Less than one hour after this picture...
…was taken, I danced with strangers like they were long-lost cousins, all of us besotted with our (re)discovered connection.
Much has been mythologised about ‘aligning with your tribe’, but I never thought I’d feel this unfold, in one of Sydney’s oldest dive bars…
It was during Love Soul’s evening of fat funk and creamy soul, when Kool & The Gang’s, Fresh, suddenly soaked the speakers. And I found myself near four folks of similar vintage to yours truly, singing at the top of their lungs –
“Conversation is going round, people talkin’ ‘bout the girl who’s come to town.”
We started yelling the lyrics like sugar-happy toddlers but the best was yet to thrum…
Within seconds, we were yapping about the clubs we haunted in our 20s – Juliana’s, Riva, Rogues. Then they requested, Midas Touch by Midnight Star and when the track played a few songs later, I watched from across the room as they unapologetically lost their minds.
The groove soon carried me into their tight-knit circle, and they welcomed me in with an almost predestined familiarity. It was the best kind of weird. And we immediately began yell-singing,
“I’ve got the Midas Touch, everything I touch turns to gold…”
I get how breathless this may all sound. And maybe you had to be there.
But the love I felt in that moment was palpable and proves that connecting with likeminded folks on a dancefloor, in the groove, will never lose its shine.
© Phyllis Foundis 2026