I went to a Swell Season concert this weekend, and it was hands down the best concert I've ever been to. I've never seen an entire audience so emotionally moved and throughly enraptured as they were on that lovely summer night. If you've never heard the lush, gorgeous, intense melodies of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, you should go treat yourself to that right now. Or if you have not seen the movie Once, go do that too. In addition to enjoying their incredible vocal harmonies and musical talents, the concert gave me such a beautiful rush of memories. I love how music has the power to instantly take you back to a moment in time. I remembered how I was first introduced to the Swell Season during my summer in Prague. The girls I lived with would play "Falling Slowly" almost every morning as we got ready to begin a new day. Hearing it played live filled my heart with joy and longing.
The concert reminded me why art is important: sometimes we need moments of intense beauty or poignant sadness to break us out of our everyday, commonplace routines and remind us that there is so much more. More richness in our memories, more depth behind our day-to-day lives, more hope and awe yet to come.
June 8, 2010 at 2:39 PM
The last paragraph of this entry totally inspired me. You are lovely. :)