Congregations organised around live music were always for me the most positive display of humanity coming together – always said it was us at our best. All united with no agenda and bonded by a shared love rather than becuase of being in opposition to an out-group. I used to think it was just a distraction from the daily grind but over time I realised that it was potentially way more than that. It was the solution to disharmony and division. It was the antidote to tribalism even with it being, paradoxically, a form of tribalism in itself.
When you are at a gig, you could be surrounded by people who are from different countries, cultures, religions, political beliefs and none of that mattered. For as long as the music kept playing. Afterwards that feeling of togetherness would fade and you might return to your various in-groups but the sense of connectivity would remain and it showed not only was it possible but preferable.
I have been banging on about this concept of unification via live music events (clubs, gigs, festivals) being our salvation as a species for donkeys but now that it has been taken away from us and no-one knows when it will return, it feels painfully absent. And I know a lot of bands, artists and djs are trying to do digital streaming as an alternative but it just ain’t the same. The magic happens in the transference of energy between the performer and the audience and vice versa but you have to be in the same place – you cannot get that through a screen.
In the meantime it might be all we have but I personally have no interest. I have no interest in the digi version. For me it is just too much of a drop off. It can’t deliver what I want it to because so much of the experience is missing. So I will be waiting patiently until we can congregate together in the real world once more…and we will…so see you on the dancefloor!