First Date Nerves

I’m going to a gig tomorrow night, and a friend of mine recently passed me the band’s latest album. I’m debating whether to listen to the album before the gig and whether it will dampen the ‘live experience’. Thinking about it, the two methods of digesting music are in no way comparable.

Let me explain…there is something entirely satisfying about a gradual and repetitive familiarisation with an album. Potentially a blossoming relationship, you may experience some first date nerves and be initially uncertain about a couple of tracks. But hold out and listen again, by the third date you may just get lucky!

Live gigs however don’t offer such safety net. You may see another side to the band that you hadn’t noticed before…an ugly inflection, a radical belief; it could all go disastrously wrong. It’s a risk, but hopefully one worth taking.