One Direction v Einaudi?

Firstly thank you for the lovely and supportive comments and messages after my last blog post that came to me via Facebook, texts, email, blogger and even a couple of phone calls. I am so glad to know that I'm not the only one feeling a bit wonky with things! 

When I write something that's a little more personal I do occasionally agonize about sharing. I wrote that last post in a little slot of time between the supermarket shop and waiting for Sibs to return from school. I didn't over think it as I can sometimes do, it was just a quick release.  I have many posts that once written never go any further than the drafts folder and this was almost one of them.  Then, for whatever reason I asked Sibs to read it as she was so involved in the content and with her approval I pressed publish.  I was quite taken aback with the big virtual hug that I felt - thank you, diolch.


So now back to something a little more frivolous and a little less soul sharing - a story for the memory bank.

A couple of Wednesdays ago I had a sort of double booking - I wanted to be in two places at the same time.

Let me tell you a bit more.

Some years ago friends back in the UK introduced me to the Italian pianist and composer Ludovico Einaudi.  Unfortunately I had never had the opportunity to hear him play live, so I was rather excited to find out he was coming to Brisbane and eagerly waited for the announcement of the date of his concert.  That date however seemed rather familiar....

Ah, yes, that would be the same night that 'One Direction' were in town. The night that Sibs had etched in her brain and on her calendar and that was on a countdown on her phone!

A part of me wanted to go and sit still in the quiet of QPAC Concert Hall and be mesmerised by Einaudi. Yet, I also wanted to be witness to the sheer joy that Sibs was bound to experience whilst she screamed her way through a few hours at Suncorp Stadium.

Could I choose the noise, the craziness, the hysteria over the brilliance of the Italian maestro?

I could possibly and probably have found a chaperon to take Sibs to Suncorp but I would have missed so much...

• The excitement on the bus to the city where groups of girls and pairs of mothers and daughters were in various stages of anticipation.
• The embarrassed giggles of my 12 year old when I pulled out some ham sandwiches from my bag. ( I had to sneakily eat one hidden under my seat as she was quite mortified!)
• The funny "We love you Niall" that the two boys behind us shouted whenever the Irish one even remotely looked in our direction.
• The scream that could possibly have perforated my left eardrum when Harry the one with the lovely hair walked close by and actually waved and blew kisses.
• The little game we played to point out the best outfits. The two older ladies that had the skin tight 1D t-shirts and flashing headbands easily won, with the dad in the home decorated t-shirt a close second and the toddler in the white high heels came in third!

I have been fortunate to attend quite a few live music events and always have a good time but there is often a level of reserved enjoyment. Of course there are those who can really let it go but most hover on the side of enthusiastic toe tapping. Not long after moving to Australia one of my absolute favourite singers was touring with a farewell show. I treated myself to a good seat as this was it - the last opportunity to ever see him again....
The place was packed, the stage was ready, the music started, I got to my feet.....and I appeared to be the only one!
Seriously??
As the night went on, a few more managed to get up and join in with some rather unenthusiastic bopping, but I was less than impressed. (Sorry Mick)
There have been other bands that I have seen that have been more successful at getting the Brisbane crowds going, but I seriously doubt that any can get quite the same reaction as One Direction.

One Direction Suncop Stadium Brisbane Feb 2015

Whatever you may think of the commercialism that is the One Direction machine, their much anticipated live performances are pretty enjoyable.  Partly because of the energy that they have on stage but in the main because the audience is just happy to have a really good time.
If I'm to be a little over critical then they did appear to be slightly under rehearsed and surprisingly as this is the start of the tour they even looked a bit tired. The fun banter element between them that was in abundance in previous tours was not quite there but I suppose Suncorp Stadium is a little vast to really capture that. They did however still manage to flutter the hearts of those close to the stage with the constant waves and occasional short exchange of words.

