I’d like you to journey back in time with me for a second!
It’s June 1995 and I’ve just released ‘Last Train to Lhasa’. Together with my wife-to-be Sandy, I rolled down to Glastonbury Festival to play on the Avalon Stage in the Field of Avalon. It was one of the first times dance music had been given significant space at the festival, and the marquee was completely full by the time I came on stage. Thanks to the vibe, the gig that night was mind blowingly amazing (were you there?). Ed Vulliamy described it in his review for the Guardian as “electrifying: symphonic, epic, hugely lyrical music in the best traditions of the early Floyd, underpinned by synthetic energy but aiming at an appropriately earthy message, atop which a flute sometimes danced” and credited the show as the highlight of the year (which blew my mind even further!). And then it turned out the show had been recorded ….
Last year I returned to the Field of Avalon with my live band. This time I organised the recording of the set we played and am proud to present it now as part of the 20th Anniversary Edition of the original release.
The limited edition (1,000 only) double disc set is CD only, with no downloads or streams available. As with the original disc, the new recordings try “to capture the spirit of the occasion rather than technical perfection” and include three tracks from ‘Apollo’ alongside reworkings of various classics and favourites.