Music at the Opera House

 

I love a lot of different kinds of music, but I will admit classical doesn't do much for me - or I guess technically I don't know what to do with it. So I will go to a concert if it's short and not too expensive. Generally, I think the SSO knows this, that they need to appeal to non Classical people to get new audiences in (to grow and continue) so once a year or so they do what I like to call Classical for dummies. It usually has Rhapsody in Blue (the crowd pleasing banger) and then fun other pieces to make it accessible to the Classical newbie..

One year they did all Gershwin and encouraged the audience to dress up and had sort of '20's history and prohibition stories thrown in. It was fabulous.

This time they had a great new piece out of Brisbane (sorry, didn't get any names) along with the Gershwin classic.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. Though I did get in trouble for taking photos. In my defence, the guy made a bing long speech that to me sounded like you could take photos but not film or flash. My friend who was in the audience elsewhere agreed it was confusing (and she is a classical person and said since the concert hall reopenned they seem to make different rules each time and it's unclear). My husband would tell you I just wasn't listening.

Anyway, the reason I took photos was because I was quite mesmerised at how shiny the piano was. And was trying to capture at great reflection. So maybe that was a sign I'm not caught up in the music like I should be. I don't know. (I was up the front so phone could be at my chest and not block anyone's view.)

I did have a lovely night and really enjoyed the music but was glad when it ended (where as my husband was surpised at how short it was). And for me, a pre Show negroni at the Opera House is ALWAYS a winner....

Hilariously, I have a number of friends that assume I love classical music and they all keep asking me if I'm going to the Vivaldi next weekend. I have no idea where this idea comes from but I suspect it's from my once-a-year excursion to Classical for Dummies....

Do you go to different types of concerts to 'stretch' your musical taste?

Very tenuous link because I've alluded to Vivialdi's Four Seasons....(see what I did there? Boomtish)

Linking with #PictorialTuesday #WeekendCoffeeShare #WWOAT #TheRandom

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” – Plato

 I have written before about the healing power of music and dance, but now as we start looking like a lockdown will be heading our way, I will say it all again. It is the easiest and quickest working self care.

On Thursday I woke elated just at the thought of seeing a band and dancing (albeit stuck firmly in our chairs (engage those abs and you can still get quite physical!) and the prospect of buying tickets to Hayden James and attending our first pod festival....will be weird but I'll take what I can get. And the up side is young people won't be able to be mean to us because we'll be cocooned in the safety of our private old lady pod! So there are upsides to everything...

Last night we went to dinner at Flying Fish and their playlist was all my guys - Kygo, Sam Feldt, Hayden James to name a few. I kept saying to my husband "OMG, I love this song too!" excitedly. He at one point replied "It really is like your playlist." It was already a very happy occasion but it was the icing on the cake, like I had some shared camaraderie with a stranger, whoever made those musical choices.

For now we can't get the full benefits of shared musical experiences, but make the most of what you can. Sing in the shower or car, dance while you clean, do whatever you can to lift your spirits. It can make an enormous difference.

What are you listening to now?

“My idea is that there is music in the air, music all around us; the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require.” – Edward Elgar

Shout out to the Soda Factory for Jukebox Thursdays. Was a great night!

Linking with #MondayMusicMovesMe because the song linked makes me feel like I'm on a summer holiday - somewhere warm and sunny...

Use it or lose it.

 Long time readers or followers on Insta will know COVID has shut down my ventures into the arts (me and the whole world's) and had a huge impact on my way of life. So when a friend asked if I wanted to see Sarah Blasko, I said yes. When she then said "I didn't think she'd be your type of music?" I had to admit I had never heard her music but didn't really care at this point. Was close by in Newtown and with friends. That was enough. (Humorously, I actually thought the support act was her until she introduced herself, though it did explain why she wasn't playing the grand piano that was taking up the stage).

It was a very intimate and well spaced gig at the Old 505 Theatre and part of the Great Southern Nights initiative (well done, NSW Govt and Visit NSW). 

We were very close and I became quite mesmerised by the 'ghost hands' playing. Because I've apparently forgotten all the rules of social behaviour, I wasn't sure about the taking photo rules, so I took two sneaky ones at the end - apologies for quality. Ghost hands are very beautiful. I feel I want to write a poem or story about them. For now it's just a rambling blog post for #Awwmonday #PicturePerfectLinkParty #WonderfulWednesday #WeekendReflection., #WWOAT and #TheRandom

 If you're in NSW, get out and see someone, even if you've never heard of them before. For now, all we can do, is all we can do and if we don't use it, we lose it. Both artists and venues alike. There's over a 1000 gigs to choose from, so definitely something for everyone.

