Sequin Boots, Lip Signatures & Cuddles With Mum: On Tour With Sahara Beck

First stop: Caloundra Music Festival

I think it was in 2013 when I first played at Caloundra Music Festival on one of the small singer-songwriter stages, I came back with a band to play a slightly bigger stage in 2015. What I love about Caloundra Music Festival is how supportive they are of their local artists. I have always felt so incredibly supported by this community so it was an incredible honour to be invited to play the main stage for the very first time!

Here we are in the green room at Caloundra Music Fest. Day one of the tour. These two beautiful people in the green room were getting ready to walk around the festival on stilts with their plant wings. I love anything over the top so obviously I had to get a photo with them… I just wasn’t quite tall enough so I had to improvise a bit!

This was before our set on the main stage at Caloundra Music Fest. Look at them sparkle! If I could have sequins on all my outfits, oh boy I would.

It was crazy when I got off stage to see the big line of people in the artist signing tent waiting for me! The boys in the band all took the gear back to the green room and I went and started meeting and greeting! It was so lovely meeting so many people who were willing to wait 20 minutes to have a chat with me. I had to laugh at the end though when I turned around and saw my boyfriend who had been lining up from the beginning so he could swoop in and give me the last hug and kiss of the line.

Then of course my mum and brother saw Jake's move and had to one up it with a signature. Ocean asked for the inside of his lip and mum got my signature in gold ink on her right boob.

Second stop: Brisbane – The Foundry

I’ve always wanted to play at The Foundry but never thought I would be able to fill the room up enough. This time around I thought I would put the show on in there as it is a bit larger than Black Bear Lodge (where I sold out my last Brisbane show). I couldn’t believe how many people turned up to the Brisbane show! With some of my closest friends standing in the front row to people I hadn’t seen before, I was on the verge of tears when the lights came on and I saw everyone standing there cheering!

This is a shot of our sound guy Eddie backstage at The Foundry with the nicest looking setlist we’ve ever had. Eddie Baby has been doing our sound forever and I’m always so much calmer on stage when he is behind the desk. He’s also the front of house engineer for Tones & I so he’s been quite busy lately!! I’m very lucky to have him on my team.

Third stop: Melbourne - The Workers Club 

This was taken just after the boys had perfectly Tetris-ed the van with all our gear. The art of the perfect pack: it’s a kind of rite-of-passage on the tour circuit.

I just quickly took this photo and I had to add it to this diary because it looks so much like a '90s boy band press shot. Maybe I should start a side business in capturing a band's essence through the art of photography? 

This is my brother Ocean. I love having him in the band, we get on really well and he is an incredible musician. But this is his first tour -  here in this image, is evidence.

During one of our songs in the set he usually spontaneously jumps up and starts dancing with a tambourine – Bez from Happy Mondays style – but he forgot his belt on this occasion, and not wanting his pants to fall down (oh the embarrassment), he improvised!!

Here Eddie Baby is helping me out of my sequin boots after the Workers Club show, before joining the others for dinner. Always making us laugh.

Fourth stop: Belgrave  - Sooki Lounge 

I like this sneaky picture Sam (my bass player) took. Ocean and I have always been best friends - we always questioned whether it was strange or not that we didn’t argue and hate each other like other siblings did. We always wanted to play together. When I started playing, my parents sort of tried to steer me into a more sensible direction but I pretty much made them realise at some point that this is who I was and this was what I was going to do for the rest of my life. My brother and I were trained in classical piano growing up and when I started writing music, I stopped studying theory and learning classical songs. My brother, however, went on and has become what I consider the most impressive player I know. We both wanted to tour together for so long but Mum said I had to wait until he graduated school…. so there we go fresh out of school, 18-year-old Ocean Beck touring the country with his family.

A really sweet thing about Sooki Lounge is that when you go to the bathroom downstairs, if you turn right instead of left and push on the bookcase a door will open into a club area! I felt like I was in Scooby Doo. Very cool.

So I have been platting Sam’s hair as he has appointed me his hair stylist while we are on the road. On the drive to Sookie Lounge my phone died and I had no entertainment so I just plaited my hair in all directions and when we arrived I actually didn’t mind the look so I kept that FASHUN in.

I learnt this tour that I can’t talk as much as I usually do before a show, without affecting my voice. Because usually, I would be talking to friends and guests and always talking over the top of venue music etc. I have found my voice gets tired and so I am learning to find better ways to keep it in better shape. That includes vocal rest! Here I am at Sooki Lounge asleep in the corner of the green room underneath my tour poster. Sleeping is a joyous activity.

Fifth stop: The Lost Lands Festival

Here we are in the van on our way to Werribee after deciding we had created the perfect setlist for Lost Lands Festival that day. Look at that twinkle of satisfaction in our eyes.

So I only started listening to Sampa The Great this year but when I did start, oh boy did I fall in love. I was so excited all week to see Sampa's show after us at Lost Lands Festival. I was hoping I would get to meet her but knew it wasn’t likely!! Here we are after my set. I told her how I was a big fan, how she inspires me and makes me proud to be a woman, she said, 'Yeah girl, thank you!' She then looked at my boots, stopped, looked me up and down and was like 'You’re so dope!' I’m not bragging here I’m just melting.

I was so lucky to have my mum along on this tour with us helping with merch… And giving me cuddles and reminding me to eat properly! 

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Next up we head to Sydney to play the Vanguard on Thursday 7 November and then we drive to Newcastle to play the Cambridge Side Room on Friday 8 November. I have been absolutely overwhelmed by the audiences on this tour. They have been so special, singing along to songs and showing their love for my music. This is what keeps me going every day!