Music, music, and more music
One month of locally accessible music adventures
I may not understand it, I can’t play an instrument, I can’t sing, but I forking love music!
If you’ve been here a while, you would know this. You may have read my post earlier this year about remembering my first love - music, in particular music festivals. I may have a secret dream to become a musician, but shhhh! Don’t tell anyone. I did purchase a guitar during the pandemic and have had little success in teaching myself how to play from YouTube videos. But I digress.
So how did I actually get to a month of musical adventures BEFORE the summer festival season? A happy accident, but one I don’t regret at all. While the month itself started with a movie documentary and ended with a 3-day music festival, the actual booking of events began way back in February when I secured a ticket to see Pearl Jam, who I hadn’t seen since 2009. It progressed throughout the year, booking random events that popped up in my emails until I realised one day in September that my November was just full to the brim of musical adventures.
But that was not the end.
During the month of November itself, I was offered last minute tickets to two events where a friend of the person asking me couldn’t make it. I accepted both the day before the actual event. One was given to me free and the other I paid the ticket price, but if my November was already relatively full prior to these offers, it was now overwhelmingly anxiety-inducing and overstimulating for an introvert. The past two weekends I have done close to nothing and spent all my spare time alone in recovery.
Let’s begin.
On the first Tuesday in November when most of the rest of Australia was enthralled by a horse race, I went to see a documentary about a band - The Most Australian Band Ever. I saw The Hard-Ons many times in my younger years, sneaking in underage at the local pub, and later seeing them all over Melbourne and Geelong, most recently in 2019 pre-pandemic. I have always loved punk rock, don’t judge me. It was fantastic to watch the doco about their 40 years in the business, surrounded by local music fans, not to mention a Q&A with one of the original band members at the end of the film.
That was followed up with a train trip to Melbourne later in the week to see one of my current favourite artists, Thelma Plum, showcase her recently-released album at The Forum, where I’ve also seen the likes of Lily Allen, Gossip and Queens of the Stone Age. Standing is not usually my thing these days, but with the limited number of seats already booked I reluctantly braved the general admission standing room alone and danced the night away, even if I was the second-oldest person there.
The following week took me out three nights in a row, unintentionally but with the option of attending a show last minute I just couldn’t refuse. On the Thursday evening I saw a local pantomime of Snow White by Medimime Productions where all proceeds were donated to the health service that I work at four days a week. This show was nothing short of amazing and I laughed so hard my cheeks hurt for days. Which didn’t bode well the following night when I took up a last minute offer to see RockWiz Live. A rock quiz show that has been around for 20 years, the live show is phenomenal, the band amazing and the contestants hilarious. I also laughed, sang, danced and almost cried at this TV show turned live stage quiz show. With some of the best seats in the house and with people I barely knew I had a great night out.
The weekend was rounded out by the original booked show, heading once again to Melbourne to see Pearl Jam and The Pixies on the Saturday evening. My god what a performance, a great rocking show that when it was over I really didn’t want to leave. I was just getting started! The Pixies were on fire and I can imagine I will go to see them again when they come back in 2025, announcing an Australian headline tour just days after this event. Kicking off the evening was local stalwarts, The Cosmic Psychos. While the young couple sitting next to me had not heard of them, they were definitely fans at the end of their set. Kicking around since 1982, I have seen the Psychos at plenty of gigs and festivals over the years and they never disappoint.
Finally, at the end of November I headed off to the Queenscliff Music Festival, a short 20 minute drive away, for a three day festival that randomly became four days of music when I was offered a ticket to see the festival opener, Joe Camilleri & The Black Sorrows, the evening before the festival proper. How could I refuse? This man is a legend. I spent the next three days discovering new bands and younger artists, and seeing more established artists for the first time, like Michael Franti & Spearhead, Xavier Rudd and Cash Savage and the Last Drinks. Relishing the wide range of music on offer, I tried to see as many new and upcoming artists as I could and even bought a bunch of CDs to take home and listen to again. I caught up with friends, ate a variety of food and danced ALL weekend. Come Sunday evening my feet hurt like nothing I’d ever experienced before, which was no surprise when you do a minimum of 20 000 steps each day and rarely sit down, but it was well worth the pain.
I may even have become a bit of a country music fan! I really do love music and couldn’t imagine a life without it.
So while I might not do much more than hang at the beach over summer, November has been my month of musical adventures. I’m sure it won’t stop there with plenty of great summer gigs coming up and already booked, but it definitely won’t be as hectic as November. There’s also some pretty decent musical theatre shows to see too. These are some of my favourite things to do at home, especially when I’m not travelling. But even if I were, I’ve been known to head out for a show or gig while away just because I can. I love seeing things, doing things, all the things. I want to experience life now! I do not want to regret life later or wait for life to happen. And nor should you.
Stay tuned for summer adventures and and other outings or check out what I did last summer!
What I’m reading: The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan. Started this just last night and five chapter in it is already a gripping tale. Can’t wait to read the rest.
What I’m watching (& listening to): English Teacher on Disney+ in Australia. Hilarious and just a fabulous show. I will watch it again, probably on repeat. The soundtrack is pretty great too. Several playlists are available on Spotify, my favourite is embedded below.
