“YOU’LL have to bear me up, I can’t do this without you. I need you today.”
With those words Archie Roach sat down and began to play.
Just an hour earlier he was completing the long drive from the Riverland in South Australia, where his partner Ruby Hunter’s funeral service was held.
Supported by his family backstage and a standing ovation from the audience Roach took to the stage.
He was accompanied by his musician son Amos Roach and David Arden.
Hunter died suddenly on February 18 from a heart attack.
With an empty seat and microphone set up to his left, Roach spoke openly about his soulmate during the set and said he hoped it would be a fitting tribute to “a beautiful lady who has touched so many hearts, but most of all mine”.
In between songs, with laughter and tears, Roach remembered the woman who kept him on track.
“I did not think I was going to do this again. I thought I was going to give up and not sing anymore but I got encouragement and a gentle nudge from Ruby, you know how she does,” he laughed.
“I remember when I said ‘I really don’t want to do this, I don’t want to become a professional musician, I’m happy as I am and I don’t want a recording contract’ she said to me ‘Archie Roach, it’s not all about you, you know’.
“I always thought I was the boss, but it’s going to be hard for me to make my own decisions without her.
“She was my guide and I couldn’t do anything without her say so.”
Though he was emotional throughout the performance, it wasn’t until after he sang River Song — written on a camping trip with Hunter years ago — that Roach briefly broke down in tears.
He said that on the drive to Port Fairy he was thinking about which song he should play to honour her.
“I was going through all my songs and then I realised most of the songs I wrote were about Ruby,” he said.
“She was my greatest influence in life. It’s amazing how you cherish and understand what you’ve got when it’s gone. That’s just human nature.”
He said it was the simple things of life without her that he’d miss, telling the crowd how, shortly after she’d died, friend Shane Howard and his wife Teresa came over and made him something to eat.
“It was a beautiful sandwich, I’m sure,” he said.
“But I just couldn’t eat because it wasn’t made by Ruby and it was then I realised I would never eat anything again that was made by Ruby.
“It doesn’t leave a big hole but lots of little holes which are the things that mean so much.”
Roach played one of his favourite songs written by his lifelong partner and finished the set with one of his own songs, accompanied by Howard on backing vocals.
Roach thanked the audience for their strength and left the stage.
A standing ovation by the crowd continued long after he had left and was followed by a minute of silence for his lost love.
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