day fifty-nine - merv
image © HotHouse Theatre
This evening, I had the extreme pleasure of an evening of music at the HotHouse Theatre. They have a quarterly concert series called the Galah Bar where they host a range of acts from music, comedy to circus throughout the evening. Tonight was a musical focus, and besides seeing one of my best mates Jared Buckley perform three originals on the main stage (which was amazing), watching a slew of other great artists, and all jamming at the end, I had the honour accompanying once student, now colleague, Jason Kendall.
Jason is one of those musicians who’s talents can easily make you jealous, if it were not for recognising the countless hours of practice, playing and dedication that made him the phenomenal musician he is today. Add to that the fact that he’s a beautiful human, and gifted teacher, and you can see why I like him so much.
I was tremendously nervous beforehand. The last gig was wonderful, but it sapped my confidence. The memories of feeling pre-gig nerves like that after many years without them, made me even more nervous about this one. Everyone was so very kind and reassuring. It was really touching, and they seemed to accept my eccentricities graciously.
When it was our time to perform, Jason opened with two beautiful originals on guitar, the second of which I had the honour of accompanying. Our final piece was “Isn’t She Lovely” by Stevie Wonder on the unusual combination of saxophone and bass guitar (which was so much fun to play!).
The MC for the evening was Aunt Ethyl. A rather wonderful and debaucherous old lady. After some glorious cheekiness, she asked about the kilt and if I’d like to talk about it. I was terrified, and I’m sure everyone could tell. I really didn’t want to, but knew I had to. After all, if I’m going to be so conspicuous as to look the way I do and wear a kilt everywhere, it makes no sense to avoid the subject.
What did I say? To be honest, I can only remember a Castle-esque “It’s the vibe of the whole thing”. I remember looking out and seeing everyone looking back, attentive, engaged, being kind and compassionate to my cause and accepting my obvious social distress. The project and I were given many rounds of applause, and with that and the performance behind me, my anxiety began to subside, and I felt waves of relief.
Afterwards, I had some really good, often positive, and sometimes really hard conversations about mental health and the project in general. I really hadn’t anticipated or expected anything like it at all, but it really seemed to connect with a lot of people.
So thank you all. To Merv, Jason, my fellow Musicians, Aunt Ethyl, Beck and all the wonder crew down at HotHouse and the wonderful, respectful and engaged audience. It really is a wonderful community to be part of.
Kilt of the day - Campbell of Argyle (and a Kilt Life T-Shirt)
Soundtrack of the day - Isn’t She Lovely - Jason Kendall (Sax and guitar loop)
https://www.facebook.com/100885614713050/videos/171565630770805/
Link of the day - HotHouse Theatre - Galah Bar Reloaded 2020
https://hothousetheatre.com.au/season-2020/galah-bar-reloaded/
