5.16.2008

"I thought the music mattered"


Today, spontaneously, I went to a rock concert.   I was invited to come with a group of friends, and, oddly enough, I went.  

Usually I'd be so tired from work that I wouldn't feel like social interaction but today, I headed out.  It was a tour of the front man of the band System of a Down, Serj Tankian.

It was great.  Unexpectedly great.  I forget about how many major formative experiences in my youth (hah!) were from live music.  I love it.  I love the communal nature of it, how everyone is there together for the same purpose, and I love that you can just let the music wash over you.  

Even though this was an act -- hard rock -- that I wouldn't dream of usually seeing, there's something about being there and letting the music take the lead. 

Someone lit a lighter during one of the songs -- I had forgotten how beautiful the æsthetic of a flame against all the shadows of heads and lights of the stage could be.  I think the blue-glow of phones is lovely (particularly when we were at the Hollywood Bowl's Sound of Music sing-a-long), but it had been so long since I had seen anyone actually use a lighter.  It was so bright and clear and that orange against the blue lights -- and only a flicker of it, as it was alone in the crowd.   Lovely.

Now, I'm home, and off to bed, after quite a ride.

No comments: