Well, the death knell is ringing out on Summer for another year. Tomorrow will be Autumn and another set of adventures, this time with longer pants.
For me Soundwave has always been the final event and the beginning of the end of Summer for another year. I love that going each year is both amazing and tinged with so many bitter sweet memories. I don’t know how people handle the memories of their lives, for me they are so present and wash over me at the slightest whiff of a certain perfume or hearing a certain song or album.
Soundwave is great in that way, mixing new bands with old and giving me that nostalgic rush. Seeing Metallica like I did a few years ago at Big Day Out, hearing Nothing Else Matters and simultaneously being taken back to that night on the hill at the Gold Coast where the haunting riff filled me with a bit of loneliness while also taking me back to the 90s when I first heard it. This time around it filled me with awe and happiness.When I first heard it live I felt alone on that hill, this time I felt like I was experiencing it with 20,000 other people. So many layers of memory, so much context!
Seeing Offspring and being reminded of your own mortality in the aged faces of its band members. Hearing those songs that filled you with so much energy and emotion as a 14 year old, reminding you of how much older you feel and how much less energy you have! Hearing those songs and singing your heart out and being taken right back there for a moment in time. Experiencing that with your husband, who’s been standing by your side, loving music the way you have for the last 14 years. Golden!
Even just the memories of this seven year tradition of heading to Soundwave have got a special place in my heart. Building traditions with my husband that have gone on for almost our entire 20s brings its own kind of comfort. I look back on even five years ago with such fondness, I can’t imagine how looking back on these times in 20 years will feel. I am sure I will be so grateful for the fun and experiences we have been able to share with our friends. And when I feel lonely or nostalgic, I can just listen to my records and be taken right back there.
Music is an emotional roller coaster for me. It’s been my pacifier, my energiser, my sympathiser, my record keeper and a huge source of fun. You can be who you want to be with music. It can remind you of who you want to be. As long as I can still hear and move, I’ll be heading to Soundwave (well, maybe not every single year). I’m sure the memories will get even more intense and layered as my life moves on, but I hope I never lose the magic that music gives me.
xfez