I don't think any of us knew what to make of the first Desolation Row shoot. Sunday 15th March saw an assortment of creative locals - musicians, photographers, film makers, writers, artists and designers traipsing around the forgotten stretch of the Chatham/Rochester Hight Street. I won't bore you with the motives behind the project because I've ranted a fair bit about that already.
Suffice to say, many of the invited musicians didn't turn up at an ungodly 10am. On a Sunday. We'll schedule the next one for the afternoon, I think. We are lucky that more people didn't turn up, to be honest. It looked something like a school trip had cross-pollinated with the Pied Piper story as it was. I think it became clear pretty quickly to everyone there that our plan was to make it up as we went along. The only certainty was that we would end up at the pub - surely enough to sustain anyone's interest.
Our only disappointment was that the Bob Dylan which had been stencilled onto the side of the Jade Garden by local street artist, Redlock, had been painted over. A real shame as it was the only thing breaking up the ghastly shade of Dull that the rest of the building was painted in. Still, dull is not only the accepted norm in this town, but the desired outcome of the council's regeneration plans; an homogenised lump of "any town" stuck between London and the coast (sorry, can't seem to help myself). Luckily, we'd heard of a second Bob Dylan painted on Bath Hard Lane and, luckier still, it remained intact. We found Bob to be wonderfully photogenic and a real hit with the ladies.
After a magnificent and cheap lunch at the Nag's Head, it was time to say goodbye to everyone. Perhaps a few people left us utterly bewildered, but hopefully with a sense that they had become part of something quite exciting. In any case, we are grateful to all who came for their support, and happy they chose to join us so early on a Sunday. Well, it's back to the cyanide hole for now, at least until the circus comes back to town...
The photo was taken by Garry Jenkins. I made the poster for Medway Eyes Sings Dylan.
Originally posted on www.sweetfanny.co.uk 17/03/09
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