Tribal connection
Let’s face it, I’m special. I can have serious trouble showing enthusiasm for things, even when I am very excited about them somewhere deep down. I also tend to stay far away from things that I like to classify as tribal behaviour. These include things like watching sports (although that one football game between England and Portugal in the European championships 2004 will always stay with me, mostly as one of very few times that I’ve sworn in public, trying to express how exciting the game was,) following any kind of religion, computer related or otherwise, clapping along with music, or getting drunk and singing bad karaoke with friends.
This behaviour of mine was why I was caught out on Covent Garden as the only person in the audience who wasn’t clapping when the performer asked for it. It is also why you will at most see me nod my head along with the music when I am at a concert. Which turns out to be precisely the normal behaviour at a Porcupine Tree concert, but usually not at others.
There is one exception, however, which has tonight proven to be repeatable. At Gogol Bordello concerts, two years in a row, it hasn’t take more than a minute before I’ve been right there in the middle of it all, jumping along with everyone else, shouting myself hoarse and clapping along with the music, and enjoying every moment of it. Right now I’m sitting in the sofa with ringing ears, feet that feel like they are still moving and a big grin on my face when my mouth isn’t busy whistling out the tunes of their songs.
That said, I still have a few mental blocks, even at a Gogol Bordello concert. I can for some reason never get myself to lift my hands over my head. Clapping takes place at eye level at the highest. Anything higher seems totally inappropriate and is impossible for me to even consider. Also, I can never quite stop worrying about the people who are standing around me, wondering if I will step on their toes or jump into them. The fact that they keep jumping into me without showing any remorse doesn’t change this.
Anyway, the important conclusion here is that if you haven’t yet seen Gogol Bordello in concert, you need to do something about this as soon as possible.
