First Festival from a musician’s perspective.

On the 24th of October 2025,
Two of my dreams came true.
1) I opened for Winston Surfshirt!
Multi-platinum-selling singer, producer and rapper Winston Surfshirt…. known for his unique blend of funk, soul, hip hop, and R&B.
2) I opened for a two-day festival! Be Social Fest!
Dreams turn into reality if you can overcome fears and self-doubt!
Did I doubt myself? Yes. From the moment the festival reached out to me to ask if I would want to support, to moments before being on stage, till even the night of the main headline acts with one of my idols on stage. It was all a dream!

I want to be more like them, the performers and the artists.
I know it sounds strange, but to be a full-time touring artist would be the dream of my existence.
Why dream it if you won’t do it?

Gratitude has got me here; there’s no other way that this could have ever manifested besides a lot of love, time and effort. I had to remind myself that I am capable and I am so worthy, otherwise I wouldn’t have been offered the opportunity.

The lineup was incredible. The set times are all 40 mins a set, but to be on the set times list with artists like Winston Surfshirt, Matt Corby, Sneaky Sound System, Crooked Colours, Boo Seeka and last but not least Bliss n Eso. Are you for real? Be careful what you wish for!

My interactions with the Friday headline- Winston Surfshirt were really lovely. I didn’t want to intrude on their soundcheck, so I didn’t meet them till after I had played my set. I’ll go into how that was for me shortly. Firstly, I was shocked that after I played, as I stood by the entrance to the stage/stairs, Winston himself quickly put his hand on my shoulder, looked me in the eyes, and sincerely said, “You did amazing”. He was quick to disappear as another girl approached us; he ducked backstage.

She comes to me and says beautiful words like “I really enjoyed your performance. I’m a musician from Western Australia, and you did so well! I know this is a huge deal to do what you just did!”
I was on a high! Full of adrenaline. It made me smile to see familiar faces and unfamiliar faces connecting with what I played. More about the band before I go into my performance experience.

Before they go on stage the trombone player smiles and thanks me! Hugs me! I said “it’s so easy to hype you guys cause I genuinely froth your music”. He said I did really well and sounded great. They all lead onto the stage. They played an incredible set! I have so many videos but hardly any photos.

Last encounter with the band, I went to the backstage part of the Jack a while after their set had finished. “Can I come say thanks?” I asked sticking my head around the brick wall. They welcomed me to their table. I gave so much praise about how well they vibe and play together. Told them I love their music. They said, “Thanks for sticking around to watch us, not all openers do”.

The keyboardist and I get chatting about sports/golf, and touring.
“Do you tour much?” he asks me.
I realised the last time I toured was Exmouth and proceeded to tell them about that.
Turns into a chat about surfing, marine life and Australian adventures.
They asked if I was from Cairns and if there really were crocodiles here, and where to see them. I asked if they got tired of touring, and it was a bit of a flat yes and no. Wish I had of asked more questions about it but I didn’t want to bother them too much. I pestered them for a photo together, and they were enthusiastic about that. We got one of their touring friends to take the photo and one of the band mates - might have been Winston said, “I bet he’s just gonna take selfies!”

He took some snaps, landscape and surprisingly in portrait mode on my phone and I asked “How do your selfies look?”

It was really lovely meeting them, and they really were a lovely bunch of guys. Forgot to mention, I said to The Bone/ the Trombone player, I felt frustrated for him because I could hardly hear him as much. He smiled and was like “well, I could hear myself” :) Then said he’d let their sound tech know that. I hugged him on the way out later, after saying bye and thanks again!

Prepping for the stage:

A mix of originals and covers for the 40 mins set

No reading off anything else but this piece of paper. In amongst the smoke and lights!

On the day of performing, I was naturally nervous. Grateful I had everything organised and all the time to do it, the only thing that had to change last minute was the makeup artist. I would love to rely on myself for this in the future.

