Red Red Wine

It was clear that everybody was in a good mood as soon as we stepped onto the bus. Although not running late, we were the last to board, such was the anticipation, so I sat next to a stranger towards the back. Before long we were old mates and so our journey to Kerikeri for UB40 began.

Soon into the trip, my new mate started to look uncomfortable. It turned out she needed to go pee. In lieu of a SheWee, I suggested we start a Chinese Whisper to the front of the bus for a pee stop.

It began with the amused 60-something-year-old man in front of us, who dutifully passed it on to the man in front. I was interested to hear the outcome of the message but before it made it to the front, my companion had shouted loud enough for the driver to hear: “Excuse me, somebody here is about to pee their pants.”

Giggles ensued and all heads turned in my direction while the bus driver hurriedly pulled into the Towai Tavern, where a number of passengers piled off for what was to be the last decent toilet stop (as in you actually sit on a toilet) for the night.

Two hours later we exited the bus outside the vineyard and followed the trail towards the gates, with people popping out of bushes in front of us, having relieved themselves, left-right and centre.

That’s enough about ablutions for now. The 5,000-strong crowd was a who’s-who of the north. I was meeting friends from Doubtless Bay but reunions were happening all around, as well as spotting familiar faces - from our perch: Matt Watson to the left, Kelvin Kruikshank to the right, my friend’s ex in front, the girl I once interviewed for one of my most memorable stories, behind.

We had taken nothing and I was wishing I had brought some seating as I eyed up everyone’s set up around us. Not to worry, there was a comfy looking rug next to me with no one on it so I decided to do the owner a favour and ‘anchor’ it. The owner returned and didn’t seem fazed. In fact we struck up a conversation about the lack of toilet paper and she promptly offered half a squashed roll from her back pocket. I politely declined and suggested she sell it by the square outside the port-a-loos and fund her ticket for the night.

We didn’t stay seated for long. The concert, as you will have heard, was amazing. When I was a teenager in the 90s, I used to thrash UB40 in my first car on the way to High School. In the lead-up, I hadn’t felt the need to dust off those CDs – once learned, the lyrics remain ingrained.

But the next day, with the band’s encore song Red Red Wine, still in my head, I pulled them out and once again it became the theme song for my car journeys.

And after a subsequent trip to the KariKari Peninsula with me thrashing this foreign music to their ears, I'd say my kids are now seasoned reggae meisters.

# Footnote: Following the concert, there will be a lot of dead grass around Kerikeri.