A Big Weekend Here in Broadbeach

This was a BIG weekend for me.

First of all, it is my very first Blues on Broadbeach experience. And, incredibly, I’m living right in the centre of it.

Thursday night my new neighbourly friend and friendly neighbour, Tania, and I ventured out to get our first taste of the vibe we’d been feeling all day as the music swept up and around our streets, dancing into our open windows. We caught a couple of great bands that got our feet, hips, and heads moving. It was incredible to see so many people out in the park at night, standing, sitting, eating, drinking, and playing under the stars and the well-lit venues. We both acknowledged how grateful we are to live where we live. It’s such a vibrant community. We saw three different acts, all featuring some serious base guitar and we had an outdoor cocktail, an indoor pizza, and a taste of what was yet to come.

If you don’t know, Blues on Broadbeach (BOB) features more than 65 international and homegrown artists on the lineup performing across 16 indoor and outdoor stages and it’s one of Australia’s largest free music festivals and the largest Blues festival in the country. It brings a flood of incredible talent and economic infusions into the area so you could say it’s ‘good for the ‘hood’.

And, as a seasoned resident of Broadbeach (you know it has been a whole five months) I can say that it brought our little precinct alive. From mid-morning ‘til the oldies are tucked into their beds (around here that’s about 9:30PM local time) the tunes and the energy snaked through our streets. Everyone was excited by the variety and diversity of artists, by the size of the various stages, the venues, and the anticipation of what was to come. And for a festival that’s all about the Blues – no one seemed very blue at all. People were smiling, happy to be out amongst it, talking to strangers, laughing, dancing, and like me trying to capture the experience in photos and video.

So that Thursday night, I was so keyed up to spend all of the next four days getting my festival on. I had planned out a few key acts I wanted to see each day, what stage, and where was the best route to take in as many bands as possible I was ready.

Then it hit. Like a bloody steamroller.

Friday morning I woke up unwell. But bound and determined, I combined my trips to the shops with taking in a few incredible bands. Good thing I did because I also learned things can change in an instant.

By 2 PM Friday afternoon, I was barking like a sea lion, my head felt like it was ready to explode and I was achy all over, shivering, and could barely stay awake.

There would be no Tommy Emmanuel for me Friday night. In fact, I was in bed for about 40 hours with no relief. There was no BOB for me on Saturday at all. I was heartbroken. Because Saturday was also another milestone for me.

This weekend was also my first wedding anniversary not living with Chris. I’d say that it was the first anniversary we weren’t husband and wife, but our relationship had been shattered much before we ever chose to live apart.

Memories of our wonderful wedding came flooding in and of the time we spent together before and after our official marriage. All I could do was let them, feel them, bawl my already puffy eyes out, smile at some, be grateful for others, and try to focus on all the good, there was so much good. And I did all this whilst I hacked up a lung, popped more Panadol, drank more liquids, and tried to get some relief from sleep.

Accepting this new reality is not easy. Anyone who says a life change like this is a liar!

Firsts can be incredibly painful, like this first UN-AVERSARY – please tell me they get easier.

I was hoping that Blues on Broadbeach would be the incredible diversion I needed to get through this first, but instead, I was bedridden and feeling more alone, helpless, and vulnerable than I have since I first learned of infidelity which ultimately led to my marriage failure.

I have made some wonderful friends here and yes, lots of us talked about taking in the festival together. There were lots of promises of getting together. Lots of offers of support, lots of thoughtful wishes, and lots of community. I truly feel blessed to have landed among these people.

But when push comes to shove, when the reality of our daily rounds, and our own priorities, timing, and conflicting priorities, the reality of the experience can be very different from the expectation. That is not a judgment, just an observation. And even with all the good intentions, we are often left only to truly depend on ourselves.

So, I could have stayed in bed all weekend long… I’m writing this on Sunday night. I’ll tell you on Tuesday whether I regret my choice.

But, I thought, NO!

I may not have been able to see a few key artists that I had eagerly anticipated seeing live. But maybe I could find a way to rest and recoup from this horrible flu and take in another few more bands so that I could truly say that I gave my first BOB my all.

So after 42 hours in bed, I showered, dressed and put on my backpack, and plotted the best route to pick up more juice and supplies and see more bands while I walked the streets of Broadbeach getting a big ole dose of Vitamin D from the glorious 22C sunny Sunday.

I was so happy to see this variety of styles and performances and was glad I made the effort. I witnessed the absolute epic guitar mastery and a Waltzing Matilda like no other from the CHRIS FINNEN BAND, the cool cat stylings and great dance moves of BB FACTORY, the sweet sultry sounds of DIAMONDS AND THE BLUES, to the tuba that punctuated the playful banjo stylings of THE LONG JOHNS.

I came home and took another nap. Then i had hoped to connect with my friend to attend the one last group I had really wanted to experience. She was giving it a miss. So, I had two choices, stay in and regret not making one final effort. Or, push myself, to go by myself into the night to make one final effort to take in this amazing festival in my own backyard.

I did the latter. And, the performance was incredible! The final act was THE MELBOURNE SKA ORCHESTRA. Their incredible mastery, energy, audience interaction, showmanship, and sense of play, definitely got top marks from me. For 95 minutes I was transported to a place where I wasn’t in emotional or physical turmoil. I wasn’t by myself. I was connected to the band and the hundreds of strangers surrounding me. There were so many positive messages coming through their music that I felt like the playlist was customised just for me at this moment of my life. I laughed. I sang. I danced. And, I did it all on my own. And, that was a big first for me.

While firsts can be difficult, they can also be incredible, even if they’re not what you expected them to be. That’s what my first-ever Blues on Broadbeach experience taught me.

But the biggest lesson from this big weekend of mine was this… If you have to rely on JUST ONE PERSON for the quality of your life, one person to, ‘love, honour and cherish’, to be with you through rollercoaster rides, to be there when it matters, when you’re hacking up a lung, to be there for the experiences and the new adventures, to be there for all the firsts…

SHOULD WE EVER EVEN CONSIDER THAT PERSON TO BE ANYONE OTHER THAN OURSELF?

I think not. I’m not trusting that all-important role to anyone else.