“Everybody – Get Up On Your Feet!”

Last weekend I again found myself at my favourite place, the theatre. So frequent are my visits these days that I’m beginning to find myself in constant applause-mode. Why am I the only one clapping in the cinema? And, did no-one else think that the acting in that scene from ‘Neighbours’ was worthy of a standing ovation? Seriously, I have become so clap happy!

During my most recent outing to the theatre it was soul singer Beverley Knight’s turn to entertain me. Leaping onto the stage with perhaps more energy than I have ever witnessed, Bev bounced an endless bounce that simply demanded the audience join in. “Everybody – Get up on your feet!” she screamed between bounces during the opening number. And that was pretty much the last I saw of her throughout the show as I sat there looking up at a sea of jiggling bums and flailing arms. I can’t bring myself to feel angry, however, this is exactly what a concert should be like. Who wants to sit sedately and watch while the artists tear up the stage and put their all into a performance? No, I’m not angry with the people who stood up or at Bev for assuming that everyone could stand up. I suppose if anything I should be angry at the MS, but I’m not…

I think I’m most angry at myself. You see, this would have been a perfect opportunity to unleash my newfound ‘bounce’ (see previous posts), but I couldn’t do it – I didn’t have any bounce to spare. The previous evening a combination of red wine, ill-placed toys & poor balance meant that I’d suffered a rather unfortunate fall as I smashed my head against a wall. Perhaps as a result of this, I had spent a doleful day in bed before the gig, well and truly depleted of any energy or bounce. I guess it’s not possible to be ‘up’ all of the time; everyone has down days and everyone loses their bounce sometimes. What matters is that you pick yourself up, dust yourself down and start all over again.