I remember
the heat in the theater. The crowd was all round me. Strangers were pressing
into me. The bodies of the crowd were heating up the room. I had been standing
for over an hour. Not being able to move. My feet were beginning to ache. But I
knew that it was going to be worth it. The anticipation was building. The room
was dark, with a few lights to fill the big space. The people around me were
cast in red hues from the coloured spot lights.
The sound of a thousand conversations was
deafening. Too many voices to be able to follow what one person was saying to
another. The people’s voice was just noise. I looked over at my friend. We had
been split up as soon as the opening band had started. Catching his eye. I
smiled. A smile that spread across my face. He looked back at me
‘This is going to
be awesome,’. I
think he said.
But for all I know
he could have been talking about the cute girl two rows in front of us. He was
too far away for me to make out what he had said. It didn’t really matter. This
was going to be an amazing experience. A show to remember.
This was a
gig that we had been looking forward to for a long time. We had been waiting to
go to this ever since they had announced the tour. This was going to be
fantastic. Their last album had been spectacular. A massive double edition that
ranged a huge spectrum of styles. Full of big sounds, crazy lyrics and amazing
imagery.
I can’t
remember what their first song was. Or what their set list was. I do remember
the roar as they came on stage. The presence that they had. The force of nature
that he was, roaring the first words into the microphone over the Screech of
the distorted violin. I don’t remember my legs hurting once the music took
over. I don’t remember if I saing
along. But I probably did. I was overcome with awe as songs that I had listened
to a hundred times were re worked. They were familiar, I knew every word. The
dip and rise of the tune. The thump of the drums. But I could only remember
them from the static recordings.
These
were new fresh. It was like I was hearing them for the first time. In that
moment I couldn’t remember the old. Taken away by a familiar song that was new
and refreshing. This was what I had come to see. What I had been waiting for.
This was more that I could have ever imagined. It was a religious experience. I was wrapped
up in a sermon by Nick Cave and his apostles the Bad Seeds.
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