Standing in a room full of people questioning if this was a mistake.
Just as the pandemic was becoming a reality in early 2020, my wife and I went to see Algiers at the Mothlight in Asheville. The mood that night was ominous. As the band played with unending urgency, we stood to the back of the room with the sense that it could very well be the last night out in public for the foreseeable future. It was.
As time passed, tours were cancelled. We hung onto tickets we had purchased prior to the pandemic with little expectation of ever using them. Earlier this year, some hope returned as cancelled tours were rescheduled, but it was hard to believe they’d actually happen. And even as it became more of a reality, we remained hesitant about heading back into crowded indoor spaces.
A fan since taking a chance, buying The Sunset Tree in 2005 based solely on positive reviews, The Mountain Goats have long been a band I enjoyed, though not the type of band that I rush to buy tickets to see. Our friends had bought tickets to their April 26,2020 show at the Orange Peel in Asheville, and that was the only little nudge we needed to do the same at the time. We had little clue that we’d be waiting over a year for the show to happen.
As the rescheduled date of August 6, 2021 approached, we struggled to commit to going. At that point, the Orange Peel had been wishy washy about vaccine and mask requirements, but a day or two prior to the show John Darnielle posted a video urging fans to mask up. That helped ease some of the anxiety, but on the day of the show we continued to question the decision. Just a couple ours prior to the show, our friends decided to stay home. As the clock ticked, we nervously convinced ourselves to going. We waited until the last possible second, before making the call, and arrived just minutes before the band took the stage. Once there, some of the anxiety was eased by the fact that the vast majority of the crowd was masked and courteous.
During the opening strums of “Aulon Raid” I was confronted with a rush of emotions that I was unprepared for. With the 3rd song into the set, “You or Your Memory,” I was nearly in tears. A little more than a year and a half had passed since I had last been to a concert. For nearly two decades, I had virtually lived at concert venues, spending night after night documenting live performances. The pandemic had forced me into a period of withdrawal from my addiction.
The odd thing is that the euphoria that I experienced from seeing the Mountain Goats perform wasn’t just something I hadn’t experienced in a year and a half. It had been longer. Like any addict, I had become somewhat desensitized to that feeling. Performances had to be more and more special in order for me to experience that high that I had once received from almost any concert.
It’s good to get to experience that feeling again. I hope to never have to go as long without it.