Do you ever feel like going to see live music is sort of a spiritual experience...Like loving some piece of music so much it makes you ach then actually getting to go and watch it be made it front of you. Or even discovering new bands you didn't know before... Watching the artist with your own eyes from across the room as they perform. Dancing and screaming with no limitations... Another thing is that you are surrounded by this mass of people who love the same thing as you, and that makes you a familly, even if you don't talk to everyone, you feed off the energy of the crowd at all times, so does the artist. And after it ends everybody is sort of closer...all brought together in this eternal excitment, everyone talks more because they all have that in common. I most definatly feel the most alive and free while seeing music be made...
God, that's heavy, yet so entirely true. It's great to be grooving to something you dig and having other people grooving along with you. It's just that music really is a universal language, as it's been described, and it's making a connection on a deeper level with people you've never met and will probably never meet again, but you'll always have that experiance in common with them, long after the show has ended. I can totally relate to what you said, Wastingthedawn. You explained it perfectly. Beautiful.
Thanks both of you I always wonder if the people around are experiencing the same sensation as I am...but it feels so powerful from every direction, so I suppose usually they are... When people grow old too, it's always shows that they remember clearly, Like when you talk to someone and they're like "ya I remeber The Who in '68" Or "The Stones in '75, changed my life" and so on...it's eternal...I'm not going to remember alot of things that happen to me in life, but most shows are forever burned in my memory..
you described it beautifully. The ultimate rock & roll dream is to have everyone, the audience, the artists, unite into one massive energy and float up to another higher state of existance. okay, maybe not that far... but still a cool thought in my opionion if it could happen wouldn't that be lover-ly. anyways....
I completely agree, its both bonding and spiritual. I feel it when I amplaying a good show or when watching one. My favorite things to do in the world! Gives me chills sometimes.
I had a post on the old forums about music as ecstacy. here's my history in a nutshell I'm a vibe chaser. Grew up in folk/bluegrass scene. I loved the Dead but didn't have what it took to chase that vibe much, didn't like Phish, saw Panic a few times (about 10) in the 95-98 span, then got yanked back on the bus by SCI in '97. YMSB was there when Cheese lost its luster. (some would say definition) Now I live where I can hit more shows, and I support the local/ smaller scene IF the power and spirit is there. Now, let me tell you a story. on impulse, I went into the Mercury Cafe in Denver last spring. The band upstairs was a tribal group known for a hell of a show, fire spinners, belly dancing, morphing projection on the dancers in spandex tubes (dancing columns) and such. Not a bad night out, I thought, and the kid wanted to hang by himself for an evening, so we line up the check-in suqad and head to "town." Not only did this group have a show that knocked socks off, but they HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY. The people around that night were a mix of the venue's crowd and the band's fans. Everybody was on the same page one song in. ONE song. Somewhere in the second song, I lost gravity. Completely. Utterly. while stone cold straight. The room was pulsing with something far beyond what the individuals could produce. Everywhere was purple light, but NO purple gels were in the light rack, and not enough blues were there to create what I saw. (I checked the colors because I'm a photographer. My shots show orange and red lighting.) This was IT , this was magic. This is what I'd been seeking. I landed at the end of the second set, three hours later. Now I have random quotes from the band in my sig. But, I have had flashes of this in many places. I call it life after Dead. I've seen it come through Arlo Guthrie, Sam Bush, Leo Kottke, Steve Kimock and JJ Cale (mostly his piano player, Rocky). I have seen it stream through Sound Tribe and New Monsoon, Garaj Mahal, Mountains of Venus, Kodo and Anoushka Shankar. SCI, YMSB and many, many touring acts are pulling it through some nights. What an experience it is to hit group mind without groupthink.
Definitely!!! I think I've experienced this the strongest at a few Cheese shows. There were a couple of Vegas shows in 2002 where I had an especially strong awareness of it. While I was absolutely dancing my ass off, I suddenly became aware of everyone around me. I don't mean just shaking it - I mean completely lost in the music dancing. They had everyone in the room! I saw my shit-eating grin mirrored in every face I looked at. Our bodies spun and swung in synchronized bliss. I remember feeling like I loved every other person in the room like a brother or sister. When it was over, we poured out into the casino screaming our lungs out. I remembered back to keeping the chorus going out into the parking lot when the (Grateful) Dead would close with NFA. I've had similar experiences with Galactic and Karl Denson - and one time with Kimock. Musical love is near the very essence of spirituality to me. Lets keep it alive forever. "Love is real - Not fade away!"
one day I'll bring this joy to all of you, because people like us deserve it! So, if you ever need to let loose a few years down the road... come to my show. I'll sing you a song. well... that's the plan anyways....
I know exactly what you mean! Just everything....breathing...having the vibration of an amp as like a little buzzing of the heartbeat in the soul, and all these people passionate around you...I listen to so many genres of music, It kind of overwhelms me, but from hip hop..to different punk shows I've been to, so much love is put into the music...so much love in the room..It's unity..it's honesty..it's real..thats what I love about music..live music especially...just everything..stars_on_skin@hotmail.com...im always up for music whoring or just plain ol conversing peace an love.
Yes, I experience it quite the same way. I especially remember Iced Earth on their three-hours three-sets tour promoting their album Horror show. That was February 19, 2002. It was my first concert and it was absolutely brilliant, though that word isn't quite as powerful as the word I'm looking for, if it even exists. Still the best show I've ever seen. Great brotherly atmosphere, awesome performance. I didn't know them very well yet by then, so I didn't know most of their songs, and I've been very sorry about that to myself, as I know that it would have been even more perfect if I had. I've stood on the brink of tears multiple times during concerts. I think that illustrates that I value concerts as more than just music.
