Dispatches from the Fury Road: Mackay

There were over a thousand people at tonight’s gig.

That’s pretty cool, right? When I found out how many punters were locked in for the show, I started preparing from the moment I woke up. Don’t get it in your head this was one long Rocky montage. I wasn’t out in the snow with a tyre wrapped around my waist. I wasn’t running up stairs so I could look out across Philadelphia first thing in the morning. I wasn’t punching slabs of meat. I’m vegetarian. What would I be laying into? I doubt punching some hanging tofurkey would prepare me for anything.

I was mindful that there were a lot of people at the show, so what I wanted to do was perform a set where my sentences were as muscular as possible. No faffing about around the sides. I wanted to keep each routine as easy to follow as possible. I had a responsibility to the people from the front of the crowd all the way to the back. I didn’t want any stories or jokes that could become lost or lose momentum as they skimmed from one row of people to the next.

My other focus was to make certain I exaggerated my movements. Try to be as large as possible onstage, which at 170 centimetres, requires some serious shape making. Once again it is about giving everyone up the back something else to focus on. We did have giant screens on either side of the stage but the last thing I wanted to do was look up and see my giant face looking down like the Wizard of Oz in his Friday night black t-shirt attire. Those screens were doing their jobs, but I was focused on what I could control, which was the performance.

It was a longish drive today that coincided with a few stops for snacks and toilet breaks. Once again the only vegetarian options were processed food and hot chips sweating under glass. It was a beautiful drive and I found myself losing focus on the conversation in the car as I watched the mountains whipping by.

Taking in the surroundings were part of the preparation. I am cognisant that this could be the last time I perform at these gigs. It might be the final time I see this part of Australia. I don’t mean this in a pessimistic way, but I am fully aware that nothing lasts forever. It is important to be present in each moment. This might be the last time I have the opportunity to perform to a big audience, so I wanted to be at my best. For the people who paid money, for the people who booked me, and for myself. Also, the last time I travelled to Mackay was a disgrace, which you can read about here.

Tonight’s gig was one of those rare moments as a comedian that you can kid yourself you know what a rock star would experience. I don’t mean I was a rock star. If anything I was a middle aged guy belting out his one hit that made it to number 4 on Countdown back in 1982, and I’ve been living off that song ever since. No, what I mean is that you feel the energy of a large crowd coming straight at you. You feel their focus. You feel their enjoyment. It fills you with so much electricity you feel like you could fly to the moon and back.

Afterwards I needed to burn some of that energy off. Tomorrow is an early start with a long drive to Gladstone for the show. I need to sleep. My tour manager Shannon and I went to the bar downstairs at the hotel for one nightcap. In the bar, a covers band was whipping an audience that consisted of super young people and older groovers into a dancing frenzy. Gen Z were happy to bump and grind alongside Boomers, as the lights flashed along to a Red Hot Chilli Peppers song.

On the bass guitar was a guy who had to be late fifties, early sixties. He had a bald head, a long white beard, and was knocking it out. We watched a few songs and he was my MVP. Out on a Friday night, playing with his mates, keeping the dance floor bouncing to the songs of yesteryear. I have nothing but respect for that guy and people like him. Longevity is often a result of hard work and luck. As I said earlier, you never know when you’ll have your last gig. You better make certain you’re in the moment so it can feel like it will last forever.

We performed to over a thousand people tonight.

A thousand.

That is pretty cool.

Justin Hamilton

Mackay

3rd of May, 2024