Saturday morning, I woke up to a flood of messages and tags. "Did you see what Damon Albarn said at Glastonbury ?" Those who know me understand that Albarn and his music have been a part of my life for decades, from the Blur days, through Gorillaz, to his solo albums. I even had the privilege of having him sing to me at an intimate concert, a touching moment deeply etched in my memory.
Go on Damon #FreePalestine 🇵🇸 #glastonbury2024 pic.twitter.com/aZONLpWjmh — Sean (@shornKOOMINS) June 28, 2024 In July last year, a few months before the skies fell on all of us, I sat with Israeli friends in a makeshift operations room to ensure we succeeded in buying golden ring tickets for Blur's reunion concert at Wembley.
And what a concert it was. Albarn was teary-eyed with excitement, and we shed tears alongside him. I quickly opened one of the clips sent to me.
Albarn, who appeared as a guest with the Bombay Bicycle Club at the iconic Glastonbury music festival, was seen addressing a thrilled crowd of tens of thousands: "Answer me three things," he said. "First: Palestine. Show me how you feel about Palestine.
Are you pro-Palestine?" The crowd responded, but not very loudly. "Are you pro-Palestine?" Albarn asked again, this time receiving strong cheers. "Do you also think this war is unfair?" he continued, and then he talked about the importance of voting in elections and how the world belongs to the young.
Thirty seconds, three heavy-weight topics. The Israeli-Palestinian exist.