Tonight I entered into the world of Metal, attending a wonderful concert featuring Chimaira, Dragonforce, and Killswitch Engage.
Metal concerts -- I indulge, pretentiously, with the plural -- for me, are not about the music, they are about a universal shedding of sexual identity, the side-by-side juxtaposition of machismo and feminism: theatrics with brute force, grunts with shrill cries, anger with poise, overtly sexual lunges with rigid, militaristic stances.
Chimaira and Killswitch Engage represent the more masculine side of Metal. They evoke war drums and pounding battle songs. Dragonforce, conversly, represents something akin to a heavy metal version of Queen -- from the increased musicality to the androgynous, hyper-sexual front man.
I'll have to investigate the lyrics in a textual fashion as I failed to understand a single word that was sung (screamed, chanted) over the course of the entire evening. Metal has redeeming qualities, I think -- rhythm, the "dancing," the community, the energy...
To investigate the community more -- to accurately portray my surprise at the geniality and altruism of the community -- this would take more lines of prose than I am willing to pursue at the moment. Let it suffice to say that I saw a man drop his cellphone and a circle of searches form out of nothing; I saw a girl fall to her back and a swarm of helpful hands appear to rescue her; I saw a heavy-set, bald man, chin dappled with course, straggly hair, turn to security guard and thank him for a wonderful evening.
What a strange evening, full of many, many surprises.
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