Listen up

Music is my true love. It’s never broken my heart, lied or cheated. It’s always there when I need it. My name was inspired by a song and the stereo was on at my house growing up more than the TV. All the important moments in my life happy or not are attached to music. I’ve made friends solely based on “hey... I like that shirt” when it’s a band we both enjoy. Music, particularly live music, is my therapy. I crave that catharsis that only a pit can give me and this weekend I drove 6 hours to stand shoulder to shoulder in an emptied pool at an abandoned water park with some of my chosen sisters and about a thousand strangers. It’s been well over a year since I had that kind of magic in my life and each sweaty, beer soaked, foot stomped, crowd surfed, sunscreen drenched moment was worth the near heat stroke from the blazing Arizona sun. We sang at the top of our lungs the songs that the stereo couldn’t play loud enough for the past year. We screamed fuck authority with our middle fingers raised in unison. I got to sing Matchbook right next Jason Cruz and as we yelled “ Don’t looks back in anger, don’t look back in anger it’s just a memory” I could feel the past year and all its ugliness fall away. As the day wore on we helped the fallen in the pit, we held up the crowd surfers and tossed them to the front, we grinned bare faced at the beginning notes of our favorite songs one after another. The bands grinned back at us so happy to be back on stage and collectively we shared one of those “stay gold” moments. I feel safer in a pit full of strangers with a good friend on each arm makin the rounds then I do in most other places. It’s home. I grabbed each note, the feel of each sweat soaked body pressed against me, each bit of punk rock goodness and tucked it in my heart for the hard days to come. Walking out under the ragged tiki hut roofs of Big Surf I felt my soul reset and I got all teared up. Looking at the faces of my badass companions with their souvenirs purchased and appropriated, I knew we’d done a big thing that day. Each of us left it all in the pit and walked out renewed as only music can do.