Fremantlebiz - Paul's Letter from Australia

Another musical gig

I'm not going to write about terror today except to observe that its curious every time that there seems to be a move to ratchet up community fear of mad mullahs we see pictures of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. These are apparently the icons which Australia most fears will be attacked. It seems too from press reports that swarthy types have been sighted taking photos of the Melbourne Sock Exchange. This is serious. I have about fifty socks which have lost their partners.

Such thoughts were far from the minds of this family last night. Many of us attended Re-loaded, the Melville High School's second variety show for 2005.

Naturally our main reason for attending was to applaud our two daughters, who are musicians in the Swing Band.

There were two firsts for our sixteen year old daughter number-one last night. In the Swing Band's opening number, Born To Be Wild she performed her first sax solo in public. Then later in a number called Since You've Been Gone she backed up another group on base guitar. This was the first time she had performed in public on a base.

The guitar move has been a bit of surprise for everyone. She has been working at it in private for about 14 weeks. There has been a bit of conflict between her and her twin brother, who has also had an interest in the instrument - a case of two base players and one base guitar on the home front being not always harmonious.

This daughter's first serious instrument was the flute, but there are lots of flute players and she wanted something more gutsy. She became proficient on alto sax, then tenor sax. Now its the guitar. She can also thump out a couple of Scott Joplin rags on piano and occasionally gives our drums a bit of a workout.

I thought last night she looked very cool dressed in black with a short sleeved top which looked a bit like a black singlet. She gave the impression she had been playing base for years. She wowed some of the non-musician kids. I heard one go up to her after the show and admiringly say, "Hey I didn't know you could play base."

We were sitting at the back of the audience. We didn't arrive late, but most people got there before us. We had quite a good view, but in the row of seats behind us were all the non-musician teenagers. These were the ones who thought it cool to be a non-performer. They weren't badly behaved, just lumpish and loud.

Daughter number two, currently 14, was dutifully playing trombone throughout the night. I predict she will soon start experimenting with another instrument even though she says she loves what she is doing. For us parents it is very pleasurable to watch our daughters develop their musical skills, mostly through their own initiative.

Son number five, the other twin who left school in the middle of the year to become our newest plumber is a trumpet player. Unfortunately the shift removed him from the school band. I would have liked it to have been a less sudden departure. He went along with us last night and I feel sure he wished some way he could have been up on stage with his former peers, but it was not to be.

There are still a few more school gigs for this year - mostly concert band performances at surrounding primary schools. I think everyone is looking forward to the Christmas holidays.

The music department has operated under considerable difficulty since the renovators moved in. The usual rehearsal room was demolished and the temporary facilities were cramped and inadequate.

Conditions overall are such that most students and teachers still shuttle between the high school and what was an about to be demolished old Melville Primary School. This has been very inconvenient for everyone.

Regular school work is already winding down. Our daughters have left for school today wearing extra long ear rings. This seems to be some sort of end of year fashion craze. Who can wear the largest ornaments without tripping over them? It wouldn't happen at a private school.

© MMV Paul R. Weaver.

About the writer

Check out each month's subject index on the Calendar Page for my "common-man" monologues about survival in 21st century Australia – plus a little history occasionally. An original essay is added most days.

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