The great thing was that they encouraged that wonderful spontaneity and lack of inhibition that we somehow lose a bit of as we age.  If the crowd felt like dancing, jumping, screaming, laughing or singing, then they just did it. No self conscious toe tapping bopping here!  Everyone lived the moment and it was hard not to get caught up in that. Ok, there was the one mum who sat down in the row in front - yes, sat in the row in front (maybe she wanted to be at the Einaudi concert?  Or maybe she was the same mum that sat with arms crossed behind me at the last 1D concert ??) but most people were on their feet. There were a few microphone and musical glitches but no-one seemed to notice and if they did, they just didn't care.

So I watched the crowd and it really made me smile. I watched Sibs and I was so happy to be next to her. So happy to be in that moment of experiencing her literally jumping for joy and just being twelve.

One Direction Suncorp Stadium Brisbane Feb 2015 

I later found out that the Einaudi concert was as I expected -  exceptionally good. There is no questioning the talent of the Italian pianist.  However, with his back almost to the people, Mr Einaudi apparently shared one mumbling "thank you Brisbane" with his audience.

Each member of One Direction thanked Brisbane and Australia over and over again. There were fireworks and streamers and laser lighting. They told their audience that they were beautiful and amazing and everyone felt the love. Us oldies even got a thank you for bringing whoever we brought to the concert. Tick!

I'm glad I made the choice that I made that night. I got to enjoy the performance for different reasons to the majority. Yes, I did appreciate the catchy songs but more than that I absolutely loved the atmosphere. I felt quite young and alive.....and happy.

A few days after the concert I was at home doing some housework and as usual I put the ipod on shuffle to help me along. Without a word of a lie out of almost 900 tracks the first track was "That's what makes you beautiful" by One Direction, but rather more disturbing was the fact that Ludovico Einaudi kept on popping up at a rather alarming regularity! It was almost as if he knew I had stood him up!
Ludovico, you'll just have to come back to Brisbane -  just make sure it's not the same day as a rather popular boy band!

One Direction, Brisbane

I'm either mad, indulgent or just best mamma this week. I can't quite decide myself...

In my last post I wrote about taking my girl away for the weekend and going to see the One Direction concert in Auckland. We had a blast, an absolute blast! Stuff that I hope will stay in the memory bank for ever.

A few days after we returned, I had one of those 'right place, right time' moments....and some Brisbane tickets!

My brain flickered between - "How fantastic, she'll be thrilled" to "I really shouldn't as I don't want to over indulge..."

I mentioned it to Neil, fully expecting him to do the sensible father speech, but uncharacteristically he just said "go for it!"

...So we did!

ear plugs at the ready!

I thought the Auckland fans were loud - but the Brisbane crowd was something else. Boy, those girls can scream!

They jumped, danced and sang their hearts outs. They hung on every word that their idols spoke. (Well, those words that they could actually hear over the screams!)

I spent some time people watching.

*There were a few bored parents. One mother in the row behind me sat all night with her arms crossed, she didn't see a thing apart from the back of the girl in front of her!
*There were groups of girls clutching each other who just uttered "Oh my God" over and over again.
*There were so many people watching the concert through the screen of their phones or iPods trying to capture any images they could. What a waste! Come on girls, enjoy the moment.
*There were some tiny tots trying to sleep...
*There were many many parents loitering outside just waiting. I saw lots of novel reading mums and dads and even a few knitters. Brisbane Entertainment Centre is a little bit in the middle of no-where so I guess it was just easier to hang around.
*There were some 1D mums living their youth again through their children - matching their t-shirts and various band merchandise with their daughters. Some cute, others not so...
*There were tears, happy tears.

Overwhelmingly though there were smiles. Lots and lots of happy people having a great time.
That was a joy to see.

Here's a few of my shots of the Sunday night performance.

One Direction Brisbane Oct 2013

Almost anyone can sound good blasting from the CD in the car, but to their credit these boys can really sing. Yes there were a few forgivable hoarse notes - they had been belting out those songs through 125 shows by the time they got to Brisbane. They didn't give you slick choreography but they made sure that they covered every part of that stage.  Add some fancy laser lighting, crowd interaction, lots of colourful graphics and a few video clips to give the boys a few minutes to change. Well all apart from Harry who appeared to have the same clothes on throughout. On the subject of clothes...what was it with the ultra tight trousers Mr Styles?! 

