Anniversary

Speaking of past shows, my dear friend L. reminded me that it was exactly one year ago today that I saw my last live music show before the covids shut everything down.  

On Saturday, February 22, 2020, the up-and-coming Atlanta singer Mattiel performed a sold-out show at The Earl.  2020 was going to be Mattiel's big, breakout year - a nationwide tour, a debut album, and good promotion were all behind her.  She has a big, Amy Winehouse-style voice and several television shows had already used her songs in their soundtracks.  She was poised to be a star, or at least as big a star as an indie rock singer was allowed in 2020. And then the covids derailed her tour plans, which preempted her appearances on late-night talk shows, which slowed record sales and radio play and soundtrack royalties. She's young and may still have the energy to get back on the horse after this has all passed, but she has a lot of momentum to recover.  But we know Mattiel, if anything, is pretty agile on horseback.

Leaving the show that night, I had no clue it wouldn't be at another for at least a year - I even had tickets to shows in March and April.  And who knows, it may have been my last show ever - some say it may be another 6 months to a year before we return to live music in clubs, and who knows if I've got that much time left?  Impermanence is swift.

You know that experience when you go to take a sip of your drink and you find out the glass is already empty?  You're pissed because you didn't have that "last-sip" experience - you didn't savor that last sip, holding it in your mouth for an extra second or two, appreciating the flavor.  Well, I didn't have the "last-sip" experience of live music that night; I blithely walked out of The Earl thinking I'll be back for another show soon.  I didn't savor the taste.

We should live all our life in that "last-sip" state, appreciating everything in the moment as if it were our last, because it could be.