Sunday, January 6, 2008

DIY

Last night I went to see my second favourite band in the world (my all-time, never-to-be-surpassed fave is U2. Always will be). This particular band - Shooglenifty - has a special place in my heart because the members hail from Scotland, where I spent a fair chunk of my twenties. I saw them a couple of times over there and loved every second of every show.
It's uplifting, groovy music the band describes as "acid croft" (translation: funky yet traditional).
Anyhow, the thing about last night's concert is that I. went. by. myself.
Yep, on my own.
And it was ace.
If I'd have been organised enough I probably would have arranged a babysitter, but no. And we did think about taking E in the stroller (madness!) but he skipped his day sleep yesterday and was truly despicable by 5pm ... and fast asleep by 6pm. Plus, my music ed buddy is OS and I couldn't think of anyone else who'd be interested in checking out such an obscure Scottish group.
And so off I toddled on my own to this performance.
It's not really such a big deal, after all, I did travel round the world on my own way back in the days. I went to all sorts of stuff and places on my own. It's just that I'm a bit out of the habit of doing such things at the moment.
Actually, it was super-easy. It was the opening night of the Sydney Festival and the band was performing free (yay!) so there were thousands of people out and about. I pushed my way up towards the front of the stage and danced my wee heart out.
It's funny, I found myself at once self-conscious and liberated ... if that's at all possible. Self-conscious in that I probably didn't dance in such a wild and frenzied manner as I would have had someone else been there (thereby not drawing attention to myself) and liberating in that it was so freeing and enjoyable and ... wow, I had a good time. The more I scanned the crowd the more I saw people that appeared to be dancing on their own and enjoying the band as much as I was.
Feeling rather pleased with myself for making the effort!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Being a child bride severely limited my late adolescent/early twenties experiences(= nil). I now "experience" these things vicariously. My 17-going-on-18 year old daughter has gone to several concerts last year, as well as Big Day Out. She's off to Big Day Out again soon. There's feedback from her. Not the same as going yourself, of course. And I never would now. Just couldn't!

KPB said...

Wait.

You went and saw a band?


WOW.

kurrabikid said...

Y'know, I think a seeing a band on your own isn't so hard ... because everyone around you is focusing on the band in front of them, listening, singing, dancing. And it's easy to get lost in the crowd. What would be harder (for me anyway) would be going to a restaurant or - eek - a pub on my own. Can't see that happening!