Remember that time I said I was going away for the weekend at Splendour and then didn’t post for ages? I am sorry. Here, have this picture/video heavy entry as my apology!

When my mum told me that she had tickets for Splendour in the Grass 2011 for Errol and I was unbelieveably excited! I hadn’t been to a concert in years and Errol and I were itching to do something remotely unrelated to parenting. I assumed we’d have the kids baby sat and have a fantastic time in some mosh pits sans children getting sweaty with some people we’d never met (’cause that’s fun, right?). Then while I was browsing the Splendour website I noticed a FAQ about bringing children and was surprised to read that children were not only welcome (and FREE) at the event but they were also catered to with an amazing kids festival set up for the little ones. My mum said we were crazy to consider taking the kiddos with us and well, yes… we are crazy… but our weekend was sensational and truth be told, I wouldn’t have wanted to do it without them.

Peach in particular had an incredible time and was able to see her very favourite recording artist live (at three years old, pretty damn lucky!). I am pretty picky about the music videos Priya is allowed to watch so when Bene showed me this sensational singer with bright, happy and clever film clips that didn’t involve women gyrating and men with pants around their ankles I was keen to show it to her. She loves dancing and so I wasn’t surprised when the first time she saw the film clip to Cameo Lover she was in heaven. Breathless from her spontaneous dancing after watching it the first time she gripped my arm and said “I.Love.Her. She is mah FAVOURITE!”. And indeed, she is. When I saw that Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know (Feat Kimbra) was playing on Rage and put it on the big screen for her – her eyes nearly popped out of her head. On every car ride “Can you put that Kimbra on again?” while inconsolable vomiting and sick “I want the Kimbra paint song” when Kimbra came on at Myers (yelling to the entire store) “It’s MAH SONG!”

(If you’re reading this post and aren’t already familiar with the jazz-soul-pop fusion recording artist Kimbra, I’d suggest you start here or here)

When I sat Peach down and explained that we were going to go see Kimbra in real life, she was estatic. For the weeks leading up to Splendour she would tell me “I am going to see Kimbra, I am going to ask her for her dress” (ha, best kid ever), “I am going to wave at her, I am going to say ‘Hello Kimbra, I love you!”.

I was thankful that Kimbra was an early afternoon set on the Friday because I don’t think our Peach’s excitement could have been contained much longer. When we settled on the hill outside the GW McLENNAN tent and I told her it wouldn’t be for a while she was quite unimpressed. Her furrowed brow stared towards the tent visibly displeased. As soon as I told her that we could go see Kimbra now though, she was… well. You can see for yourself:

We got there as early as possible so Peach could have a clear view from the front. We were very fortunate to get so close because apparently we’re not the only ones in love with her, we were quickly surrounded by a full tent. At 1pm on a Friday, that’s saying something! Even though it was crowded I did feel a certain sense that we were seeing something very special. I have a feeling this woman is about get so famous that seeing her this close would involve being crushed.

Here’s some footage of us waiting for Kimbra to come on stage and a little snippet of Kimbra singing. The audio quality of my video camera does not do justice to her sensational voice and vocal range. Seriously. We loved her in her clips that she’s already released but I had no idea just how unbelievably talented she is. I read a comment on one of her youtube clips that “she looks like she wants to dance the whole time, but she’s obligated at the mic. It’s a beautiful dilemma” and indeed it was.

 Despite being only 21, Kimbra exudes this strong confidence and owned that stage with the assurance only someone so talented could. I heard lots of people surrounding me gushing about her and well… I was too. If my daughter wants to admire an artists with a fresh new sound, quirky dance moves and a wardrobe that’s every little girls envy, I am happy! To add to that, I really enjoy a lot of the themes to her songs about commitment and vows and hope that my Peach grows to appreciate some of the messages. Music will be a big part of Peach’s education and I am quite happy that her first live music experience was someone so phenomenal.

In hindsight,  it probably would have been a good idea for me not to get Peach used to falling to sleep to Kimbra’s smooth sound because um yeah… this is what happened next. In the middle of her set. With a tonne of screaming people around her.

Ha. Now I just need to figure out a way to get Kimbra to perform at our house every nap time

When Peach woke later and Kimbra had finished her set it was quite sad. Partially because she had very much wanted to see her perform ‘Cameo Lover’ and had fallen asleep before it but mostly because I don’t think she had quite understood the concept of ‘seeing Kimbra live’.

“But I didn’t get to say hello to Kimbra?” she said on waking and when I explained Kimbra had gone home she was disbelieving. In fact, every time we walked past any stage for the rest of our time at Splendour she would yell “Kimbra’s going to come out again! Let’s sit here and watch!”. I excitedly lined up for hours to see Regina Spektor with her the next day and the first thing she said on seeing Regina take to the stage “But where is Kimbra?!?!”. Ha.

So I guess we’re heading to see Kimbra again in Brisbane later next month. You should too.