Category — Music

I’m not sure exactly when I decided that I liked electronic music.  When Ricky and I started dating, I quickly found out that he had a love for the genre.  I remember listening to it at his place and thinking what I’d always thought, that it was just repetitive beats that got old quickly.

At some point, I found out that some other friends of mine were also pretty into electronic music and were planning on going to see a DJ that I’d never heard of, Paul van Dyk, at a local club, Talbott Street.  When Ricky found out, he decided to see if he could get tickets.  He writes for IndyConcerts.com and is often given press passes to concerts and show so that he can write about them for the website.  He got passes, and I went with him.  We got there pretty early and laid claim to spots right up in front of the stage.  I remember that once the music started and everyone around me started dancing, I started thinking that maybe I understood now why people liked electronic music.  And maybe, just maybe, I could get into it after all.

Once Ricky discovered that I had somewhat of an interest in electronic music, we started making plans to see more DJs.  At first, I hadn’t heard of many of them, but quickly became familiar with the bigger names such as Armin van Buuren, David Guetta, and Paul Oakenfold.  Now I’ve seen each of them live and even had the opportunity to randomly meet Armin.  I loved his show in Chicago that we went to.  It was a great venue, at the Aragon, and the crowd really got into it.  I can’t help but think that everyone felt a sense of community dancing together to the beats.

When I think back to how I really got to loving this genre of music, several times come to mind.  The Paul van Dyk show at Talbott Street, of course, and the Armin van Buuren show in Chicago.  When we went to Las Vegas last year (my first time there), Ricky had gotten tickets to some clubs.  We didn’t realize until we were there that Paul Oakenfold was actually going to be at one of them, Rain, while we were there.  We jumped on the opportunity to see him mix beats live.  That ended up topping my list of experiences as well.

One show I will never forget is seeing David Guetta at BoMA in Columbus, Ohio.  When Ricky introduced me to David Guetta, I almost immediately fell in love with his music.  Honestly, I think that the best word I can use to describe it is “fun”.  Guetta isn’t for everyone, but if you like to dance, and you just like music that is easy to get into – he’s great.  I have all of his albums on my iPod, and I think I know the words to almost all the songs.  He has become one of my favorite ways to get my day going or as a pick-me-up when I’m in a bad mood.

Armin was probably my first venture into the world of trance.  I remember being at home and trying to focus on some reading I had to get done for school one day.  I had just downloaded one of Armin’s albums, so I started listening to it while I was reading.  I loved it!  The music just put me into a, well, trance.  I can see why it’s called that.  It just got me in the groove, made it easier to focus on the reading.  Great music to play in the background while you are working as well.  I have several fellow programmer friends that I know listen to electronic music while they are coding, and I can see why that is.  It gets you going without being distracting.  It’s almost like a state of Zen sometimes.

So now, I’m hooked.  I listen to almost exclusively electronic music most of the time.  So when I heard that several of my favorite DJs as well as some recent discoveries I’ve made were going to be at a music festival that went all day for two days in New York City, of COURSE I wanted to go.  And so did Ricky.  So we acquired passes, bought a plane ticket, booked a hotel, and later this afternoon will be on our way.  Friday evening is my one chance to see New York City (my first trip there as well), as I will be spending most of Saturday and Sunday dancing my face off to the beats of some of my favorite DJs.

This is only the second year for Electric Zoo, but it has already established a following and appears to be very well organized.  It’s held on Randall’s Island, an island smack dab in the middle of New York, just a ferry ride away from Manhattan.  I can’t wait to enjoy the music with the epic skyline of the Big Apple in the background.  Last year’s festival brought 15,000 people on Saturday and 11,000 on Sunday, with this year even more tickets already purchased!

So I hear I go… only a few more hours until I board a plane and head to the city to meet some DJs, make some new friends, and get my dance on.  Electric Zoo, here I come!

I know that everyone and their brother is tired of hearing about the death of Michael Jackson by now. And yes, even I will admit that the media has (as they do a lot of things) turned it into a virtual circus and blown it up into a mega-happening. But, honestly, well… it is big, sad news.

