“CAN I reserve the old Axe Music sign?,” Blur frontman Damon Albarn asked me during an exclusive Q&A before their Colchester Arts Centre gig two months ago.
“I would like to buy that and [The Gazette] are obviously hooked up and have influence [in Colchester]... it is where I bought my first synthesizer.”
Slightly flummoxed by the request, not least given it had come from such a legendary musician, I jokingly reassured him I would, of course, make it happen.
Within seconds of promising the award-laden hitmaker his piece of childhood, I convinced myself the possibility of acquiring the sign was a pipe dream.
But the following day, I thought to myself: What if? What if I could actually retrieve this sign and gift it to the Damon Albarn? A cultural icon who means so much to so many.
As is the case whenever a buzzing bee starts pinging around my bonnet, the seed had been planted and whether I would embark on this journey was no longer a question.
From that moment on, obtaining this sentimental slice of Colchester music shop history became a primary – if not slightly obsessive - focus.
Following a few Google searches I rather quickly managed to track down Alan Gray, the now 77-year-old former owner of Axe Music.
Alan fondly recalled the numerous times when a young Damon would visit his store to purchase some of his very first instruments.
Little did he know the global star and revered songwriter he would go onto become.
With not much, if any, convincing, Alan soon agreed to assist me in my quite frankly bizarre quest to come good on my promise and soon started hitting the phones.
Before long, the former business owner and keen musician (who, by the way, really is a magnificent soul), had been given the greenlight to reclaim his old shop’s sign.
After enlisting the help of relatives and lifelong Blur fan, David Garlick, we managed to safely dismantle and remove the Axe Music sign from the store’s facade.
During the weeks which followed, emails were exchanged and arrangements were made in relation to how the sign would make its way into Damon’s hand.
Much to our delight, Damon agreed to us meeting him in person to complete the exchange and to conclude the most magical of tales with the most remarkable of endings.
Huddled in a campervan, with the precious sign securely in our grasp, we embarked on a pilgrimage of sorts to the former Colchester schoolboy’s London studio.
As we entered and made our way up the staircase, a nervous silence and sense of trepidation washed over us. But we needn’t have worried.
Over the next 40 minutes or so, after presenting him with the sign he had set his eye one some two months prior, Damon was gracious, thankful, warm and welcoming.
READ MORE: Blur fans and Gazette reporter unite Damon Albarn with sentimental music shop sign
He happily spoke with Alan, David, van driver Jason Chamberlain, fan Kelly Clark and I as if he had all the time in the world, despite having an important gig in the evening.
Damon was accommodating in every sense of word and the experience could not have played out more perfectly – he put us at ease from his first hand shake to his final hug.
Never meet your heroes, the old saying goes, but I am so, so glad we did.
Somewhat stunned and in a dreamlike state, we left the studio with a combination of huge grins and disbelieving looks sprawled across our faces.
What at first seemed like an utter impossibility had just became a reality. See, it really, really, really can happen.
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