Christmas at Home
In the morning we went down to the dining room and were having breakfast when one of the staff came over and told us that there were a lot of ‘young people’ outside the hotel and wondered if they should call the police.
“Don’t worry” I said “we can look after them.” Lesley, Tess and I went to the front doors of the hotel and had a look out. I could see some of the fans from years ago and we had a quick reminder session to remember their names before we went outside. When we showed ourselves there was a surge towards us and I called out “Whoa, you lot. I can see Betty, June and Julie and you budding guitarists Jack and Jason. If you all hold on and go to the beach and settle down we will all be going for a walk up to Cavill Avenue and back along the beach. The hotel wanted to call the police but I am sure that you will all be good and we can chat as we walk.”
There were smiles in the crowd, especially the ones we had named, and they sauntered off towards the beach while we went back in and gathered the rest of the band, telling them that we had a new exercise while we were here and to get their bikinis on. Fifteen minutes later the seven of us walked down to the beach to meet our fans. Five of us had bikinis with a light beach top over them while Brianna and Stevie were in one-piece with a short skirt to hide the bulge. We all had bum-bags with our important stuff and some marker pens.
As we strolled along the beach with the rollers on our right and the skyline of the Gold Coast on our left we all chatted with the fans. Now they realised that they had us all to their own for a while they were less frantic to talk to us. Jack and Jason were brothers and had always spent most of our shows watching how Tess and Brianna played and I often noticed their fingers trying to remember the chords. Betty had come to almost every show we had put on, as had June and Julie, two sisters. They all looked a bit older and we had a good old time talking about the past and telling them about our more recent history. As we walked we slowly covered all of their shirts with signatures. They made Stevies’ day when they told him that they didn’t believe a word in the book as they knew us well enough to see through it. We gave out a lot of hugs at that and, by the time we reached Cavill Avenue we were all very friendly.
When we got there we saw that the life-saving lookout had two guys in it that used to there before we left. Lesley said that they were Dennis and Ian and that she always used to call out to them and tell them they were hot. We had a quick huddle with our gang and when we arrived at the lookout we all stood in front of them and called out “Hello Dennis, hello Ian, gee, you guys are hot!”
They looked startled and then Ian dashed down the stairs and rushed up to us saying “Lesley Craven, you’re back!” before taking her in his arms to give her a smacking kiss that I could see almost made her toes curl. Once again it was lucky I had Cate or she would have been flattened. Everyone gave a big cheer which made him let her go and look around. “What’s going on here?” he asked. Lesley told him that all will be revealed if he could take a break and join us at the nearest café. We all trooped up to the café and made their day. Lesley introduced the rest of us to Ian and he almost fell off his chair when she said that Cate was her daughter and pointed to me as the father.
At long last he was told the story and was even more amazed when he was sitting with the entire Quimble band. He told us that he had tickets for one of the shows after Christmas and so did a lot of the life-saving club. He told us that everyone was excited at seeing us play again. Tess asked the question – why wait for next year? She said we could do a show for the surfers with all proceeds going to the club and we all agreed. Ian took us to the club and we saw that it would be better if we did the show at the Broadbeach clubrooms where we could clear the car park so we could play outside. We could play on the back of a truck and keep it simple.
Jack and Jason told us that they were friendly with the local music store and would see if they could get us the equipment on loan. We got them to go there with Charlie and Tess to see if we could get the kit. Our own stuff had been sent to a storage facility after Sydney to stay there until next year and our roadies had been sent back to England for Christmas. They came back with a positive result so the Quimble Surf Show was under way. While we were walking back I asked Lesley about Ian and she told me that he was her first love and the boy who took her virginity. I commented that he looked like he had not stopped his love for her and she gave me an enigmatic smile before saying that his kiss has reawakened her feelings for him as well.
