First Thursdays are really not my favourite. December’s was a goodie though – Dangerfields and Caelo, two of my favourite newcomers of the year, played a great show at Manila but it was even newer-newcomers Echo Beach (though they’re technically a bit of a super group) who stole the night for me.
Taxi Violence are making a return after a pretty long absence and played a show at Mercury at the end of November. Here are some shots from the night.
Ah Monzi Cat. So close to your 18th birthday and just a week after Livvie. Our three oldest cats lost in the same year. But this is the one that really hurts. The thing I’ve been dreading at every sign of old age you showed. The thing that made me hold you even tighter at night. The thing that made me remind you every day that you had to make it to 20, that was the deal. The thing that finally and suddenly happened and now you’re gone there’s just nothing. This vast nothing in my life where you used to be. We spent over 14 years together, more than half of my lifetime. All that time and all that love, it’s too much to think about. There aren’t words for this kind of devastation. Three days of crying and still the tears keep coming. I feel like they’ll never truly stop. And you held on so tightly, even though I tried to tell you it was okay, forget the deal, you can sleep now. Still you refused, you were always so brave and so strong. My sweet girl, I’ll love you and miss you forever.
We lost our gentle giant Olivia (aka Sheep) this weekend, just a few weeks after her 17th birthday. She’d been fading since Wednesday and by the weekend was nearly gone. I was running late for work on Saturday night and hated the idea of leaving her alone. I’d gone to check on her and she was bad, so I brought her some tuna (she had a psychic link to the stuff, if you ever even thought of opening a can she’d appear from nowhere, with a customary “brow!”) and I swear she held on till I came back to the room and then she let go. It was heartbreaking but I was glad I could be there with her at the end. Goodbye, sweet crazy girl, thank you for all the love and laughs over the last 13 years ❤
Saturday of the first Endless Daze festival at the Silwerstroom Resort featured some of my favourite performances of the weekend, those by Dangerfields, Medicine Boy and Black Math.
Here are some shots from the second and last day of the fest.
