Exhaustion and euphoria
My lovely Megan's mother turned 60 over the weekend. Last year, she decided to book us to perform at her birthday party.
Megan, Gina, Sophie, Ed, Sam and I got on the ferry on Friday morning. We got to play for our passage on the way down. Ross, our new lead guitarist for Megan's band couldn't join us until Saturday, so I had to juggle bass and guitar lines. Owing to an arm injury the night before, I could scarcely hold chords down, let alone play my leads.
Then it was into the van, off the ferry, so to start the trip to Christchurch! After 6 hours of fairly intense driving, we got to our hotel only to find that the van was too tall to fit into the carpark!
Saturday saw the arrival of Ross and his lovely partner Lucy. We went to the Harbour Lights, an awesome venue in Lyttleton. Then it was a whirlwind of rehearsal, costume changes, guests...
And on to the music. I play bass for Megan's band, and we are starting to sound quite remarkable. My favourite song of hers at the moment is 'Don't Falter Now', which started life as a Sarah McLauchlan-esque ballad and has tranformed into stadium rock worthy of U2.
After a short set by Megan's mum, Sophie and the Realistic Expectations came back on to close the night off. As our regular bassist Carla was unable to make it, I filled in on bass - and I have to say, it was one of THE most fun gigs I've ever played. Jumping down on the dancefloor while playing, getting people to sing along...it's a wonderful feeling.
Back at the hotel, one celebratory bottle of wine turned into two, then three, then it was necessary to hit the town and oh god tequila shots...Sunday morning came far too early on the wrong side of a hangover.
Up at o'god'o'clock on Monday, driving all morning to Picton, and then another very fun set on the way home.
This only tells a fraction of the story, of course. In years to come these are the things I'll remember, but right now I'm struggling to stay awake at work. My body is exhausted from too little sleep, too much driving, too many people, too much everything.
Still: a party that I'll never forget - and when it's time to die, I hope there's time to relive all the parties and smile. :-)
Megan, Gina, Sophie, Ed, Sam and I got on the ferry on Friday morning. We got to play for our passage on the way down. Ross, our new lead guitarist for Megan's band couldn't join us until Saturday, so I had to juggle bass and guitar lines. Owing to an arm injury the night before, I could scarcely hold chords down, let alone play my leads.
Then it was into the van, off the ferry, so to start the trip to Christchurch! After 6 hours of fairly intense driving, we got to our hotel only to find that the van was too tall to fit into the carpark!
Saturday saw the arrival of Ross and his lovely partner Lucy. We went to the Harbour Lights, an awesome venue in Lyttleton. Then it was a whirlwind of rehearsal, costume changes, guests...
And on to the music. I play bass for Megan's band, and we are starting to sound quite remarkable. My favourite song of hers at the moment is 'Don't Falter Now', which started life as a Sarah McLauchlan-esque ballad and has tranformed into stadium rock worthy of U2.
After a short set by Megan's mum, Sophie and the Realistic Expectations came back on to close the night off. As our regular bassist Carla was unable to make it, I filled in on bass - and I have to say, it was one of THE most fun gigs I've ever played. Jumping down on the dancefloor while playing, getting people to sing along...it's a wonderful feeling.
Back at the hotel, one celebratory bottle of wine turned into two, then three, then it was necessary to hit the town and oh god tequila shots...Sunday morning came far too early on the wrong side of a hangover.
Up at o'god'o'clock on Monday, driving all morning to Picton, and then another very fun set on the way home.
This only tells a fraction of the story, of course. In years to come these are the things I'll remember, but right now I'm struggling to stay awake at work. My body is exhausted from too little sleep, too much driving, too many people, too much everything.
Still: a party that I'll never forget - and when it's time to die, I hope there's time to relive all the parties and smile. :-)