They looked a lot edgier and a bit more rock and roll than I expected. I'm sure the images on the water bottle/pencil case/backpack etc etc  at home has them looking quite different!

The show was safely predictable with songs about summer romance, unrequited love, fancying the person you can't have, secret love, jealousy...all the stuff that the teenage population of the audience lapped up.

Everyone under the age of about 25 seem to know every word to every song and happily shared this knowledge. It created an interesting sound....

I was warned asked by my 11 year old not to dance or sing....which I duly obliged, but I did find myself toe tapping and the odd line from an often heard track would sometimes escape my lips. (I don't think she noticed.) I have to say that I can't get the "I can't compete with your boyfriend - he's got 27 tattoos" line out of my head. 

I actually think that a couple of them have taken that one to heart and would give any boyfriend with 27 tattoos a good challenge!

One Direction Brisbane Oct 2013

Although mostly rehearsed and scripted (yes I can say say that, having heard it twice), the banter between the band members and the crowd was fun. They seemed to enjoy themselves, and they made many female swoon with the occasional wave or thumbs up or a special blow kiss....cue extra loud screams - one right in my left ear!

They were gracious in their thanks to each and every person in the venue and acknowledged that without their loyal fans they would not be enjoying this phenomenal success. There was quite a bit of charm going on here with praise to the parents for bringing their kids and "thanks for deciding to spend your money evening with us" speeches.

Before you knew it we were into the encore and every parent was beginning to think about the inevitable queue out of the car park....well everyone apart from the cross armed mother behind me who had made an early hasty exit with her daughter.

Shame, because she missed the chest booming loud "Best song ever" and the chance to sing along to "That's what makes you beautiful"....

Well...and....truly living those moments!

Treasured moments - from Swan Lake to One Direction.

Back in 2009 I took my girl to the city to watch the ballet Swan Lake. I remember at the time that I felt like it was a lot of money to spend on taking a just turned seven year old to the theatre and to expect her to sit still through three and a half hours of ballet.

I needn't have been concerned as she sat completely mesmerised, mouth slightly open, eyes transfixed.  I watched her almost as much as I watched the ballet! I think at one point I considered checking that she was still breathing.

That was the start of our regular mother daughter theatre outings.

Since then we have been lucky enough to catch some pretty amazing productions in Brisbane, but to date nothing had ever really come close to the enjoyment experienced watching Swan Lake. There have been quite a few musicals like Mary Poppins, Annie, Grease and Mama Mia. Then the Nutcracker ballet and more recently The Bright Stream performed by The Bolshoi Ballet. Some of these theatre visits have been large scale international productions but we also love to support the smaller amateur performances too.

Last week the dance studio that Sibs is part of had their annual dance concert at Queensland Performing Arts Centre. This performance is one of the highlights of her year. She loves the routine of rehearsals and back stage antics. Behind allowed inside the theatre is a real thrill.  Imagine having to tell her that she wasn't going to experience it this year?

When I first found out the dates for her dance concert, I knew that it clashed with something else. I also knew that the 'something else' was huge. Something that Sibs had been looking forward to for the whole of 2013.

It was time to break the news about the clash.

There were a few silent tears and a wobbly bottom lip. Then a big hug and a promise that we would go and watch the first night of the dance concert.

She still wanted  to attend the rehearsals and her lovely dance teachers who knew how disappointed she was and not being able to perform always made sure that she helped out in some way.

So what prevented her from being part of the show......?

We were having a long planned girls weekend away....to Auckland....to watch One Direction!

My eleven year old is a beautiful mix of interests. She adores her ballet, looks forward to rugby season, loves to listen to a real mix of music and over the last year or so like millions of other tweenage girls has discovered 'One Direction'. (Thank you for the introduction goes to cool Aunty T!)

So last Friday, I picked her up from her afternoon school rugby game and instead of the usual ballet lesson it was a quick shower and change and off we went  to the airport. We shopped a little, bought a book each and arrived in New Zealand on a cold and wet Friday night.

