Monday 25 August 2003, 11am
By Angelica Cameron

Finding Michael Franti: A Birthday story

This story was written by Angelica Cameron on the morning of 9 August 2003, the day after her 15th birthday.

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The Michael Franti and Spearhead concert in Melbourne Festival Hall, 9 August 2003. (Photo: Angelica Cameron)

Festival Hall, the venue set for the Michael Franti and Spearhead concert. We got there at about 3:30pm, which was three and a half hours early. We wanted to meet Michael Franti, and rumour has it that he often comes and plays hackey sack with his fans in the car park before the show, but the security guards were not very nice to us, and they wouldn't tell Michael Franti that we were there!

We tried lots of things, we slipped a piece of paper under the door to him, we tried to send him a letter asking him to come outside, but nothing worked. We were cold and hungry and a few of us had given up all hope, when finally Radioactive, the beat boxer from spearhead, came outside and signed our posters, wrote me a happy birthday note in my notebook (!) and talked to us for a while. This got our spirits up a bit and made us even more excited about the night to come! We exchanged hugs and kisses with Radioactive and were just the typical bunch of screaming and excited teenage girls you could have expected us to be, but what can I say? I’m 15 now, I’m allowed to act like that...

As the afternoon wore on, it got darker and wetter as we waited for the concert. Then at about 6:40pm Dad came and we all rushed off to put our bags in the car.

Angelica (second from left) and friends hug Radioactive before the show.

There were signs on the Festival Hall door saying that you couldn't have cameras or recording devices of any sort in the concert. Bummer! But don’t worry, we were prepared. I had brought sticky tape to strap my mini disk recorder to my leg under my baggy pants and my friends and I divided the other equipment up between us: we had little leads and microphones and batteries stuck in all sorts of odd places, I’m sure u can guess a few, but lets not go into it... (OK, I am of course referring to stowing them up our tops).

So, when the doors opened at about ten past seven, in a mad rush we found ourselves pushed inside, (phew, we got in with all our sound equipment and cameras unnoticed!) After finding our seats, we hurried over to the merchandise stall. We wanted to buy T-shirts before they all sold out. I asked the man for the smallest top he had, and he showed me a top just my size; it says 'Michael Franti' and 'Spearhead' on the front, and on the back is a kind of picture/design that says 'Power to the Peaceful'. It is black, with white writing. It is really cool!

Then the support band came on and they were from Brisbane. They were quite good, but it was hard to appreciate them, when all we really wanted was to hear Spearhead.

While the support band were playing, I got a call from Max in year 10, saying that Nick Lawrence was very sick and couldn’t come, and did I know anyone who wanted the ticket... wow... I knew a hundred people who would love to be there! So I started franticly calling people... Oscar who lived close and could have made it in time was no at home... damn... who else? I knew that Felix wanted to come, but he wouldn’t have enough time to get there. Bother! So in the end that ticket was not even used.

David Cameron (far left) and Angelica (centre) with Michael Franti after the concert.

When the support act finished the lights came on and as they went down again, Spearhead came onto the stage. It was cool to see Radioactive on the stage and to know that we had just met him and he had wished me happy birthday!

So, the music was just amazing! Michael Franti is 6 foot 6 and that is just sooo tall! i couldn’t believe it. He has this wonderful presence; he danced around the stage with Radioactive. They are just the essence of cool :-)

I’m listening to the recording now, and I can hear my friends and I just sighing and saying “ wow, oh my god, shit! Look! We are here, it's him!”

It almost seems like a dream now, but I felt so good. I spent half the time standing next to Dad (the people who had seats, couldn’t help but to stand up and dancing to the great music) and the rest of the time dancing with, and hugging, my friends in the aisle. We sang along, danced, clapped our hands and just smiled endlessly.

I had this wonderful feeling, I had this great kind of love in my heart, and I wanted to tell everyone that they were special. I guess that was just the feeling you got when you were with such great people, listening to such wonderful music... Its hard to explain really.

Then at the end of a song Michael said, "Could I remind you all that cameras, and any other recording devices of any sort are strictly....WELCOME!” We all thought he was going to say they weren't allowed, and then he said we could use them!

At one stage, Michael made everyone sit down on the ground, and told them no to be afraid to touch mother Earth. He spoke about the war in Iraq, and he sang his 'Everyone Deserves Music' song with added lyrics about gay people and people of different racial backgrounds and stuff. It was so inspiring. He took people up onto the stage with him, and one man, who he asked to get up, took his girlfriend with him and with microphone in hand, and over the music of a Spearhead song about loving your friends and enemies, he proposed to his girlfriend! Everyone was so moved by it. Some people cried!

Michael told us about how his father was an alcoholic and how a few years ago he had a stoke and stopped drinking and made amends with all the people he had hurt. And Michael said that his dad was now his hero. It was just all really wonderful!

So at the end of the concert, Michael brought out his son who must be about 4 or 5 years old, called Ade. He is so cute; he has a huge head of curls just like mine used to be!

We were ushered outside by the pushy security guards but we had no intention of really leaving... we had more tricks up our sleeves :-)

We went to the back stage exit and waited... For nearly an hour we waited in the rain, and then at about 12:30am, Michael’s son began to poke his head out of the doorway. We were so excited! That meant that Michael must still be in there!

An excited Angelica (left) and friends hug Michael Franti.

We asked the little boy to come and talk to us but he ran away, and then another older boy came out (I think that could have been his nephew?) We knew it wasn’t Cappy his 16 year old son, because he wasn’t there.) Anyway, he told us that the little boy was too shy to talk to us and we asked him to tell Michael that we were outside in the rain and that we would love to meet him. After lots more waiting, the older boy came out and told us that Michael would come... more waiting… and still more.

And then he was there!

We called out to him and he told us to "Come inside, it’s way too cold out here" (he had bare feet).

We couldn't believe it! We were going back stage! Wicked!

We went inside past the mean security guards with "I told u so" smiles on our faces. When we got inside we all hugged Michael over and over again and he signed our tops. He signed a poster I had found too, and we asked him if he remembered Marcel’s workshop on Cuba (which he attended in Brisbane) and he DID remember! We met his wife and I tried to talk to his son, but he kept running away :-(

Michael was a really gentle man, but he was so tall. I was hugging him around his waist :-)

He spoke really quietly, not at all like he was when he was on stage and it was great to meet him as well as to see him perform!

Then when it was time to go home, we trundled out of Festival Hall, still in a state of disbelief, and went to drop some of my friends home. Laura and Hannah are still asleep in the double bed right now.

I had a really great birthday! Thanks everyone for helping me be who I am now and for sharing my life with me! It really is a great one! :-)

Love and lots of happiness from Jelly!