A poem, celebrating Anthony Wilson was performed at Carnegie Hall in New York last night by Philip Glass and New Order.
It was part of the annual Benefit Concert for Tibet House and among those on stage were Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, The National and Sufran Stevens.
St Anthony celebrates the life of the Granada Television presenter and Factory Records boss. It was penned by Mancunian performance poet, Mike Garry and set to music by Joe Duddell.
New Order invited Garry to perform a 4 minute version of the poem along with members of the band, Philip Glass and the Scorchio String Quartet.
“I think Tony will be looking down and thinking ‘Manchester in New York. It seems to work so well,’” said Garry, who was commissioned by the BBC and Manchester Literature Festival to write God is a Manc.
“I think he would have been incredibly proud that Manchester and Salford will be sharing the stage with international artist like Philip Glass, Patti Smith and Iggy Pop. St Anthony is a prayer and poem in one. It mourns the loss of one of our city’s greatest sons and celebrates the landscape of our geography and culture”
The poem will shortly be released as a charity single, with all the proceeds going to Christie’s Charitable Foundation. A video is currently being film with friends from Tony’s past.
The original poem:
