The Young and the Restless | Living for the live

It’s the atmosphere of being surrounded by fans all vibing to the artists we mutually love, the excitement of being so close to the musically talented humans we’ve heard only through our speakers time and time again, and then the thrill of hearing a new take on our favourite songs.

After going to the Guns ‘N’ Roses concert at the ’G at the start of this month (my second Gunners concert), I had a friend tell me he thought Axl Rose (the band’s frontman) was past it because he sounded terrible live and that he would never go to see him perform.

I didn’t think Axl sounded terrible, but I was thrilled he did not sound exactly the same as he did on a studio-recorded album.

If he did, what would be the point of going to see him live?

At every show you have a one-of-a-kind experience because it’s live, and even if the set list is the same for each show on that tour, every performance is different. The audience interaction changes, the crowd’s energy differs, the venue adds certain ambience. And that is something so very special.

I have a hugely varied taste in music.

I love rap, heavy metal, Aussie hip-hop, old-school rock, deep house, a bit of mainstream pop and so on. In fact my Spotify Wrapped revealed that I “explored 69 different genres” and “listened to 1550 different artists” this year.

My eclectic taste in music has rubbed off on my kids (something I’m proud of, even though they probably stood no chance anyway).

I would love to take them to every concert I go to, but as anyone who’s ever been to a concert knows, tickets aren’t cheap — especially if you have to multiply them by four.

And it’s not just the cost of tickets; it’s the transport, the accommodation, the food.

All multiplied by four, in my case.

So when I take my kids to a concert, it has to be one of their absolute favourite artists.

Or, it has to be an Australian artist performing here in Shepp or Mooroopna, or even Bendigo or Albury, where you don’t necessarily have to stay overnight and can get out of a car park within minutes rather than hours to still make it home to Shepp before turning into a pumpkin.

The first arena show I took my kids to was Amy Shark at Margaret Court Arena a few years ago.

I’ve seen Amy four times; at The Forum, at Margaret Court Arena, at Rod Laver Arena, and then, after all those shows got bigger and bigger, in little old Shepp-town at Eastbank.

I’d have taken them to see her again, but I thought we’d hold off and see which other talent was headed our way so they could see someone they hadn’t seen before.

My sister and I were lucky enough to spontaneously catch The Reubens at WestSide in between lockdowns — cheap, close and downright amazing.

We had another sister date to see the fab Dean Lewis in Albury a couple of weeks ago, too.

At Land of Plenty, my eldest and I saw a couple of our faves in Drapht and G-Flip.

We do manage to attract some amazing big names to regional areas.

So you can imagine our delight when on AFL Grand Final day, someone brought to our attention that Baker Boy was playing in Shepparton that night and tickets were still available.

It was an hour before his show and we made the spontaneous decision to purchase tickets (and walk down there because Mumma had had a couple of cocktails watching the game).

Lo and behold, not only did we secure tickets, but we were in the FRONT ROW!

And they cost me only 45 bucks each!

You just cannot beat seeing Aussie artists in intimate regional venues.

I mean, I’m not so sure now that legend has won five ARIA awards this year, including Album of the Year, we’d ever see that kind of value again, but how lucky were we?

Baker Boy had us all on our feet, at the stage’s edge, as he and his entourage held our unwavering attention for a solid 90 minutes as they played, sang and danced.

My kids were beaming as he came past us multiple times and high-fived them each time: “Mum, I touched a famous person!”

Seriously, how good?

Baker Boy is going from strength to strength and will no doubt be a household name one day.

And then my kids will be able to say, “I saw him in this little intimate venue in my home town after Mum ‘dragged’ us to his show.”

Good. I’ll happily be blamed for such things.

If you too are a music lover, I strongly encourage you to share that love with your kids and take advantage of any opportunity to see an amazing emerging artist in our humble little city.

— Bree Harding is a former News reporter and a single mother to three children.