Thu, 13 March 2003
Yo La Tengo, Sleater-Kinney and post concert melancholy

I saw Yo La Tengo last night (3-12-03) at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta.  I went alone and cold.  I'd never knowing heard Yo La Tengo before but I'd read about them.  It's my favorite type of concert experience.  My one sentence review: I enjoyed it and it was certainly worth my $15.  I'd see them again should the circumstances permit. But that's not what not what I'm writing about.

What struck me last night is the what I'd call post concert melancholy.  It's neither new nor unique. I suspect it's an integral part of live performances whether it's rock and roll, the theater, or the circus.  But the irony: Isn't rock and roll supposed to be fun? Will a concert full of happy and uplifting songs leave you depressed?

Yes, and here is why.

• I'll probably never be able to experience that performance again.  I saw S-K last fall in Atlanta and could of seen them the very next night in Athens.  The Athens show was probably great but it could just have easily let me down.  I preferred to leave the Atlanta experience alone.
• I think I've connected personally with the performers but of course I really haven't.
• I wish I could be in a band like that.
• I wish that I had practiced my piano lessons, sang in the choir, and otherwise developed my music skills.
• I realize that for all the practicing I might have done, I probably don't have the talent.  Talent and skill will always beat skill alone. Few people can do "art."
• I think of all the performances I've missed, of all the performers I've never heard, of all the bands I haven't heard live, and of all the artists whom I've misjudged based on recordings.
• I avoid this one but it's very common.  I take a friend and expect that friend to like the music as much as I do.  Very often, they don't.

Is the melancholy a desired part of the experience, part of the "fun?"  Probably.