This time last weekend, I was in the the thick of QLD Poetry Festival 2010. Fourteen years on, this festival just keeps going from strength to strength. There were far too many poetic highlights to mention… seriously, I couldn’t do it justice, but the real highlight, as always, was the warmth and openness of the festival audience and the artists. Being at QPF is a unique experience and one that I love dearly. My own personal highlight was without a doubt performing in the main theatre of The Judith Wright Centre on Saturday night with Sheish Money & Namedropper, with a backdrop of sublime images from Cindy Keong. It was the strangest feeling…
I had been planning the show for 12months, working with Cindy on the photos, getting the book ready, rehearsing with Sheish and then the band. It was a big process… and then I was up there; the lights hit, the music swelled and I lost myself in the poems; gave myself to them. As soon as we hit the end of the first poem – Grounded - and the band locked straight into the next groove, I knew we were on.
It quite simply flashed by and as Sheish took vocal duties on the last piece – Save Myself / Lessons, I filled with emotion. Sheish and I have been doing this for almost a decade and here we were, surrounded by people we love, still surprising each other, still pushing the creative process. And as the applause rose and we walked off stage, I felt, I had left nothing behind… you can’t ask for anything more than that.
There are already plans to perform this show again, so keep your eyes out for details later in the year.
The photos here were sent through to me by the lovely Angel Kosch (and keep your eye out for official photos on the QLD Poetry Festival website in the coming weeks).
