Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Jan 26. Listen Up

For two weeks my sister has been giddy with excitement because of a surprise she's had for me.  Clues came little by little, but even up to the last moment I wasn't sure exactly what we were doing.  Then we get to Freebird Live! and I see that Yo La Tengo is playing and I FREAKED OUT!  What an awesome surprise!  Of course, we are new to the whole concert thing, and showed up on time, not knowing they wouldn't start for over 2 hours.  But we claimed our spots in the sparsely populated room and I was red bull-ing it up, trying to counteract the allergy pills I'd taken before we left home.  There were a few quirky, kinda cute guys and then the warm-up guy was pretty amazing, so things were geared up.
Then Yo La Tengo walked out.  And they were completely NOT what I was expecting at all.  (Even though I LOVE a few of their songs, I only happened upon them when I snatched up their cd at the library a few years ago.  I didn't know anything about them or their band.) In fact, I didn't realize it, but when I had looked at their merchandise and briefly talked to the curly-fro'd man behind the table, I had been talking to Ira Kaplan... he's in the band.  Anyway, they played a bunch of ear-splitting noise that I wasn't too fond of and then ended with some beautiful ballads.  I only knew 1 song.  But it made me realize how powerful music can be.  It can take you back to a time, a place, a person.  It has hidden meaning and deep messages understood on a level beyond that of the mind. Music has been proven to relieve pain, reduce stress, stimulate brain cells, boost exercise performance, promote sound sleeping, increase optimism, make socializing easier, and aid in spiritual health as well.
So whether you're a fan of classical, world, acoustic, country, alternative, folk, or zydeco, play something you love and Listen UP.

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