WARNING. What follows is NOT for the faint hearted. In 1996 I went to Madagascar to record one of the countries finest bands Tarika. We camped out in a disused TV station for 3 weeks sleeping on straw mattresses under huge rusting broadcasting antennas, the semi derelict studio our recording area, the control room a make shift portable digital studio using the gear we had brought over from the UK. The poverty, rubbish and decay that surrounded us was unbelievable. We went expecting to find paradise, what we got was Halifax mixed up with the set of some dystopian third world video game. On a weekly basis it became a decent into hell as the side effects of the Lariam malaria tablet I was on kicked in like an insidious psychosis. The terrifying, unbelievable realistic nightmares came within 24 hours of taking the tablet. On returning to the UK I joined a Lariam/Melfloquine support group made up mainly of hardened army personnel some of whom had lost loved ones who had suffered side effects far worse than mine. The press started running headlines stating ‘Horror Movie In A Pill’ (thejournal.ie/horror-movie-in-a-pill-side-effects-of-lariam-worse-than-malaria-924707-May2013/). After 10 years the nightmares became infrequent and then stopped all together. However last night they returned. I’ll spare you the details but it was a decent into hell at a festival were an American heavy metal band performed to a super rich, privileged elite who stood on raised platforms looking down on a crowd experiencing unbelievable pain and suffering in the most abject conditions. The nightmare ended with images of a flattened, abandoned, toxic landscaped. I couldn’t get back to sleep so went on to FB to try and find some diversion and for f**k sake the very 1st things I saw were these images and my nightmare returned like the smell of some massive overflowing portaloo….the horror….. THE HORROR…….anyway I’ve just had a nice cup of tea, spice the dog has come in for her morning cuddle and I’m feeling much better. Oh and thank you Simon Glinn for the images ;-) blazepress/2014/07/34-photos-show-bleak-aftermath-glastonbury-festival/
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 06:09:40 +0000
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