves and showed too how Coldplay’s collabs have always been fruitful. I wish they’d make more music like this. The set as whole remined me too that for all of those `woohoahs` that work up the crowd, this is a band whose music is rooted in rhythm with sentiment that comes from the heart. What is so wrong about that?. And who else has a catchy song about a fallen dictator? Be as churlish as you like about Coldplay but sometimes they can be absolutely right.

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Days of the Bagnold Summer
Monica Dolan is excellent in this low key 2019 drama about the distance between a mother and son as they both navigate difficult periods. Based on the 2012 graphic novel by Joff Winterhart it sees divorced mother Sue Bagnold and her teenage son Daniel forced to spend the whole summer together after the latter’s planned trip to see his father in the States falls through. The results successfully evoke that period when, however much of a bond there is between them, parents and their offspring cannot quite connect. Rather than use this to paint a melodramatic portrait of either teen angst or middle aged discontent, the film is more nuanced. Both characters are dealing with a lot but neither can really talk to the other, emphasised by scenes in which they seem to be physically as distanced as possible in the large house. Yet Sue never stops trying and Daniel never quite rebuffs her enough to really mean it.

First time director Simon Bird (also known as an actor) depicts this in the style of American indie films, choosing to keep a static camera even for some largely wordless scenes. The pale palette and woozy summer scenes we’re used to seeing in the States work surprisingly well in suburban England. A strong supporting cast includes Rob Brydon and Tamsin Greig.

Gradually we warm to both Sue and Daniel plus their colourful relatives, friends and neighbours and we also see that there is still a strong bond between them. Monica Dolan is such a good actress and here gives another immersive performance making the viewer feel for Sue’s limited life. Sue is in reality a great mother, kind and considerate, putting up with a lot. Making us sympathetic to Daniel is a tall order but thanks to Earl Cave’s subtle work we reach an understating. Some might expect a sudden incident to propel the film to a big ending but its not that kind of story.  When mother and son share a piece of cake at the end (the cake has been a recurring motif) it feels as much a victory to cheer as any larger filmic triumph.

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D -Days
I remembered a Debenhams tv advert from the early Eighties which featured Hazel O’Connor’s song `D Days` only it had been re-styled as `Debenhams Day`. While singing the song, Hazel led a rag tag group of futuristic shoppers from other planets through the store with bags full of produce. The tag line was `Wherever you’re from, everyone can enjoy a Debenhams Day`. I thought this was perfect till I realised it never happened.