Leave the sunshine out and say hello to never
I don’t think I could live without music in my life. Actually, I KNOW I couldn't live without music in my life. It has and still does affect me in so many ways. It's amazing the way it can make me feel, whether that feeling is one of happiness, sadness or all of the emotions in between. Within music, there lies so much power and depth behind each and every song; power that is able to move me to tears in some instances. Like "In My Life" by the Beatles, "Moonlight Sonata" by Beethoven, "Mad World" by Gary Jules, etc. Songs that are just so beautiful, you can't help but be provoked with the emotion. And I'm so glad that I experience this music daily. I was thinking about all the shows I've been to, and how some of them were able to produce this unexplainable euphoria feeling in me. I remember feeling this way during and after three specific shows.
The first was the Paul McCartney concert (haha duh). I'll never forget the way I felt right before Paul came out on stage, just thinking about it now puts a smile on my face. I was so anxious and excited that I was about to see my music idol in real life, and then there he was, all of a sudden, opening with Magical Mystery Tour; a fitting song, I thought. It was amazing, singing all the Beatles songs that I love so much with Paul, an actual Beatle (!). And it was amazing to think that four young boys from Liverpool were able to create such sublime sounds, have such an impact on music, have such an impact for me for that matter. It almost makes me wonder what my life would be like if I didn't have them. Probably not good. There were so many incredible moments during his performance. Like when he lit a candle during Let it Be and it was just him singing and him playing the piano, or when Hey Jude lasted for about 12 minutes or more as he had different parts of the audience singing. Or when he unexpectedly played "For No One," a song that I was obsessed with at the time, but I didn’t think he would play. Also unexpectedly played was "English Tea," a song off of his latest album. Helter Skelter, no words can explain. And I Will! I pretty much want that played at my wedding, along with Something. There are really way too many great moments to name, all were amazing. I won’t even lie; I was moved to tears three times during the concert. For me, no other performance will EVER top this one. There is so much meaning with Paul and singing all those Beatles songs because I feel such a connection, it’s a spiritual thing I like to think.
The second was seeing Radiohead live. I'm not sure I can even begin to explain that concert. I remember hearing the opening of 2+2=5 and instantly being hit with this comatose like feeling. It was incredible, swaying with the music, being in absolute bliss as Thom Yorke belted out the weird, yet genius lyrics to all the songs. My two favorite moments in the performance were Paranoid Android (the very first song I ever heard by Radiohead, which made me instantly fall in love with them). Singing this song, along with the entire crowd was amazing, everyone was into it so much, not just hearing the music, but feeling it. It almost felt like a trance had been put on the entire crowd. Then of course, Karma Police, quite possibly my favorite Radiohead song. I feel like no one has really experienced the depths of music until they hear Karma Police. The beginning piano in it is intoxicating, followed by the part (if you love this song, then you know the part, which begins at 26 and a half seconds) that literally makes you close your eyes, it is that powerful. The only song Radiohead didn’t play that I wish they would have is A Wolf at the Door, a song that I love. Also Fog. That song is so good. Radiohead played for about 2 and a half hours, and the whole thing was even better than I thought it would be. I remember after this performance, Erica and I had to walk like 2 and half miles (Bonnaroo was a pretty big place) to get to where we needed to be, and it before it had always seemed like such a long walk, but it went by so fast after seeing Radiohead. We both agreed that we never felt like we could be sad again. That is the impact that Radiohead had, which I believe is pretty amazing.
The last performance was The Flaming Lips. It’s hard to exactly say what it was about this performance that was so incredible. I guess just a combination of everything and my love for the flaming lips. I love how they have so much weird stuff on the stage, and confetti and people weirdly dressed dancing the entire time. My favorite song during this performance was The Yeah Yeah Yeah song. I couldn’t even tell you how many times I’ve listened to that song, sooo many. So hearing it live was wonderful. And they did it perfectly too. The only bad thing about this performance was that it was at ACL, so they only played for an hour, which was NOT long enough at all. They really should go on tour and then play for like 5 hours. The Flaming Lips were really fun to sing along to with all of their crazy antics, but it still gave me that unbelievable surge of happiness, a feeling that I cannot explain, but will never forget.
