The Moment
So, let’s talk. Let’s go back to that moment. You know, THE moment that your life changed. Do you have one? What happened that pivoted your world on its axis and hurtled you in another direction?
For me it happened on a football field, covered in sweat, and was as unexpectedly clear as it was glorious. ‘This is it.’ I had never been more sure of anything in my tiny little fifteen year old life.
It was officially my first concert, and by some miracle it happened in my small nondescript town of Murwillumbah. The local council decided to team up with the anti-alcohol funsters DDU - you might remember their ads from the 90s – ‘Drink. Drunk. The difference is U.’ To send the message home that getting drunk was evil, they commandeered the local football field and put on some live music. Fair to say, it was an event that attracted a remarkably different crowd from the venue’s usual jocks. And so, the DDU Rock Concert was born.
Now, if you know the answer to this question, I’ll have to buy you a beer next time I see you (sorry DDU!), but WHO decided to do this in my little town? And what uber-cool genius was responsible for pulling the line up together??!
Spiderbait. Regurgitator. Anti Anti. Esoteric. And space on the line up for the local Battle of the Bands winners. All for the princely sum of… $15. Whoa.
It was my birthday the week before, so my parents bought me my very first CD – Regurgitator’s Hamburger EP. I’m pretty sure they regretted that purchase on day one, as I listened to it on repeat, learnt all the words, and walked around rapping things like “I like my girls silicone-filled, chilled, freshly killed, snuffed. I like them retouched, stuffed buffed. Coke in hand, can cool and thick, please, the global man suck the TNC’s dick.” All class. Sorry mum and dad.
The day of the gig came, and I honestly don’t remember much of what happened beforehand. What I do remember is walking across that football field, heading towards the crowd. I remember checking out all the hot boys from the other schools that I’d never seen before, and being way too shy to even consider approaching them. And then I remember being in the mosh pit.
Like, right in the middle of the mosh pit. What an experience. My best friend made the mistake of wearing a short skirt, so while she was busy fending off wayward hands, I was having the best moment of my life. I distinctly remember Quan from Regurgitator, spitting into the microphone and running around the stage as Ben Ely stood there with his bass slung low. It was mesmerising. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. We jumped. Up. Down. Up. Down. Moving as one.
The experience was blowing my tiny little mind. I had never been part of something so all-encompassing, so thrilling, so in-the-moment, and my heart was exploding with love and the sense that, finally, there was somewhere that I belonged. Finally.
In the middle of that mosh pit, as my heart filled with a sense of pure elation unlike anything I’d ever known, I made a very definite decision. At the risk of getting too deep, I’d even say it was more than that. I heard it in my head and felt it in every part of my being, clear as day: ‘This is it. This is what I want to do. I want to give this feeling to as many people as I can.’ I didn’t know how, but I knew that I was going to do it. And so that’s what I set out to do… right after I stopped to grab the band’s signatures.
My dream was born that day. I’d found my tribe, my reason for being, and my passion. I knew what I had to do, and I’ve been doing it ever since, in one way or another. It’s been quite the journey along the way, with a few bumps in the road, but more about that next time…
How about you? Have you had a moment like that? Something that completely changed your life?