Things That Are More Therapeutic Than Therapy II: Live Music

On Christmas Eve, my friend Josh posited that one of the most worthwhile reasons not to yeet myself off this mortal coil was that it would no longer mean that I’d be able to go to gigs. At first glance I distinctly thought to myself that this was an altogether unacceptably shallow, fleeting reason to prolong the drudgery of existence. Upon further inspection however, I think it’s a pretty good point, and so it felt fitting that last night we sojourned to a grungy venue, deep inside Birmingham’s bowels, to watch instrumental prog virtuosos Polyphia.

As it turns out, they were incredible.

And as a result, the feeling I had at the gig was one of unbridled and uncaveated joy - which indeed made me thankful that I’m still here to have those experiences, and that I might be able to continue to have similar ones in the near future. I have always found live music to be an exceptionally conscious, present experience - nothing outside of the time and space of the gig really matters, and I feel deeply connected with everyone around me. It was a well needed moment of life affirmation, and undeniably more therapeutic than therapy.