Other honorable mentions would be Beck, a crazy, but such an entertaining concert. Haha I pretty much love Beck and would so marry him. Coldplay was also pretty amazing, and I love Chris Martin; he is British, that’s all I’m saying. What made all three of those concerts even more amazing was that I saw them all with my best friend Erica, since we pretty much share the same passion for music. I still really need to see Bob Dylan (I love him so much), Sigur Ros and Animal Collective! Those would all three be very good, so they are on my list.
The first was the Paul McCartney concert (haha duh). I'll never forget the way I felt right before Paul came out on stage, just thinking about it now puts a smile on my face. I was so anxious and excited that I was about to see my music idol in real life, and then there he was, all of a sudden, opening with Magical Mystery Tour; a fitting song, I thought. It was amazing, singing all the Beatles songs that I love so much with Paul, an actual Beatle (!). And it was amazing to think that four young boys from Liverpool were able to create such sublime sounds, have such an impact on music, have such an impact for me for that matter. It almost makes me wonder what my life would be like if I didn't have them. Probably not good. There were so many incredible moments during his performance. Like when he lit a candle during Let it Be and it was just him singing and him playing the piano, or when Hey Jude lasted for about 12 minutes or more as he had different parts of the audience singing. Or when he unexpectedly played "For No One," a song that I was obsessed with at the time, but I didn’t think he would play. Also unexpectedly played was "English Tea," a song off of his latest album. Helter Skelter, no words can explain. And I Will! I pretty much want that played at my wedding, along with Something. There are really way too many great moments to name, all were amazing. I won’t even lie; I was moved to tears three times during the concert. For me, no other performance will EVER top this one. There is so much meaning with Paul and singing all those Beatles songs because I feel such a connection, it’s a spiritual thing I like to think.
The second was seeing Radiohead live. I'm not sure I can even begin to explain that concert. I remember hearing the opening of 2+2=5 and instantly being hit with this comatose like feeling. It was incredible, swaying with the music, being in absolute bliss as Thom Yorke belted out the weird, yet genius lyrics to all the songs. My two favorite moments in the performance were Paranoid Android (the very first song I ever heard by Radiohead, which made me instantly fall in love with them). Singing this song, along with the entire crowd was amazing, everyone was into it so much, not just hearing the music, but feeling it. It almost felt like a trance had been put on the entire crowd. Then of course, Karma Police, quite possibly my favorite Radiohead song. I feel like no one has really experienced the depths of music until they hear Karma Police. The beginning piano in it is intoxicating, followed by the part (if you love this song, then you know the part, which begins at 26 and a half seconds) that literally makes you close your eyes, it is that powerful. The only song Radiohead didn’t play that I wish they would have is A Wolf at the Door, a song that I love. Also Fog. That song is so good. Radiohead played for about 2 and a half hours, and the whole thing was even better than I thought it would be. I remember after this performance, Erica and I had to walk like 2 and half miles (Bonnaroo was a pretty big place) to get to where we needed to be, and it before it had always seemed like such a long walk, but it went by so fast after seeing Radiohead. We both agreed that we never felt like we could be sad again. That is the impact that Radiohead had, which I believe is pretty amazing.
The last performance was The Flaming Lips. It’s hard to exactly say what it was about this performance that was so incredible. I guess just a combination of everything and my love for the flaming lips. I love how they have so much weird stuff on the stage, and confetti and people weirdly dressed dancing the entire time. My favorite song during this performance was The Yeah Yeah Yeah song. I couldn’t even tell you how many times I’ve listened to that song, sooo many. So hearing it live was wonderful. And they did it perfectly too. The only bad thing about this performance was that it was at ACL, so they only played for an hour, which was NOT long enough at all. They really should go on tour and then play for like 5 hours. The Flaming Lips were really fun to sing along to with all of their crazy antics, but it still gave me that unbelievable surge of happiness, a feeling that I cannot explain, but will never forget.
Other honorable mentions would be Beck, a crazy, but such an entertaining concert. Haha I pretty much love Beck and would so marry him. Coldplay was also pretty amazing, and I love Chris Martin; he is British, that’s all I’m saying. What made all three of those concerts even more amazing was that I saw them all with my best friend Erica, since we pretty much share the same passion for music. I still really need to see Bob Dylan (I love him so much), Sigur Ros and Animal Collective! Those would all three be very good, so they are on my list.