9.30.02 – burlington, VT

first night out on tour. by happy coincidence, my last night in boston was also the night that Vienna Teng was playing at the wonderfully-funky tiny House of Blues in harvard square. if you haven’t already discovered her, check her out. vienna played with two other women who also have forthcoming debut albums on virt records: Rachel Gaudry and Beth Boucher, both of whom really kick butt.

as i was watching the show, it struck me how stunningly beautiful people are when they are doing something that they love. all three of these women were completely transformed, shimming with some sort of inner light and joy that radiated out into and touched the audience in individual ways. it was awe-inspiring. i know i’ve quoted this before, but here it is again:

people used to make records

as in a record of an event

the event of people playing music in a room

now everything is cross-marketing

its about sunglasses & shoes

or guns & drugs

you choose

-ani difranco

live music, like theatre, is a unique art form because it exists within the moment that audience and performer share. as perfect as a perfect recording of a performance is, it can’t hold a candle to a perfect, live moment. it lives on as a part of audience and performer; we take it into ourselves, we transform it by our own perceptions, our eyes and ears and feelings and the baggage that we bring with us so that no one experiences the same show, and afterwards, when the lights go down, we can say, i was there. i was in that moment. it lives in me.