Shut Up and Tour

Every time Imagine Dragons' "Battle Cry" or Linkin Park's "Castle of Glass" or even Panic! At the Disco's "This is Gospel" come up on shuffle, I remember vividly the first time I heard them - the pounding of drums permeating my skin, the layered harmonies vibrating in my toes, the bright lights shining in my face. Our music platforms are designed to promote what's hot and current. It's so easy to discover new music now with iHeart Radio and Pandora recommendations and Spotify playlists. But there's something really special about being exposed to new music for the first time in a live concert setting. It's bigger, louder, and future listens will always come with the memory of that first performance.

I heard "Shut Up and Dance" for the first time when Walk the Moon opened for Panic! At the Disco. I remember the thrill of realizing that the melody didn't sound familiar - the crowd goes silent because they don't know the words to sing along, and the band thrives on the anticipatory energy because they're excited to share their art with people who love music.

The dancing never stops.

I also remember that they were too soon stepping away from the stage lights. I spent the time between the acts wondering what the expanded set would've been like. Would they have played "Iscariot?" Would the other songs have had as iconic an opening as "I Can Lift a Car?" Even after, the questions plagued me. I left the show completely enamored with Panic!, but my itch to see Walk the Moon had been only temporarily tickled.

I wanted much more.

So when I heard about Shut Up and Tour, I jumped at the opportunity to see Walk the Moon again, this time in a situation where they were the main act. And, even more so, the tour was also for promoting some of their new music from their upcoming album Talking is Hard (December 2014), so I'd hear more than just my favorites. I'd hear their new songs for the first time as I wanted to hear them. Live. Breathing in the pulse of the bass.

For the first time in a while, I went with a group, a couple friends from college and my favorite concert buddy, all people I thought would enjoy an evening filled with slightly 80's inspired music and bright lights.

We met up for a dinner that involved my first taste of Chipotle, and then I drove everyone to the show.

After a stunning moment of musical theater karaoke when "La Vie Boheme" came up on shuffle during the drive, we were shivering in the autumn cold in a line that wrapped around the Ottobar, waiting anxiously for the doors to open. Inside the crowd thickened, but the venue was small and intimate, so we never really felt like we were far from the stage or the band. And more importantly, the music was all around.

Walk the Moon is really special to me. Every time I listen to their music, I can feel their light collecting in my stomach and racing up my sternum. It's happiness, visceral and uninhibited by whatever else if happening in my life. When "Shut Up and Dance" was released as a single, I was even more aware of it, and the knowledge that I would be seeing them live only strengthened the excitement throbbing in my chest. But then all that blazing energy rested there, lingering.

It was an amazing show, but it was also a release, all that joy streaming out through confident steps and raised voices. It was a beautiful experience, enough that I didn't mind the off-key singing around me (from the audience, not the band obviously) because I recognized that need in myself.

And now that I've seen them live once more, all that energy is building up again as I wait for the day Talking is Hard is released.

It's a cycle. One I am thrilled to be caught in.

Edited June 2016 from post originally published November 2, 2014 via Wordpress

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