On the death of Dave Beach

I think Dave dying has really shocked me. It’s making me realise I can’t leave things in boxes “for later” any more .. Dave was four or five years older than me and he’s always felt like my best mates older cooler brother .. you know .. when you are ten and you know a kid whose older brother is a fifteen year old who smokes cigarettes and plays the guitar and writes songs .. so you want to brag about it to all your mates .. and I’m thinking “if Dave’s dead I’m probably right behind him” .. I’ve lived in Glastonbury about ten years and I don’t lay any particular claims on Dave Beach .. because I’m sure there are plenty of people who’ve known him a lot longer than I have .. but you know what .. I really don’t KNOW people at all .. I’m not a “people person” at all .. and I’ve been very blessed to have known a people person and to have had him as a mentor .. when I look back at it from the moment I opened the music shop Dave has been a regular customer .. and it makes me wonder if his presence in my life has been like so many others .. the presence of quiet encourager .. he would come into the shop and talk about his music .. we shared opinions about recording techniques and I was always asking him how he sang so effortlessly and made things work musically that really shouldn’t have worked .. I think he was one of the first buskers I saw on the High Street when we first moved here .. there was this guy with a smokey voice and a green guitar playing “Sweet Dreams” .. and it made me feel like I wanted to join him and sing the harmony only I didn’t actually know the words .. I asked Dave to play at our wedding reception .. I remember he didn’t drink wine before he played which I thought was unusual because outwardly he was the embodiment of rock and roll .. at that time I thought he was really into hard drugs .. what I didn’t realise was he was looking out for people who were into hard drugs and making sure they were okay .. and in a lot of ways he taught me acceptance of the way other people are .. being with people without judgement and meeting there needs when you can .. seemed to help .. I found out much later that Dave didn’t actually know the words to “Sweet Dreams” and he wasn’t even playing the right chords .. I was perplexed when I noticed him playing the guitar with his thumb .. he showed me the open tuning he was using .. and I always knew which guitars he had played in the shop because customers would pick them up and find them “out of tune” .. I actually think Dave influenced the way I write music more than anything else I listen to .. he asked me to play on some of his songs .. and like many things in life I still haven’t got round to it .. I think what set him apart from other musicians is he made music something other people could be a part of .. then there was the radio show .. he would arrive at my shop with his zoom recorder .. “I’m here at Sonus Magus with Mark and a lady from Skegness can you tell me what that is madam” .. from there it would devolve into some zany comedy sketch that you could never have scripted .. and the loud hailer .. he encouraged my noisy attention seeking and he smoothed things out with my neighbour when it all got a bit out of hand he just said “I’ve had a quiet word with him” one day and within a couple of weeks somehow we were all getting along fine and chatting and enjoying life .. as it should be .. my wife started a food project and when we needed a driver Dave said “well I’ve got a license” so we put him on the insurance .. he gave up a lot of his time to collect from the supermarkets each day and to deliver food to people .. when the town council were having problems with rowdy customers at the Community Fridge and no longer wanted to open it every day Dave took over .. smoothed things over .. Gina gave him a job title and made him a badge which said something like head of security and logistics with a picture of him dressed as a tree .. he generally had a mild manner then he surprised me by being assertive with people when it was necessary .. he just seemed to intuitively know the right things to say to diffuse difficult situations .. I know he used the charity’s van for all sorts of things he wasn’t really supposed to and at first I thought “what the fuck is he doing we could get in the shit for this” .. in the end I realised I should ask the trustees of the charity to include a “for the good of the community” clause after he turned up outside the shop and helped a very frail looking woman out of the van and led her around Earthfare .. carried her shopping .. I actually cried .. the woman had cancer and she was dying .. he made her feel like she had some dignity .. like she could still get out and about and do things she was used to doing .. like her life meant something .. I watched him make a big deal of wearing a mask .. made her feel safe and cared for .. helped her back across the road and opened the door for her saying “here you go my love take all the time you need” .. Dave took time off to go away recently and ended up not being able to because he got COVID .. that week was kind of weird because we were all so used to having him around .. then my shop has been closed while I care for my wife who has her own health struggles .. I knew Dave was having problems with a torn ligament in his leg and I did a bit of shopping for him and got him a nice bottle of wine .. I knew how important it was for him to be in contact with people so I picked him up and drove him to Mocha Berry to see his mates .. he came in the shop last Saturday and for the first time in years I was upstairs with customers so we shouted across the stairs .. he was ready to get back into it and start doing pickups again .. so I said I’d arrange to drop the van round and see if he could keep it at his house .. he was all fired up about a GFM gig he was playing this week .. and now there’s a Dave shaped hole in my Universe and his presence in my life is something I’m going to miss .. I’ve cried writing this .. and I know I don’t cry because I’m upset .. I rarely cry when I’m upset .. I usually cry at films when I’m inspired .. when I’m moved by something extraordinary .. when I see someone really embody their calling in life .. when humanity makes sense or sees the bigger picture and makes the world we live in just a little bit better for everyone .. people always talk about the greater good yet very few of us take actions that benefit others .. Dave was all of those things and the legacy of that bigger picture will touch lives in this town and beyond in ways I can only imagine .. his acts of kindness were never really random .. he was a thoughtful and intuitive man and his life touched mine and many others in a way I hope these words could even start to explain .. it’s a subtle path .. perhaps it’s the true meaning of rock and roll .. I’m not sure the Glastonbury I know will be the same without Dave Beach .. I know it might seem strange but when I heard he had died I sent him a text which read “apparently you died last night you bugger .. and following on with our usual crazy humour I’ll just send this into the ether in the hope you receive it in one form or another .. enjoy the afterlife .. I’ll carry on the good work .. love you X” .. on that note it’s time to end the tears for today and get on with a few things .. you are in my thoughts .. RIP