A couple of weeks ago a lovely lady called Anne-Marie reached out to me to say that she had two tickets for a concert that she was unable to attend anymore and would I like to add it to my list.
With Anne-Marie Booth
I said yes, because on two fronts it was a new experience for me. I've never been to the Royal Albert Hall and I've never watched Jason Mraz. In fact I haven't listened to his music since university (yes I've been under a rock musically) so I was intrigued to see what he sounded like nowadays.
I took my mum with me and she's not a big fan of heights or audience participation, both of which she found herself facing within 30 mins of sitting in the upper circle and listening to support band Berge. And we were a bit scared about getting lynched by the superfans surrounding us so we kept a low profile.
It's difficult not to fall for Mraz's charms though and we found ourselves clapping and singing along, almost blending in with the regulars until mum outed us by exclaiming 'oh I know this one!' about halfway through.
We watched as girls and men alike coo'ed at him, replying to his rhetorical questions, enthralled by his every word and as the show unfolded we could see why:
HE'S VERY FUNNY
HE'S A GREAT SHOWMAN
HE'S A BRILLIANTLY TALENTED SINGER
HIS SHOW HAS LIGHT AND SHADE (HUMOUROUS AND SAD SONGS)
HIS SHOW IS AN EXPERIENCE
I find it really funny that out of all the events and experiences I've taken part in so far in the last couple of months, things that I really thought would challenge me actually haven't, and this was the one that truly threw me out of my comfort zone. A new venue, a new experience and something I really don't choose to do anymore, a night someone else had chosen for themselves but gave to me. I used to really be into music and just stopped going to gigs when Parkinson's kicked in because it was physically challenging.
So thank you Anne-Marie for reigniting that spark in me.
'I will not waste my days Making up all kinds of ways To worry about all the things That will not happen to me.' Jason Mraz