We were originally booked into the same hotel as the band but in my wisdom(?) I changed this to be closer to the city.
At the risk of sounding fuddy duddy - One Direction fans can be a little crazy....
There were hoards of young girls camped out at 1am in front of the hotel screaming. They screamed for almost three days! The groupie mentality was almost a little disturbing and whilst I have no problem with Sibs being a fan of the band, I think that I have a parental responsibility to ensure her safety and to allow her to be eleven...

So we enjoyed a slightly quieter time. We walked, chatted, shopped, giggled and did the tourist things like the museums and the Sky Tower. We lazed over hotel breakfasts - such a treat. We ordered room service in our bath robes and watched TV whilst painting our toenails. It was pure luxury having that time away from home with my girl.

Of course the absolute highlight of the weekend was the One Direction concert.

"I think this is a dream"

I once again watched my girl completely awe struck at the spectacle in front of her eyes.

It was the Swan Lake experience four years later (but with screaming!)

Five minutes after arriving in our seats she turned to me - "I think this is a dream!"

Her quiet contemplation lasted about 10 seconds and then she jumped, sang and screamed with the best of them. Oh my goodness the screaming again.....the ear plugs came in very handy!

One Direction - Auckland 2013

One Direction - Auckland 2013

Sibs beamed all the way through the concert, then all the way back to the hotel and then all the next day and more!

This was loving and living the moment big time!

from Swan Lake 2009 to One Direction 2013

We made a pact last weekend that we would find the time to get away together maybe once a year. 

Just a night or two, just the two of us.

...Already planning the next trip!

Birthday wrap up

The birthday celebrations that started on Friday continued through until Sunday.

Thank you to all who sent their best wishes.

Here's my 'capture the moment/treasure the moment' account of the weekend 

no birthday is complete without cake - thank you to Papa for this one.

Sibs's birthday was a school day and she took the obligatory chocolate muffins to share with her class at morning tea break. The number requested kept going up and up...at one point she wanted to take in 45! We compromised and after ensuring that her classmates were covered there were a few left over for a couple of special teachers and friends and I think the Principal enjoyed one with his morning coffee.

Osaka Japanese

On Friday evening Sibs invited a couple of friends to join us for dinner in a local Japanese Dining Bar. She took great joy in ordering all our food and drink and sitting at the head of the table. Relishing the fact that she was 10 - double digits! It was finished off with gelato on the way home.

Max Brenner

On Saturday morning Nana, Sibs and I took a stroll around Portside and just happened to find ourselves at Max Brenner...as you do! This is chocolate heaven. There was a cruise ship in port and we people watched with the best of them.

Then it was back home to begin preparations for the next installment - the party.

table set for a Jane Austen style dinner

 Over the years Sibs has had a butterfly party, a rainbow party, a disco party, a pizza one, a tea party - nothing too challenging really. This year she pondered for quite a while about what kind of party it was going to be and just couldn't make a decision between two things. So why not go for both?  It started with a Jane Austen theme...

we used the old  Bridgwood China

Fruit punch was served when they arrived and Papa was the butler. He did a sterling job! The table was set for four girls to enjoy a proper sit down roast dinner with chicken and beef and Yorkshire Puddings (that they found very interesting). It was all going to plan and they were having fun pretending to be little ladies until one of them went to cut a brussel sprout, accidentally missed, and her peas went flying across the table and onto the floor! Cue, lots and lots of giggles...

After a dessert of trifle, they changed head space (and thankfully rooms) and it became a One Direction party! Yes, this is the wonderful multi dimensional, glorious complexity of my girl! My ballet loving, rugby loving daughter is a fabulous mix of interests...

One Direction is a relatively new interest in this house and she received a tour DVD from her aunt and uncle for her birthday and the girls bounced and jumped (yes, straight after trifle!) and screamed to it.

the fruit punch was good....but not that good!

That was a good time to open the bubbly!

A little while later the cake was presented with candles and sparkles and we all toasted the Birthday Girl.

The merriment continued with a sleepover, breakfast and morning tea on Sunday.

just in case we needed more cake on Sunday morning!

Another year, another birthday, another set of photos for the memory box.

I hope that Sibs continues to have this amazing zest for life.

 That she keeps embracing different interests; 

that's she's comfortable to be who she is. 

We love her dearly for it...