I know some are saddened by the fact that it seems like the media is making such a big deal out of “the king of pop”‘s death while there are so many other, “bigger” tragedies happening out there. And yes, it’s true… there are. But don’t use this to gloss over the fact that his death IS a tragedy. Maybe not necessarily more of a tragedy than anyone else’s, but still a tragedy. As I said in a previous blog post, I regard every human life as valuable, and the loss of any one is very sad, no matter how the life was spent or how the death occurred. Maybe I’m just hyper-sensitive to death right now, but I do think that you gain even more perspective on it when it happens to someone close to you. I can identify with how Michael’s family must be feeling right now, and it is not at all pleasant, to say the very least.

Many people see it as the world just losing another child molester. While I realize this is a possibility, I obviously don’t personally know the man, so I don’t know the situation. I have read several accounts from people that were close to him and I also believe it’s very possible that he was simply a confused, lonely, misunderstood man that loved children and had very poor judgement that people decided to take advantage of. Regardless, he did have a positive impact on a lot of people and his death remains a tragedy.

Some people also think he was just another drug addict that took one too many drugs and his death is his own fault, a result of that. Again, maybe this is true, but I have yet to see a news report that seems to accurately portray exactly what happened or if this is the case. But think about it – why would he take drugs like that? Why would anyone? My guess is that he was just trying to find happiness or peace somehow. And how do you know you wouldn’t be tempted to do the same thing in his situation? You can say you wouldn’t, but do you really know what decision you would make if you had his personality and circumstances? If it is the reason for his death, it’s simply a mistake he made in his effort to make sense of his life. I’m sure we’ve all made plenty of those in our own way.

So I guess what I’m saying is that while yes, the media is doing what they usually do in playing up events like this, and you don’t have to participate in all the hoopla… don’t belittle the death of a man that did have a positive impact on a lot of people. Song lyrics like “We Are the World” and “Man in the Mirror” continue to echo in my head, and I hope his influence continues to inspire people, even long after we have stopped hearing about his death every day.

So somehow, last night I ended up going to see Billy Joel and Elton John perform together at Conseco Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis. Not a concert I really would have sought out on my own, but when Allison told me she was looking for tickets, it piqued my interest and I decided to join her, along with Shane. I’m definitely glad I did.

In spite of our effort to get tickets the minute they went on sale, the best seats we were able to get were behind the stage. This turned out to be not such a bad thing, though, as our seats were actually mostly *above* the stage, and we were much closer than those who purchased tickets in the center, but quite a ways back from the stage. Or in Valparaiso, as Billy Joel put it.

The two “piano men” opened by playing together to a sold-out crowd on two grand pianos that lifted up out of the floor of the stage (answering the question I’m sure others had about where the pianos were when we got there). They were joined by six musicians set up in separate panels behind them, playing various instruments such as drums or keyboard. Each of the panels opened to show these instruments and musicians coming out of the floor as well.

I’m guessing that a lot of you may be like me in the fact that you actually know a lot of Billy Joel or Elton John songs, but you don’t know that you know them. The duo came together on a few songs to start off with, such as “Just the Way You Are” and then each took their turn wowing the audience on their own. It was fun to see both musicians who have obviously been entertaining audiences for years enjoying themselves and creating such a fun, comfortable connection with their audience. I doubt there was a single person in the crowd who didn’t feel perfectly relaxed and at ease watching and listening to them.

While we determined that Sir Elton John may actually be the bigger star, Billy Joel definitely rocked the place with his set as well, not only on the spinning (yes, it spun!) piano, but also with his guitar on “We Didn’t Start the Fire” (which I can’t help but hear as “Ryan started the fire” after that episode of The Office) and his microphone antics to the tune of “It’s Still Rock ‘n’ Roll to Me”.

The two ended the night playing together again – the last two songs on which they ditched their accompanying musicians and pleased the crowd with “Candle in the Wind” and, of course, “Piano Man”.

While, like I said, this wasn’t a show I probably would’ve chosen on my own, I’m very glad I gave it a second thought. It was well worth the dollars to see two piano legends perform in front of an admiring audience that just can’t help but sing along.