Peter from Boudoir by the Beach did my hair, and that was amazing!
Loaded my van with my gear.
Drove to Edge Hill, where I got my makeup done at Jade Cosmetic Clinic, what a beautiful spot -yeah, bit of tweaking as I wanted the colours to suit my natural template, but could have sworn the image I was using was probably of an AI chick. Felt like a million bucks after that.

Picked up a mic for my camera from my friend Nicole. She gives me my favourite Cococoast coconut water at the Marlin Marina, and I park my van right in front of the venue.
I can hear Winston Surfshirt doing their soundcheck. They sounded **amazing**!
Too nervous to go in, I go for a walk to Rusty’s to buy some cut-up pineapple. Walked to buy tea, then came in for soundcheck. It was so f**king hot. When I met the guys for soundcheck, they were shocked that it was just me.

We do all the inputs: ukulele, guitar, vocals, and stomp.
“I don’t have any effects”, I told the sound engineer. The sound guy says my pedal sounds clicky… asks “are you comfortable?”, I reply “yes” (but I’m fucking nervous).
I ask for more vocals in the fallback speakers. The other sound tech offers so much help - he says he’ll strike everything out when I’m done. Which I learn means takes everything off the stage for me. One of them says he couldn’t imagine setting up and doing everything alone like I do, and I say back, “You gotta start somewhere”.

Then all I need is a cuppa tea and to get changed into my performing outfit.

I brew my cuppa tea backstage. Not the green room, more like the green astroturf zone. Met the media guys, Pixel Factory. One of the guys is the band’s manager's assistant. He asks for my email, so I gave him my details for if they ever need help with gear with my van in the future. The other sound tech gets the audio receiver working straight from the mixing deck to my camera! What a dream result! Legend!!!

**My experience performing….**

Time creeps up to 7 pm - my go time, but I get a notification - Winston Surfshirt’s Instagram showing I start @ 7.10 pm. I went out to greet my friends and checked with the sound guys about when to start. They let me start when I’m ready, just before 7:10.

My first time supporting an artist I love and opening for a festival!

It was so much fun getting up there and welcoming everyone to Be Social Fest! I handled my nerves well, or what I heard was that I hid them well. Singing with a smoke machine was also a new experience for me! Haha! Felt short of breath like I’d just come from a half-marathon to sing my set, which wasn’t my normal. My set list landed well and bang on time! I alternated covers to originals, engaging with the crowd and hyping up the headline. So easy to do when you genuinely froth the festival and headline act!

My set list was at my feet and I’d memorised all the words to the songs for 40 minutes, which I am proud of! The only thing I’d love to be better at is the stomp/ beat, like something that allows me more range of movement on the stage. But I guess that’s a one-man band problem. More practice, more layers of sound, learn breathwork (with smoke, haha!). To be honest, I didn’t feel fully calm till halfway through the set. To my surprise, the crowd were warm and engaged! How did I get so lucky? First time as a support act!

Be Social Fest - VIP Pre Party with Winston Surfshirt, that was fun!

This was one of the best nights of my life! I played my latest release, “Last Wave”. A friend, Rosie, encourages Nicole and Marlee to dance closer to the stage and gets content with my last wave merch. Felt so much joy on the stage at the end of my set.

“As a support artist, I felt so supported! ”

Had some of my friends there supporting! Nicole and Marlee are dancing around the front in my last wave crop merch, just making me smile.

Right on time, I hear a voice through the fallback speakers saying, “5 Minutes!”

I change over to the guitar and close my set with a cover called “Blinding Lights” by The Weekend. Wishing everyone an amazing weekend, after I thanked the venue, everyone who helped organise the event, and everyone who came out! Introduced the next act, the beautiful and talented Abi.

I threw my little paper set list off the very high stage, then exited, and I couldn’t be happier with the sense of achievement that I felt instantly.

That saying, “you never know the value of something unless it’s earned, " was truly and deeply felt after that moment. I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity, the kind words, the hugs, the support and for the love of music!

Thank you, universe.

I heard that Winston Surfshirt used to be a solo act, and that inspired me to the highest heights. His band is so tight! <3

Be Social Fest VIP Pre Party