General

Who have you seen live

I haven't really been to many concerts. Only a Christian rock concert way back when. That's embarrassing. But Summer of 2013, six friends and I went to Osheaga music festival in Montreal. That was unreal. In three days, I saw a stupid amount of bands for the price of seeing a headliner and someone smaller at another venue.

So, the way it went, was, Osheaga is on an island. There are five stages. I don't know if anyone else has been, but I encourage it. It was phenomenal. I'll be going this summer. Anyway. One stage is the Electronic stage, where it's basically EDM all day. You just go there to dance and drink and do bad things. I went willingly to see Disclosure, Bauuer, and Porter Robinson at this stage.

Bauuer was intense. Everyone was so amped, and everyone was bigger than me. I'm eighteen now, seventeen at the time, weight 111lbs, and stand a solid 5"7. I have a heart disease, so bare with me. Anyway, the vibes were great. The sound was amazing, and I was literally in a crowd dancing to music that Bauuer himself was mixing. Yes, he played The Harlem Shake. I wasn't sure what to expect, but at the drop, people didn't fall to the ground and flail, or do whatever is most absurd. It was just a really cool drop, and that was the first time I've ever danced in all my life. I love that I can say that. Disclosure played the next day. Some of you probably know who they are. Latch was cool to see live, and When A Fire Starts To Burn, because there was cool light shows all the time.

Explosions In The Sky played and I saw them. Alone. I got separated from my friends, was really not sober, and my phone was dead. So I went to see them alone, just because they were close, and I didn't know what else to do. I've never really listened to them before, but they played at the Green stage, where there's a hill with benches dug into them, and then just hills surrounding this big field, and this tiny looking stage. Then you walk through that field, walking past a lot of people lying on blankets and smoking and drinking and doing whatever. It's just normal. So I did that, and just walked until I reached the stage. I found my way into the crowd and got pretty close, actually. I was proud. They start playing. The light shows are so pretty. I slip into a trancelike state. There's this girl, sitting on her dad's shoulders. She's like seven. The light came off her like waves, and it was the most beautiful sight. The world could have fallen apart, and it would have been such a beautiful ending.

Sorry for all the rambling. I'll cut it down.

I saw Beach House play after that, same stage. I couldn't move after Explosions, so I just found a spot to sit in the grass to smoke cigarettes and have a beer. I was alone, and I felt kind of lost with myself, but it was alright. So then these people start talking louder. They're saying how that guy sitting by himself should come have a smoke. So I got up, and I didn't feel awkward or anything, and I went and lied down with them on their blanket. The girl held my hand, and I remember thinking how this really isn't possible. I didn't want to look at them, so I just let them talk, and I closed my eyes and waited for the next band. Beach House sounded incredible. I remember opening my eyes and seeing the lights coming from the stage. They were playing the chorus to Other People, if you know the song. I realized now that I was more sober and aware, that the people I had went and lied with were my friends I was separated from.

I saw Father John Misty. It was CRAZY! He was like a tall, musical Russell Brand. He stripped kinda, and before he started playing, people were telling him to take off his shirt. He paused and everyone got all awkward. Then he said, "No, I will not take off my shirt. But I will take off this metaphorical shirt that is music, and I will f(bad word) you all in a pile of beef jerky." (Beef Jerky is huge here.) Then he started playing, and screaming, and I started screaming with my friend, who just nodded and smiled like, "Yeah, thats Father John." After this show, we realized we had lost our accident-prone friend. But seconds after I say, "Don't worry, we'll find him. We always find him." We see him walking down this pathway, in this big crowd, just smiling and walking. It was cool.

I saw Vampire Weekend. They were sweet. I was eating a sub while they played Step, and I was sad because I couldn't dance with ham and cheese in my mouth. Y'know? So anyway, I throw it in the garbage before they play Holiday. That was fun.

Same stage after that, I see Two Door Cinema Club, where I meet this wild guy with a small ponytail that tried to kiss all my friends. Yeah, the guys, too. They sounded great.

I saw Beck that night. I saw The Cure. I saw Phoenix, and Daughter, and Ben Howard, and Jake Bugg, and Kendrick Lamar, and Macklemore (meh), and 2 Chainz (lol), and C2C, and Alt-J, and The Head and the Heart, Imagine Dragons, Beck, Stars, Wild Nothing, Bonobo, Frightened Rabbit, Mumford and Sons, The Lumineers, Hot Chip, and that's all I remember.

I'm sorry this turned out to be so long. I just really got excited and wanted to share some stuff. If you have any stories, what are they? And who have you seen live? Music festivals are great experiences, and so are concerts.

I actually saw Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar for the Yeezus tour, in Toronto. That was... eh.