The feeling I experience after a concert is something I want to feel every day, but it's something so ethereal I can’t always put it into words, to help others understand.
That is, until the 2017 American Music Awards when Kathryn Hahn expressed her excitement for attending a concert the night before where she exclaimed, “Live music is medicine! It’s medicinal!” I wholeheartedly agree with that statement and encourage others to take the time to see the artists they love and hear the music of the ones that make them feel emotions they can’t express and lyrics that sum up their being and experiences.
I, personally, have always been a strong advocate for attending concerts and experiencing the artists and music I love the most live. I have attended over sixty concerts in my life; I don’t take one for granted or regret any that I have been to. It all started in middle school when I listened to seemingly unknown artists and saw them live at free concerts and performances in Atlanta. Living so close to the Atlanta area, aka the Hollywood of the South, further fueled my habit of attending concerts—free or not, I was there.
The day of the concert is when your excitement can no longer be contained. You’ve already planned the perfect outfit that will fit the theme of the artist(s) and you’ve already decided which class you can skip to make it to dinner before the show. You can feel how annoyed others are getting from your constant word vomit about the fun you’re going to have that night and you forewarn everyone just how annoying your Snapchat and Instagram stories will be. But you don’t apologize for it because you just know it’s going to be an experience everyone should partake in. The ride to the concert is filled with the soundtrack of the artists you’re seeing and arguments with your friends about which songs will be the best performance of the night. Standing in lines with other concert-goers who are just as excited as you to hear the songs you scream while riding around in your car or dance to while getting dressed, gives you the feeling that tonight is really the night. Soon you’re witnessing the lights go down and the venue erupt in screams and yells of excitement for what you know is just seconds away. You spend that entire night screaming, singing, and crying to the lyrics that make you feel and witnessing the artists you see from behind screens breathing the same air as you.
The moments described above, are not even the best moments about live music, however. It’s the fact that for two solid hours when you’re immersed in the moment with some of your favorite musicians, you’re free from the stresses of your life. That test you just failed, the argument you had with your parents, the paper you have due in three days, the guy that you like who hasn’t texted you back, the internships you haven’t received responses from, the jeans that don’t fit like they did a couple of months ago– none of it matters! You are able to truly enjoy yourself and be completely somewhere else with thousands of people experiencing the exact same thing as you.
Like I’ve already stated, this may not sum up exactly how a concert feels for someone because it’s something so undefinable among everyone who listens to different music, artists, or lyrics. However, music is universal and something that people across many cultures and languages can identify with.
Live music is good for the soul. Live music is good for mental health. Live music is even good for physical health! Do you know how many calories I burn from being on my feet for two hours dancing and jumping around? In essence, as Kathryn Hahn so easily put it at the 2017 AMAs, “Live music is medicine!” I’m not telling you, you have to go to sixty different concerts or to any and every concert that comes into town. What I am saying is: save your money and buy a ticket, even if its a nosebleed seat, to the musicians you’ve been wanting to see your whole life or hear that one song that means the world to you in person and scream along to every word! Take that time for yourself where you’re lost in the music and nothing else in the world matters.
Swallow that pill that is live music and improve your well-being.
