My Face Just Melted

I cannot believe I almost didn't go. That would have been the biggest mistake of my life and I would never have known what I missed. That is, unless I saw Explosions 10 years from now and then I'd be kicking myself for not going earlier.

I was first introduced to Explosions in the Sky during my first year as Talent Show producer. A band named Shazbot auditioned with the song "First Breath After Coma" and we put them as the second to last band in the show (an honor, the closing band was always a feel good DMB/Phish cover, the penultimate band was always the most talented). Rehearsals were always long and stressful, usually upwards for four hours after most of us had already been in rehearsals for The Music Man. By a stroke of pure luck, Shazbot was always the last band to rehearse on their scheduled days. With most of our responsibilities taken care of the production team plus the tech directors would settle into the plush seats in the shadows on stage right, breathe a sigh of relief, and allow Shazbot to calm us all down. Needless to say Explosions in the Sky holds a great amount of sentimental value, talent show was my life and family for the second half of my high school career.

Explosion's "The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place" was one of those albums my friends and I discovered and felt a personal responsibility toward. The music was the soundtrack to a lot of important moments in our lives and began to define our group (before our collective ska phase). Each song reminded me of a different person or moment and could bring me to tears in a matter of minutes.

But what was different about last night was that it was not a group experience. Though I was there with friends and hundreds of other people, I didn't feel the need to connect with anyone except the musicians. I stood still and let the music move through me, which sounds ridiculous but it wasn't. Since they have no vocals, Explosions in the Sky can play turn their amps up as loud as they fucking want and I swear you feel the pulse of the music almost as much as you hear it. I allowed myself to think about nothing and be consumed; I lost myself and all of my stress in the music and came out in a much better place that when I went in. So even though I freaked out with Lizzy and Grant after the show, I was completely alone for an hour and a half and was allowed to cry, smile, sway, and just BE, which -even in the lazy days of summer- can be very difficult.

Fort Sheridan, the Moon, and the skunk in my garage were all enjoyable but relatively inconsequential because I was still recovering from the experience of the show. But it was really nice to see new people who know and related to a very, very different side of me. It was exactly the evening I needed and I would urge anyone to go see EITS as soon as they possibly can.