Check out The Small is Beautiful

Seriously, insanely legit. Go to www.thesmallisbeautiful.com right now. Go this very instant. Just click the title of this post. Why are you still on my page? GO! Then come back and read this, but only if you want.

Here is my response to the blog about dancing by The Small is Beautiful, found at:
http://www.thesmallisbeautiful.com/2008_12_01_archive.html

Just read the blog.. . I can say that I do share in the frustration of the lack of dancing at shows. Generally my friends and I are those "weirdos" going nuts. Over the summer I was at the Islands show in Norfolk, and there were maybe seven (slight exaggeration) of us going ape-shit. Some strangers came over and said it looked like I was having a good time, and they felt weird wherever they were standing before because no one was dancing. So we joined forces trying to get as many others to start dancing, to very little avail. It's not right. Though it's not necessarily wrong; I mean hey, you buy the ticket - do whatever you want. But I just don't get it. How can you just stand in the midst of amazing live music and not literally be moved?

Furthermore, I think dancing at shows is a major thing that people can do to show respect and gratitude to the people playing them. They're putting their stuff out there, and I doubt they want the response to be a bunch of crossed arms and poker faces dressed in whatever the front window mannequin at American Apparel or H&M is wearing (I'm not trying to hate on either of these places - both of which I have shopped at - but I am hating on the people who steal their style from a faceless plastic body). Having a good time isn't "too cool," or rather it shouldn't be considered such. It's okay to show emotion in a crowd of strangers. It's okay to dance in front of them too, because honestly, you probably won't see them ever again.. .and in most cases it's too dark to see anyone's face, so go ahead, dance the night away.

The thing I think is kind of crazy is that the places I see the most dancing are the smaller scale shows, the ones in galleries and houses, the ones where a donation of a buck gets you in and graciously thanked. It's probably due to the atmosphere. I don't know. The reason I think it's crazy is that the "bigger" shows, the ones where oftentimes a pretty penny is dropped just to get in the door, and let's not forget the lovely not-too-little fees they tag on -- well, those are the ones with the least dancing. So what, are people just paying to look bored in front of their favorite bands? That's silly. When a band plays, wherever, whenever, just dance.

By the end of the Islands show, I was up front dancing up a storm, slamming my fists on the stage, and being gawked at by the guy next to me, who had both arms wrapped around his lady friend. He looked at me like I was crazy. But I thought the girl he was holding was the crazy one, allowing herself to be so contained while standing in the presence of live music that incredible. All I can say is don't ever try to hold me during a show. You might get hurt.

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As for the accessibility of music, it's definitely an interesting thing. I don't know anyone who looks to the radio or a specific television music channel to get the goods on what's out there. I feel like people either find what they like on their own, or through other people, and I like that. I like that the whole act of finding good music seems less monopolized. Maybe that's too strong of a word, I don't know. I don't doubt that MTV had its glory days, and that there still are those few radio stations that are worth keeping on one of the memory keys. But I think that now, with more people talking about music, making music, and listening to music, well I don't think there's really a comparison. It says a lot when music is shared from person to person, even if it's one person telling another to go to this website or that. Some people talk about how the use of technology limits human interaction and such, and how it's a way for people to not deal with other people. But I mean come on, it also acts as a bridge. Hey, it brought us all to this forum, right?