Burning bridges

On Friday night, having developed cabin fever due to knock on effects of the credit crunch. No, not the actual credit crunch, but the one Kiwi has imposed on me so I stop impulse spending and start saving for our trip. Anyway, me and Kiwi took the opportunity of what would otherwise have been a night in, to walk to the Quayside for one of 'NewcastleGateshead's' so called world-class events, Bambuco. I'm unsure when Newcastle and Gateshead became one uber-city of dual proportions - I believe it was for the purpose of a stronger application for the City of Culture award a few years ago. The plan backfired however, as Liverpool received it - it seems that the City of Culture award is given to the city that needs it most, and as Newcastle already has a thriving cultural scene it wasn't deemed in need of support.

Gateshead on the other hand is, and may have been more successful in winning if Newcastle hadn't been on the scene - it is crying out for funding and cultivation of the arts. Its entire offering is made up of The Sage and Baltic and iconic though they are, a city can not rely on just two buildings within a few hundred square metres to call itself cultural. For a short while Gateshead had Tyneside Cinema drawing the usually Newcastle centric crowd toward Gateshead's centre, but that has now moved back to its original home, leaving the town centre to the perils of the Tescos buy-out of any business they can monopolise. Somehow I don't think Tescos will be lending a helping hand in generating a cultural scene - the town centre will become a commercial asylum, with new office developments offering a lower cost alternative to the outlets North of the Tyne, keeping any sign of cultural activity South of the river firmly located around the small section of the Quayside known as Baltic Square.

That's a long winded digression, I began this post with Bambuco in mind, a review of what turned from a hauntingly beautiful idea into a frustratingly slow let down. Having walked down to the Quayside we were met by the sound of wooden instruments, which reflected the general theme of the event - bamboo. Bambuco is an art installation - a temporary bridge constructed out of bamboo. The bridge can not be crossed by anyone but the Bambuco team so it holds very little purpose during its three day stint, except for photographic benefit, adding a little something extra to the panorama of the Quayside's already numerous bridges. Friday's event marked the completion of the bridge, and the beginning of the SummerTyne festival, a weekend event for which occasion the bridge was built for. It seems bizarre to me, as the bridge has been under construction for three weeks, to have it taken down after three days, but I thought perhaps Friday's event would make it all seem worthwhile.

I had read that over 700 flames would be lit across the bridge, as the Bambuco team skilfully crossed its wire platform from one side of the Tyne to the other, and had epic visions of tightrope walkers juggling flames as they tiptoed across using bamboo rods to steady their balance; perhaps fireworks. On arrival we could see a boat lit up with candles floating ominously across the river, and my imagination went into overdrive, picturing people traversing between the high bridge and low boat somehow - aerial artistry, something visually awe inspiring. As every time I hold high expectations, I was sadly disappointed. We stood for an hour as the Bambuco team rigged their way up either side of the bridge (two structures which resembled a giant game of Kerplunk), painfully slowly, simply lighting hundreds of candles on their way up.

After the hour stood watching (im)patiently, wondering if there was to be an impressive finale, the candle lighters reached the top of the Kerplunk towers, and began to edge their way towards the centre of the bridge, still painstakingly slow. Realising there was to be no zip wiring with fireworks of any sort, me, Kiwi, James and Conor who had joined us, had had enough, and like so many others in the crowd, decided to disperse. It was a shame, because the idea was fantastic; the wind instruments offered an eerie addition to the mood lighting formed by the late summer's eve sunset, and the twinkling candles made for a romantic atmosphere. But I am the product of a society in which impatience is a virtue - if we hadn't wanted everything quick and easy, would the internet have taken off? And so, the 'wow' factor of the visually stunning 'burning' bridge was lost with each minute that crept by. A world-class event? I wouldn't say so, but it was impressive nonetheless.