I love October. For my family, it’s usually a month of birthday fun, holidays and frosty, autumnal outings. The wafting scent of pumpkin spice and fallen leaves is surely enough to make anyone giddy. This year though, I feel like I’ve entered a strange alternate universe.
It’s no secret that life since the Covid outbreak has been very different for everyone… You can’t open a newspaper or turn on the telly without hearing about it at least once. I feel like everyone is now throwing around the phrase “the new normal”, but it’s all a bit cryptic isn’t it? So, I thought I’d give you a wee insight into my life at the moment along with what the Vintage Girls have been up to throughout the past few months!
I think just about every creative person on the planet went into lockdown with the idea that they would be able to take on the West End when they emerged. It does sound like a fabulous plan to be fair! And the gift of time was indeed welcomed by most people seeing as we lead such hectic lives these days. But, like every New Year’s resolution ever created, the motivation soon wore off as time stretched on in front of us.
I, of course, had a whack at a fair few new (or old but neglected) hobbies myself. I foxtrotted my way around my living room, played piano and guitar, heck, I even wrote some poetry that will, thank god, never see the light of day. It all inevitably fell by the wayside as three weeks turned into six turned into twelve. Luckily, the only thing that has never bored me is singing.
Having the VGs to focus on really helped give life some structure. As Susan and Mary are absolute producing wizards, we kept ourselves going by making ‘at home’ music videos. I, however, am extremely un-techie (sorry to any fellow millennials reading this) so I just needed to press record and sing in key. Singing together, even if it was virtually, brought a lot of joy and focus in a time that didn’t really have much else going for it.
Then, for a fantastic month or so, we were able to see each other in person again! Hoorah! We had reached the light at the end of the tunnel (or so we thought). And what better way to get back into performing than doing a virtual gig for Dundee Pride? We got to spend a whole day surrounded by balloons and rainbows whilst singing summery songs in the sun – if that doesn’t sound like the definition of happiness then I don’t know what does!
For a short period of time we got to rehearse and make real life plans. ‘Normality’ still seemed to be a long way off but our sing-songs provided a lovely little slice of regularity.
We dove back into things by setting ourselves the tall task of learning “Wannabe” by The Spice Girls. After settling which one of us was Ginger, Posh and Baby we started on the much less glamorous mission of note-bashing our way through ridiculously close harmonies. I soon found out that I was a bit more rusty than I had anticipated… Turns out music doesn’t always fit with the “just like riding a bike” theory that I apply to most aspects of my life.
And now, here we are, seemingly witnessing history repeat itself. Lockdown pt2 has brought with it a tedious sense of deja vu. The uncertainty makes our job a lot more difficult – it’s tough to imagine a time when life will go back to “normal” again – so planning and performing has to take a slight pause for now.
I fear I may have sounded like a right grump whilst writing this, but the past year has actually been a much needed reminder of just how lucky I am. And yes, life still feels strange, but if Covid has taught us anything, it’s that we need to cherish all the important things in life.
Sending lots of love to all of you who are reading this, thank you for your support throughout such an odd time. Keep checking our pages for some exciting news – we won’t be disappearing any time soon! Much love!
Keep on keeping on,
Rebecca <3