My first Gig: Brooke Singer

Brooke Singer is the singer and songwriter for Christchurch dream-pop outfit French For Rabbits.

Cats, the musical, Christchurch, 1995

When I was a very small child, I felt like I had a deep affinity with all animals. I grew up in a household of four cats, one dog, one magpie, and in the back garden there was a pony, four chickens, wild frogs, the neighbours' retired racehorses and a few cows.

At home, we also had a collection of records and CDs. Among those by ZZ Top, Blondie, Pat Benatar, and the Beach Boys, we had one I liked very much - it was an album of all of the songs from Cats, the musical. I felt like it was a combination of my two favourite things - sad music and animals (namely, cats). Thinking about it, I haven't changed much.

The first memorable gig I went to came about because of this combination of loves. It wasn't a show with a band, or a pop concert; it was the musical that defined my childhood, Cats! My mum had brought us tickets to see the show in Christchurch - I'm a bit foggy about the location or the date but I remember the day well, because it was a school day - and it was a daytime show.

It also happened to be a on a day when my primary school was visiting Science Alive and the vertical slide had just opened. What a conflict of interest - the chance to seemingly defy gravity, zooming down the steepest slide I had ever seen, or the chance to hear my favourite songs live in concert! It was worth the sacrifice though.

We were seated to the side in the middle section a few rows from the front. The stage was set as a giant rubbish tip. It was very misty and atmospheric.

From the moment when the cats crept out from amid the wrecks of cars and old cans, I was hooked. Their glowing, lighted eyes were terrifying, as was Macavity when he leapt to the stage after prowling the audience; Mr Mistoffelees was captivating with his magical trickery and the dramatic soundtrack.

The best moment came though, when Grizabella took the stage. The tribe of cats had rejected her; she was an outsider just trying to fit in.

She sang a song that, at my single-figured age, I found deeply nostalgic and emotional - Memory.

I feel like this first musical experience had a deep impact on my songwriting. When my first cat, Monty, died, I wrote my first song. It was very sad. When we first started French for Rabbits I wrote a song called The Cats. "The cats are walking down the alleyways tonight, licking clean the cans from the rubbish pile," is how it begins. I wonder if Cats the musical inspired me all these years later in those opening lines?

* Brooke Singer is the singer and songwriter for Christchurch dream-pop outfit French For Rabbits. Their debut album Spirits is out on October 31.

- TimeOut