Webb's performance - a mixture of dance and soundscape, with Jack intoning and groaning as he twisted under the pressure of a pulsating bass - was part of Jes Suis La Bas, an evening of Live Art curated by Mischief la Bas and itself part of The Only Way is Ethics festival.
Webb asked his audience to consider the end of all things. Barely illuminated, his distorted movements suggested a robotic being struggling to escape the limitations of the body. He crawled, he moaned into a microphone, yelping like a dog, dissolving in the twilight...
Perhaps my blog post about Arvo Part and Noddy Holder escalated a bit too far, I thought. Perhaps having a religious Christmas is about considering my own interior life rather than shouting at people for enjoying Slade.
Arvo Part is good, mind. The ringing minimalism he employs, rather like the throb of Webb's soundscape, has the effect of slowing the experience of time, allowing thought, meditation, renewal (perhaps). And like Webb's dark invocation, it asks the listener to consider their mortality.
Instead, I took the opportunity to berate people for enjoying life. It's not really a choice between Noddy or Arvo. I can have both.
Not that I want both. I'd rather have Jack Webb growling anxiety in my ear than hear those rocking sleigh-bells again.
