Photo by Cash Savage

WORDS VIC MASON

PHOTO CASH SAVAGE

Have you ever been mistaken for someone else by a stranger? It can be an unsettling mystery of what’s being compared. Is it height? Similar frame? Is that person amazing? In the case of my wife Cass, yes they are.

It happened to her recently when we went to see Cash Savage and the Last Drinks play at The Croxton Bandroom. It wasn’t until Cash finished her set and left the stage that the high-fives started coming towards Cass, followed by the offers of free drinks.

We were post-gig on a Friday night and it was a dark, noisy, alcohol-fuelled room. As Cash prowled onto the stage I noticed she was wearing a long-sleeved black t-shirt and black jeans – the same thing I saw Cass wearing that morning.

We’d been standing at the front for the gig, but as the night was winding up, the crowd thinned and we went to find our friends who were at the back of the venue. That’s when it started: young men of all types – dreadlocked, tattooed, clean-shaven – all filing past Cass to congratulate her and throw a high-five.

There was an electric enthusiasm from them and they were really happy with themselves. As an over-empathiser from way back, I couldn’t even look just in case I got a glimpse of them realising their mistake. And then it happened: someone wanted to buy her a drink and get a selfie. The stranger’s long arm arched over her shoulders, and I heard Cass say, ‘I’m not me! I mean… her! I’m not who you think I am!’

Reluctantly clutching a free beer, we moved around the room chatting with friends and it kept happening until we’d somehow rolled into the part of the venue where the band were.

A woman who turned out to be Cash’s wife spotted Cass and called out something like, ‘There! She’s the one that looks like you!’

It was like one of those great midday movie tropes where the same actor plays estranged twins and you’re just waiting for that moment when they see each other for the first time.

Cash turned around and paused. Her eyebrows said ‘What the..?’ as her eyes said ‘Woah…’

Completely aware of who she was, Cash held her phone high, got both of them in shot and took a selfie.

Vic Mason is long-time Triple R volunteer, who’s helped out in a number of capacities, including being an admin superstar on the front desk and presenting the Arts Diary. When she isn’t hanging out with her wife Cass, the accidental Cash Savage impersonator, she’s making rad jewellery. This article first appeared in The Trip, Triple R's subscriber print magazine.