On Sundays, after waking, or even if the company has been too exciting to go to sleep, after rousing, and if the sun is out, one can do worse than to head down the stairs, past the bin liner that has been left outside your door for days now, past the coke-bottle crack-pipe, waiting for the pregnant woman to come back and have another hit later that day, out in to the glory of Sylvester Road and onwards to London Fields. Even by 11am, this small oasis of old trees and green grass will probably be littered with a smattering of young hipsters, recently propped on the first rung of the property ladder, and awaiting true love, a baby and an upgrade to a house in Stoke Newington. But for now they are happy to open their tinnies, lie on their backs in generally quite antisocial groups and enjoy that strangely british phenomenon, the early summer sunday.
Bullied by the preceding winter, by their mortgage, by their employer, and by the ghost of sunless summers past, a sunny day in spring in london precipitates a mass unfastening of habitual english reticence. Perhaps the sensation that people are actually enjoying themselves and being friendly and open to each other in an unsolicited fashion is buoyed by the presence of so many people here who aren't actually English at all, thank god. Every single variety of countryman seems to be here, which gives London Fields, on one of these not so frequent sunny days, a unique feeling amongst possibly anywhere else in the world. To lose a bit of the arch cynicism for a second, as lets face it, I am one of the least cynical people I know, it's fucking amazing! What a wonderful place to be at the moment. Ok, you could slag the hipsters off, or the parents with their newly-borns and their middle-class addictions....but hang on a sec, if truffle oil didn't exist wouldn't we have to invent it? I mean, I like nice things, I like people dressing up sexy and feeling the joy of showing off their beautfulness because it's nice to look at and it makes me aware of the beauty we are capable of feeling...I like nice food, and catching people's eye, and yes people can all be a bit up themselves and self-conscious, but if you think that then there's no point just sniping and saying "oh god look at those hipsters" while your hair is shaved in a triangle and your t-shirt torn in a self-consciously 80s stylie....what you can do is start treating the place like home, like it's somewhere you've just arrived on holiday and one person who does that more than any other person I've met for a while is the legendary Lily of London Fields.
I was sitting in the corner of Fred Bare one Sunday shortly before the sun arrived, chatting with my old friend Rose who works their on the weekends. In comes a glamorous looking French woman, in a short red mini skirt, with flaming red hair in a white top unzipped exposing a charming cleavage. In seconds she is draping me in clothes from the bargain bucket, first a scarf, then a hat, and we are talking excitedly about who we are and how we came to be here. Within minutes I have found out she lives just off London Fields, her flat-mate is the violinist in Elbow, and yes, she would love to do an Unlit in her house! She is a kindred spirit....a week later, on a now sunny Sunday, after a particularly invigorating Unlit, wandering across the fields with Lady Ukulele (aka sharon lewis, singer and percussionist for my new backing band The Infinite Possibility) singing and beguiling all who pass us and hear her incredible voice, we call lily and she comes to join us at The Dove, where, as if we are on holiday in a small Spanish seaside town, we have brought guitars, are singing songs, have met our neighbours and are generally trying to dissipate the "staring culture" that seems to be prevalent on Broadway Market....yes, come and join us, dance in the street, or ignore us and have your own fun time, whatever....but we're going to have fun. In the film below you will see Lily in action...dancing while Sharon and I sing "Supernatural"....as you can see she is quite a lady...intelligent, open and most of all - Free. I started singing a song to myself on the way back across the fields today..."learn to be free" was the refrain....that's something that Lily of London Fields has done and we can all learn from her. After The Dove Lily invited all the people we had met back to her house with a trust and openness that was inspiring to everyone and the party continued there til late....next time maybe you'll meet her and we will all have a dance together....til then, it's time to grab a bottle of white and head out with my guitar to the fields. Amy, lily's house-mate is bringing her violin....It's sunny and at least six hours of sunshine left....xxjont
