"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent" ~Victor Hugo
I have yet to provide a piece on my love affair with music. Ah music, the "drug" that soothes your soul by hearing it, reveals your soul by playing it, enriches every experience & heightens all emotions to another level. What better fixation to have than music? And the best cure I know is to feed this craving any chance you get. I adore live music, of all sorts. Awhile ago, I initiated a plan for myself, because I don't necessarily have the time or funds to travel as often as I'd like, I decided I would go to at least 1 concert once a month. When Greece or Fiji were just out of my budget, concerts could serve as my vacation, my little escape from reality, even for just a night. Living in the Bay Area, especially in San Francisco, I'm lucky to be in a hot spot for musicians. There are also a lot of great venues here as well: The Warfield, The Fillmore, The Independent, The Great American Music Hall, The Greek Theater in Berkeley, The Fox in Oakland, etc. Can I just say being musically obsessed, I'm a very lucky girl to live where I do?! I've been fortunate to catch a lot of amazing artists here in my backyard, Bloc Party, Florence and the Machine, Imogen Heap, The Black Keys, The XX, Geographer, The Fray, Arcade Fire, Kylie Minouge, Phoenix, The Naked and Famous,(yes, I have eclectic tastes), to name a few. And each experience has been amazing & rewarding in itself. I also like to get others hooked-- I'm usually the girl who buys two tickets and drags along a friend, who later can't thank me enough for bringing them. I had a girlfriend tell me I changed her life by bringing her to the Imogen Heap concert and another who had tears in her eyes from watching the Fray perform live. I love sharing moments like that with someone special. It's humbling to think a simple call requesting their company to a concert could ultimately affect them so much. But hey I get it, music has the ability to move you. It transcends space & time. For a brief moment, while Bloc Party is jamming out "Banquet" or the XX are melodically singing "Islands" or Florence is belting out "Between Two Lungs", all is right with the world. You can lose yourself in those moments & feel excited & alive. That is the point, right? Give me music that makes me hold my breath or sing out loud (out of tune, no doubt), or don't give me any at all. I've had the joyous pleasure to also witness things at live shows that I wouldn't see anywhere else. I saw the singer of Bloc Party trip backwards on his mic cord & wind up half singing & laughing on the floor of the Warfield & on that same stage, the lead singer of the Fray fell right on his ass having slipped on water they had doused a band member with, also laughing at himself. Two totally different shows, two totally amazing experiences. Not that I'm inclined to find humor in people embarrassing themselves on stage, but you see the humanity of these artists whose music you worship. After all they are people just like us, incredibly talented people who have perfected their art, but human nonetheless. And how inspiring to be witness to that, to see what beauty we are capable of, what experiences we can create & give to one another. I leave you with videos of some of these talented artists I've been fortunate enough to see. I imagine I will be sharing more on musicians & live shows in the very near future as I have tickets in my possession as we speak ;)...
In the meantime, enjoy
Florence's cover of Cold War Kid's "Hospital Beds":
The XX's "Islands":
The Naked and Famous' "Young Blood":
"Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music" ~Angela Monet
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