The Crowd
More than just another crowd
More than just another crowd
More than just another crowd
We need a gathering instead
When I first started getting into Punk Rock, Operation Ivy really made an impression on me. I mean, they are great. Ask anyone. And if you haven't heard them, you should. I shudder to link to youtube, but you can listen to their full-length album there, and if you haven't heard it, I'd recommend putting it on while you finish reading this.
Anyhoo, they have this song called "The Crowd" that I started this post with a quote from. And, being 15, it sounded cool and inspirational, but I really didn't have any idea what they were talking about. I didn't know what The Gilman Street Project was - and if you don't either, this documentary captures it much better than the wikipedia article. Fundamentally, they're talking about building a community through music, rather than having a disconnect between the artist and the audience, by describing the sort of event that occurs when the audience is there getting drunk "to enjoy themselves".
Tonight, I saw this show. Well, actually, I worked this show, since it's held at the Black Lodge, which is run by the Vera Project. But when I say "worked", I just mean I watched out for people drinking and doing drugs inside the venue (didn't happen), and when the back door got propped open, I told someone. Other then that, I watched the bands play. And they were great. I got up close for all the bands, and danced bands, and when Endless Joy (who are fucking great by the way) played, I danced, sang, and got a pit going. Good times. After the show was over, I took out the trash, and along the way, made a point of telling all of the bands how great they were and when I told that to their singer, he thanked me for my energy, and I realized that during the performance we'd made a connection.
Suddenly, I knew what Operation Ivy was talking about, and what's more than that, it exists and I've found it.