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Monday, May 25, 2009

The Amazing Power Behind A Live Music Concert

By Ian Sawyer

The power of Live music when attempting to explain, it's easy to be quite literal. For instance, I remember attending a Tool concert at a small arena in Massachusetts around the time they released the popular Lateralus. My girlfriend, at the time, and myself took our positions on the general admission floor somewhat early and were present for a bit of the bass tech's sound check. Each strum of Justin Chancellor's significantly tuned-down bass guitar actually seemed to lift us off the floor and make our hair stand on end. I found it quite exhilarating.

Its funny to note that my girlfriend was reduced to a nauseous mess even before the concert began. She claimed it was the Fast-Food we ate before the show that drove her, vomiting, to the women's room as Tool took the stage. Days later, when talking to a friend who knows a thing or two about the science of sound, I confirmed what I had suspected: it turns out that incredibly powerful low-end frequencies can effect the physical constitution of a concertgoer. Tool had claimed the stomach of my girlfriend.

The buzz of Live music can be powerful in a philosophical sense, as well. I've attended plenty of concerts where the next morning I felt a hollow sadness, and a longing to relive the previous night's glory. The hours before, during, and after a great concert can transport a music fan to a whole other world, regardless of any booze, drugs, or other chemical enhancements.

It is a fact that an intimacy is established with not just other concertgoers, but with the band itself. Why else would generations of Grateful Dead fans dedicate much of their lives to following a group of hippies around the country? Live performances are moving, both physically and emotionally.

In the live music history, a lot of things have changed since those early days of, say, Woodstock. Venues of every size, shape, and character have included speakeasy-like basements, local clubs, sports arenas, outdoor pavilions, and even massive stadiums. Through it all, the concentrated community that is established during each live show has maintained a unique electric bond. Sure, peaceful sway dancing has been replaced with the visceral, and sometimes violent, crush of sweating bodies.

Cell phones have replaced lighters as a fan's beacon of light. And general admission 'mosh' pits have replaced seated floor plans. Still, fans remain bound together under one raftered roof, held together by the occasional audience-sweeping spotlight, and the glorious chorus that everyone knows by heart.

The exciting audience makes each song their own as they sing along and pump their fists to the music. This, in the end, is the true power of live music-that it brings together masses of people who wouldn't otherwise give each other a second look or moment of acknowledgement. Whether in the brooding darkness of the club, or in the brilliant afternoon sunshine of a football stadium, when our favorite band is onstage, we all rock together as one. - 18762

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