I’ve been standing outside the venue for two hours now and the line extends up to 4 blocks north. My chance to get in finally arrives and its packed like a can of sardines inside. Many conversations are taking place all at the same time from people that you wouldn’t normally see having conversations outside of these four walls. There is so much chatter in the room that I wonder how can they even hear themselves speak, I say to myself they must be professional lip readers. People have the look of excitement on their faces and the energy is good, similar to the feeling you get when the weekend arrives. The sigh of relief permeates the air and everyone’s friendliness provides us with a sense of collective security. One guy yells out Covid is long gone! and then I say to him don’t jinx us and we start laughing together. The band finally arrives on the stage and suddenly you can hear pin drop as the lead singer for bad brains hits the stage. He stares into the crowd with a for about 10 seconds straight and yells Rasta To The Bone!!! and suddenly the crowd erupts. The ground under shakes immensely and I start to wonder if I’m going to fall through the floor, I grab people to the left and right because I could feel myself falling as they smile as they jubilate. The looks on their faces make me realize that they are in a trance like state while throwing elbows at the same time and bad faith was rampant upon the faces of the attendees that looked like lawyers based on their attire. The crowd is filled with white, black, latinos, indians, asians and every other group of people you can think of. They were doctors who were still in their scrubs and lawyers with their suits still on. The anticipation of the concert was so overwhelming that they didn’t even bother to make time to go home and change out of their work clothes. Everyone at the concert forgot the politics of the ethnic groups they were placed in, whether it was white, black or other. Under this one roof social constructs and racial constructs ceased to exist. It was in that moment that I realized this wasn’t some regular concert, it was therapeutic session and church revival session mixed in one. I could tell that the releases they were having were cathartic because the joy on their faces was reminiscent of school children carelessly playing during lunchtime. Negritude filled the air and everyone was in unison with this sentiment. people were kicking the walls and punching them all at the same time, they were filled with the spirit of rebellion and if these people weren’t under this roof Babylon would be destroyed. It was an indoor riot by the residents that keep the engine of America going and I thought to myself if this is how they really feel we are all doomed. Then I realized that this was safe place to manifest the resistance they otherwise wouldn’t have the courage to showcase based on the fact that they had mortgages to pay and kids to send off to college. It was the scene of Zion in the movie Matrix where all the people were jamming, fighting invisible demons all at the same time. People faces encompassed a range of emotions, even sadness at times then I realized everyone hated their jobs and that authenticity was luxury that they couldn’t afford. Chaos was legalized and I got out of my head and jumped in the mosh pit and joined the fun. It was fun and it reminded me of the wild out sessions I had with my friends during Jouvert mornings that I attended yearly during our carnivals back home in the ST.Thomas. It was carthartic and Moshpits were the same event we have in the Caribbean, it was just confined to a small space but much more often than our yearly event. The physicality of this event made me realize that they weren’t really punching and kicking the wall, they were punching and kicking their employers, bad ass kids and rude clients that have been taken their work and duty for granted. I heard them screaming names of people who couldn’t all exist within that one wall so I knew I was part of an experience that was encapsulated in an unnamed emotion that is a mixture of joy and pain.
Music Is Life 
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