Its not a good sign when your names are called out over the PA at the airport for your first flight of the tour because you’ve been distracted by a close by wine tasting booth at 10am….Thankfully this was just a minor hiccup and not a sign of things to come for the tour….yet.
Victoria has been incredibly kind, rewarding us with gratuitous applause, laughter at all my attempts to be funny on stage, and generous merch buying. The first Show in Albury, although a little shaky as first shows usually are, was incredibly exciting and fun. As was the second show at the Royal Theatre in Castlemaine, an overwhelmingly beautiful venue made in the mid 1800s. I strongly recommend you visit it sometime. Its quite lovely.
It has taken me a little while to get used to this whole people-sitting-down-and-not-yelling-stuff-out-at-me-while-i-play- theatre experience, although I think if the third show hadn’t been at the Palais in Melbourne (my goodness that room is MASSIVE) i would have started to feel a little better about it by now. The Melbourne show was definitely a highlight for us all, and despite the fact i thought i might spew from nerves before we went on stage, i thought we all started to feel quite comfortable up there together. After the show i was overcome by an acute sense of relief and love for everything and everyone, and couldn’t quite settle down until i found my way into bed at about 4am.
Sleepily and a bit deluded, we drove to Meeniyan the next day. As we walked into the Town Hall, we were informed that the lovely ladies who work there would be cooking us all a home made dinner (with 3 different kinds of dessert!). Backstage we were offered wine, cheese, tea, and an open fire to sit next to and warm our hands. The show was great as we played to tables of kind people dimly lit by flickering candle light. Half way through the set i accidentally talked my way into a tired hole of doom where i think i unintentionally insulted their town…Thankfully Kate saved me with some witty comments about how much we all loved Meeniyan and something about me being shit at frisbee (i am), and everyone was happy again. Thanks Katie!
Tour invention #1 – “Amp Cup” by Mirko Vogel. (trade mark pending) – it makes stuff louder!!
Next stop: Cairns!
Also, i’d like to quickly mention how grateful I am to my friend Sarah and band and crew for having us along and being super helpful and welcoming and just wonderful.