it's no secret that most of what (little) expendable income i have goes towards one of two things: shoes and shows. since one can really only justify owning so many pair of ridiculous work-inappropriate shoes (it's not appropriate to wear 6 inch studded heels to the office, right?), i find myself out late on a lot of school nights, on my never-ending quest to go deaf before the age of 40.
there are a lot of things i love about live music. and every band offers a totally different experience - sometimes it's the joy of being outside on a beautiful day, sitting on a blanket in the sun and listening to good music. other times it's having your face melted off (whether it be from the band being THAT kick ass, or because you're standing too close to the speakers), or it's the feeling you get just in seeing the band walk out onstage after the lights go down, coupled with the energy you can literally feel coming off the crowd. but every once in a while you get lucky enough to feel like you actually connect with the musicans on stage, and it's the kind of experience where EVERYONE in the crowd is singing along to the extent where you can barely even hear the band anymore but you can see in their faces how freaking cool of an experience that is for them. last night i caught a sold out show at the 9:30 by the head and the heart, and - despite the completely obnoxious group of girls standing next to me (really, in the middle of a band's set is not the best time to discuss the guy who took you out two weeks ago who you felt was really into you but hasn't called back yet), it was a fantastic show. i wasn't that sold on their music until seeing them live, but they turned out to be one of those bands who actually sound better live than they do recorded. and their fans are CRAZY PEOPLE. i don't think the people behind me took a break from screaming the entire time. but i will say they were the fun kind of crazy, and every person there knew every word to every song.
when they finally got around to the one song of theirs that i did know, i think the entire audience collectively lost it. the song has a lot of emotional value for me for a number of reasons, and i think the tears started coming somewhere right around the first note. sometimes you relate to a song not just for the lyrics but because it reminds you of a certain time in your life or a place or a person that's significant to you and it's like being right back in that time, or right in front of that person, and for me, that very often means waterworks. sometimes it also just makes you feel like you are a part of something that is bigger than you, or that you belong to something that also belongs to you. sadly, my video cut off about 20 seconds before the song was over, which is really unfortunate, because the drums at the very end felt like the end of "a day in the life" - not in the sense that they are anything alike, but it sounded like the end of the world, and every beat literally rattled me to the core, and i'm pretty sure that is what the beatles were going for and it's definitely what the head and the heart achieved. i have to admit it's a little hard to cry and sing along at the same time...but when you're in a room full of crazy people, trying to keep your cool...you actually end up being the weird one.
and as luck would have it, as i am typing this, "a day in the life" randomly came on pandora. someone out there must have agreed with me.
rivers and roads
rivers and roads
rivers til i reach you
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