When we arrived back at Broadbeach we got the fans to tell everyone about the Surf Show and they all trotted off with happy smiles on their faces and shirts that I knew would never get washed again. After lunch we were going to get picked up by our parents to be taken to our old homes to meet the rest of our relatives. Lesley was going to take Cate up to her parents and Algernon and the sisters said that they would head for the casino to see if they could break the bank. When I was taken home I found that my uncles and cousins were not sure about me; whether I was a star or a queer or just a naughty boy. Speaking to the others next morning I found that my experience was not any different from the others. Stevie was a bit down as her relatives were downright nasty even if her parents were OK with it. We told her that she should keep her chin up and stay true to herself.
Over the next few days we had our morning walk and then put the show together and Lesley had been seeing Ian a lot more. Her father had gone out and bought our records and had listened to them for the first time. He was not sure if he liked them but he had to admit that his daughter was good at what she did. Or should I say both daughters as I was now classed as daughter number two and had to call them Mum and Dad. They were besotted with Cate, as were my own folks. We did take some side trips during this time, an afternoon walking the shops in Mount Tamborine and most of a day at Seaworld where there was another photo of Cate, patting the nose of a dolphin.
On the Saturday night before Christmas we were on the back of a semi-trailer with a bunch of amplifiers and a good PA. The car park and every spare space around it was packed with teens and some not so teens. The overflow went down on the beach as they would be able to hear us, if not see us. We had got our folks a view point in the clubhouse and there was a small army of volunteers going around with collection tins. This was the first time our folks had seen us in the Goth gear and I could see a bit of shock on some faces when we got up on the truck. As we had not been able to practise before this we started out with a few of the older songs before moving on to the newer stuff. We played for about an hour and then took a break. Before we left the stage I called out that we would be back and how long we played was directly proportional to how much they paid and the volunteers set off with empty tins again.
We did have the local press on hand as well as a couple of TV stations filming us and the crowd. I think that they concentrated on the more weird Goth types too much but the crowd was generally in a good humour. In the break we saw our folks and got their feedback, mainly on how we looked from all of the mothers. When we went back on the truck we turned up the volume and the intensity and the crowd was really into it. When we finished with our few hits we got a gigantic roar from everyone. Although it was now after midnight no-one wanted to go home so we called Brianna and Stevie up on stage and we got stuck into the African music with the crowd swaying along to it. We had discussed what we would do if it got to this and had decided where we could extend the songs and did so, playing our final chords around one in the morning.
That night cemented our reputation as a Queensland band. The papers were very kind to us, the TV coverage the next evening was more about the good we had done and the surf clubs reported a collection which will keep them going another year. We had played so our folks could see us in a smaller environment and we now knew they wouldn’t be too shocked at the stadium show, at least not until we unleashed the pyrotechnics. The funny part of it all was that we were all made honorary members of the surf club, even Charlie, Felicity and Algernon. The music store had us in on the Monday to sign all of the instruments which were going to be fixed to the wall as not for sale. We had a group photo taken outside the shop which they said would grace the store, once we had come back next year to all sign it.
Our Christmas day was interesting as we hosted all of the families at the hotel. We had a big room with seating for everyone and the hotel chef had organised a traditional Christmas dinner. All of us girls were in stunning long dresses and the band wore their diamond pendants with similar drop earrings which we had treated ourselves with. After the meal we were sitting around with drinks and chatting and my mother took me aside to tell me that the show on Saturday evening had really opened her eyes to how good we were and also to how much we were loved by our fans. She asked me about the African songs as she loved the rhythm and I told her about Shamble and also that Briannas’ band will be stars next year when they released them in Australia. She patted my hand and told me that she was now doubly proud to be my mother and that I had become the daughter she had always longed for.
Stevies’ father was in seventh heaven as he had now had his record collection signed by all of us which would make them true collectors’ items. Ian had joined us and was almost in-separable from Lesley and was even holding Cate who was giggling loudly, the turncoat! It was a lovely evening and we all received and gave gifts. Mine from Lesley was a gold friendship ring which said it all.
Actually, the thing that made me laugh to finish off the year was when we were all having lunch in the hotel dining room and Adrian stormed in, going up to Lesley and shouting that she could do much better for herself than being with a faggot, looking at me. At this point Ian uncoiled all six and a half feet of brawn and said “Who are you calling a faggot, you bastard?” and decked him.
Marianne G 2020