Loving life - lockdown ideas

While not in lockdown, I am still spending more time at home than normal We cancelled our daughters birthday party in the park because I thought it would be too hard to manage COVID numbers and safety. We've cancelled dinners and catch ups in bars. It's hard to work out what the right thing to do is. And it's boring. The whole disaster is overwhelming and tedious.

But it's not all bad news. Here's what I've been loving this week. In no particular order:

1. I got published in the Grieve Anthology again. I think this is now my 5th time? Anyway, I needed it as my last two stories didn't make the cut and for vanity alone I needed some 'approval'. I burst into a huge grin when I saw my name listed...They are going to show extracts over the next few weeks so if you're wanting to see short stories or poems each day, this could be something different for you.

2. Tomorrowland offered a relive ticket and you have until the 12th August to work your way through the sets. I'm loving getting to hear different DJs I may never see in real life. I was also so delighted and pumped up by Timmy Trumpet's set that I've listened to it twice! Best $21 I spent in lockdown! The energy of his hectic show is contagious and makes me smile all day with that beat embedded in my body if I listen (& dance) to it first thing in the morning. His new song is here but as I was Russia in my Eurovision competition, and my first song entrant was Vitas, I have to share this one...:

3.  Les Enfants Terribles The Prism. I've spoken about it before, but I just want to say I loved Level 3 and am sad it is over. If you haven't checked it out, it's great, and perfect for these days to spice up your universe. And free!



4. Was stoked to get my new Marvel mask (I asked for the child mask to be made in an adult size) from this Etsy site. But even more excited when I saw Max Frost is streaming a show (he was here in Jan) and with your ticket you get a Max Frost mask...trying to see if they'll send it to Oz for me...who knew mask fashion was the new black? Max Frost also has a COVID song but this is still my fav:

5. Got asked to do a review for Pulp Fury Radio. They're bringing back the radio plays in funky one hour pulp fiction genres...I'm halfway through the first one and it's cute and kooky (it's a sci-fi/horror). Will definitely come back to listen to the Noir and  Mystery which are more my preferred genres. If you need a short escape, it's worth checking out.

All up, having a great week. Not what life was, but could be worse...

What are you loving at the moment?

Linking with #FriendshipFriday

Bluesfest - a lament

We were meant to be at Bluesfest this weekend, and while there's personal disappointment, a bigger loss was made with the death of John Prine with COVID19 complications. It just sort of hit a little closer to home the mess that we're in. And I hope that's as close to home as it gets, given I know a number of doctors on the Covid Teams around the city, as well as teachers who are my age, so at high risk too.












On Bluesfest, I miss being in a crowd. I miss the energy you get from shared live music. I miss the sheer joy of it all. I miss being in that festival bubble.







There is a spotify playlist of the artists that were coming for the 2020 event and this clip from last year really made me smile.

I guess all we can do is start planning for the next one, and go to those events we can, as soon as we can.


Think of those that we have lost forever with this disease, and work hard to keep that number as low as possible.

Stay home and stay safe.

I'll leave it to John Prine for the last words.




Linking with #PictorialTuesday #WordlessWednesday #FotoTunes  and #WWOT

"There is only one better thing than music - live music". Jacek Andrzej Bukowski

I was talking to friends of my husband who had started, in their late 50's, to go to live music regularly. Not the big stadium concerts but the small gigs in the dive bars. As someone who had taken up the same almost as therapy when my father was dying, I asked him if he'd gone a lot in his youth and got back to it, or if it was a new pleasure. While he had done the big name gigs when young, this was a new breed of concert going. 

Like me.

Also like me, he agreed that no matter what your mood was when you went in (he's dealing with a terminal illness), you always came out feeling happy.  I explained my theory about the energy. There is an exchange of energy between you and the performer, of course, but you also feed off the energy of the crowd. In a good audience, you get swept away on the joyful emotion. Add to that some endorphins from dancing and you come out a changed person.

Whether I'm completely sober or had a few drinks, I still leave with an injection of euphoria that lasts well into the next day, if the band is good. Last night was Parov Stelar and they were excellent! Even with a singer with a broken foot in a moonboot, both the band and the crowd was jumping and dancing and high on the experience. (They still have dates in Melbourne and Adelaide - and Noumea - so if you can get there, do! You'll love it).

Making us with old knees work hard....

“Music has always been a matter of Energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel. I have always needed Fuel." Hunter S. Thompson

Linking with #ThruMyLens. Linking this old post because it was written just before all the live music got taken away - in fact the band returned to Europe and went straight into lockdown. How weird the world shifted. 

Rocket Man

If you had asked me what my favourite Elton John songs were, I would have said Island Girl or Tiny Dancer but the morning after seeing the movie, I had Benny and the Jets in my head, so perhaps that is my subconscious favourite?

When I asked that question on Facebook, the diverse list of songs was long. I had to google some as I'd never even heard of them.

In the process, I stumbled across a new to me favourite.

It's been on high rotation ever since.

What is your favourite Elton John song? Were you a fan?

(As an aside, later in the year I will be selling tickets to the ICC concert on Monday 23 Dec in Sydney - if you're interested, I'm selling them for face value, no mark up. Just incase you want to go to the ICC not the bigger venue. Email if interested, can't sell yet as tickets have not been sent by Ticketek - just fyi at this stage. But no need to worry about being legit. I'm going on the Saturday now!)

Linking with

My other new fav which I somehow missed when it came out is Ghetto Gospel - a Tupac song that samples Elton's Indian Sunset. The rolling piano works so well with the beat. Beautiful song but very distressing film clip.

The arrogance of age must submit to be taught by youth. Edmund Burke

Old people are quick to complain about the millennials but I want to take a moment to defend them.
I think they are smarter than we were, but their ideas often confront our established views.
They are definitely kinder that we were, and less conservative in their values.
While they do things differently to us in their youth, I do think they are the great hope in reversing the damage we've done.
It's no accident that the #MeToo movement has been supported by the young, while the old fight it.
It's no accident the LBGTQI rights are moving forward with a speed like never before.
It's no accident the voices for change seem to get louder and louder as the young jump on board the cause and actively spread the views.

I have spoken before how therapeutic I find music (and dancing) and so I headed to Kygo on Friday, but solo as none of my friends were keen. I found my spot on the floor and merrily danced away. At one point, a tall guy pushed his way in front of me. While we'd not spoken all night, the young (little) guy who had danced next to me the whole time, looked at me concerned and gestured 'do you want me to say something?'. I smiled no, and pushed my way back to my spot, assuming the little guy might get beaten up by the older 'roid-addled meathead, but a little bespectacled old lady would not.

I know I am old, and I know that I don't fit in at these concerts, but I love the music and I've since discovered there is always someone who will dance with me or talk to me. I know they see me as a strange old lady but the fact that they make me feel comfortable is kind. A kindness I may not have offered in MY youth.




If you have seen that hideous tirade on the RyanAir flight, it is an old man creating the racist scene, and when the attendant seems out of his depth, it is the young man in the seat behind them that stands up and intervenes. I presume from the voice that the person filming is also quite young. These people didn't need to get involved, it wasn't their concern, but they chose to defend the woman and right a wrong.

As I sit at dinners and listen to conservative views criticising the foibles of the young, I have to wonder how I ever got to be so old. Why do we stop evolving and stagnate as we age? There is an Irish proverb, 'Praise youth and it will prosper'. Perhaps we need to focus on what they do better than us, instead of what they do differently? Maybe our way was not the right way in the first place?

Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young.

J.K Rowling

Linking with #WordstheInspire #StayClassyMama  #PhotoTunes #DreamTeam #TwinklyTuesday and #GlobalBlogging

Furnace and the Fundamentals

What I'm loving this week is having fun! Due to our proximity to the Enmore, I was able to buy a ticket on the day and head up for a dance. A friend whose Pink concert was cancelled decided that rather than sulk at home, she'd come too.

While I thought I'd stay for an hour of exercise then bail, they were so infectious with their high energy and song choices, that we stayed until the end, and dripping with sweat and big grins plastered on our faces, we giggled all the way home.

If you are no good at discipline to exercise, go dancing. You just can't stop!
If you get a chance to see Furnace and the Fundamentals, go! They're like Hot Dub Time Machine but better music and live.



If you aren't quite loving life this week, blast up the stereo (that makes me sound my full 107 years) and dance. Absolutely lifts my mood and energy.

I'm loving being walking distance to a concert venue, flexibility and the restorative power of music.














What are you loving this week? Linking with #TheFun #PhotoTunes #WWOAT and #RubyTuesdayToo (for the shot with the red light streak and the red costume)

Can you guess what song this was?

We can't always choose the music life plays for us, but we can choose how we dance to it.

I've been having a rather difficult time with ailing parents and teen frustrations and a debilitating physical pain that seems to be either a result of old age or from when I fell down the stairs in Thailand (completely sober, wet stairs, fell down the whole flight and almost broke my neck back in October). As I got in the uber to see Big Boi, I almost burst into tears because I forgot my ear plugs and last time I went, he was so loud. Now clearly, even I could see in my 'woe is me state', it was not about the ear plugs. Obviously I was more overwhelmed with it all than I'd been prepared to admit. So I sat in the car, tears in my eyes wondering why I'd bothered going at all, when my back hurt so much and I was so tired.

However, I turn up at the venue, trying to push past the 20 somethings showing ID, when the doorman stops me. "I need to see your ID".
'Not mine.' I reply.
'Yes, yours too.'
'Dude, I'm 107' Fortunately I had it on me, as I had just grabbed a zip purse out of my main bag.
This exchange cracked me up, and lifted my mood a little. It needs to be noted, the fact that I still say 'dude' shows my vintage. My kids constantly tell me how embarrassing that is because 'nobody says that anymore'.

Once the music started, I was dancing all my blues away (and the carefully timed painkillers had kicked in, so I was unhindered, and working up an endorphin releasing sweat). It was just what the doctor ordered. There was more bad news this morning but I've been merrily smiling and singing along to the music, taking it all in my stride.



I think Bob Marley was on to something when he said "One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain."









As for the 'Dad Rap' I was about 30 years older than everyone else there - the audience seemed even younger than before! So technically I was the only 'Dad' there.


I have no idea what this was about but I found it hilarious and kept getting distracted by the random phone off stage...(I love than in the picture on the right it looks like it's spotlighted)

The title of this post is quoted on the internet and pinterest but no one seems to attribute it to anyone. If anyone knows, please let me know.



Linking with Midlife Share the Love #MLSTL

When did that happen?

I am the first to admit I'm no longer a spring chicken. I don't delude myself that I'm a 'cool mum' (they don't exist, and people that think they do are trying WAY too hard). I'm okay with that. I like what I like and I know how to have fun. I also know that I'm generally invisible where I go...

I’m seeing Big Boi this week, and last 2 times I've seen him, I’ve been the oldest person there by at least 20 years. (No, that’s not what makes me feel old...wait for it). I decide I should listen to Boomiverse, presuming the new album is going to be the focus and I still hadn't made time to check it out since it dropped. It’s nothing spectacular but it’s solid however there’s a cute but weird Randy Newmanesque song on it, which I later discover appears to be an i-Apple ad jingle (that weirds me out a little but I think ‘oh well, good for him, he has a kid in college now.’ That in itself shows what an old lady I am...) However, it's sort of an odd song, so I decide to see how the critics reviewed the album, something I rarely bother with. If I like a song, I don't really care what the experts say. The gist is he’s done enough to root it in the present but stylistically it’s 'new old school' or ‘dad rap that can hold its head high’. Dad rap? I recoiled in horror, as the realisation sank in.

If he’s making dad rap, what does that make me???? 
Depressed, that’s what. 
When did that happen? Woe is me! I've shot past middle age and straight into old age, without even noticing. 

Always the optimist, I am now be curious to see if the rest of the audience has caught up to me in ancientness, and I’m no longer the oldest person there? Maybe I'll fit right in!

Anyway, long way to ask, when did you realise you were old? Or older than you thought?




Linking with #MummyMondays #KALCOLS #FortheloveofBLOG& #StayClassyMama

Make the world better

On Wednesday we saw the magnificent Lee Fields and the Expressions. He rocked the house full of twenty somethings (and us centenarians). I love that his career began in 1969 and continued successfully for a few decades, and then in 2006 a resurgence began and now he's huge again around the world, with a strung of successful albums and a global tour (Auckland  he's heading your way so don't miss him! Not to forget London Field Day this year. Only in Oz until the 12th).










I came across him via the Bliss N Eso song, Friend Like You, where his voice just blew me away. So I tracked him down and fell in love. Musically speaking, that is. Awed in the presence of greatness.






During the show he mentioned how he saw a lot of things in the world today, but he still had hope. Then he launched into his song Make the World Better. It's simple but it's true. We can make make the world better, and we do it by working together. We can't give up. We just have to act. Find your like minded people and start the change that's needed. When you watch the news and feel down, don't give up. Start the movement. One action can change the world.




As always, it starts with you, and it starts today.

Crappy photos courtesy of my hideous iPhone. Have I mentioned I really want a Samsung?

Linking with #LovingLifeLinky because I was filled with such hope and joy that night about life and our place in the world. I know that seems silly but it was presumably similar to the uplifting of the soul that gospel music has on believers.

Linking with #WednesdayAroundtheWorld  #WordlessWednesday #TwinklyTuesday  #PhotoTunes #MondayMusicMovesMe 

 & #GlobalBlogging