trust yourself: Media Meditation #2 Birds' Eye View vs. Back to High School

I've been fortunate enough to attend not one but two concerts at Higher Ground recently. Neither of them did I have to pay for... for two different reasons though. Those two reasons allowed me to have two completely different media experiences and no better way to be able to remember them than to blog about them!

On October 7th I had the chance to see Matt & Kim perform. I found out about the concert from a long lost friend named Mikey via Facebook. He left me a message asking me if I was planning going to the show because he remembered I lived in Burlington now. Turns out my old friend from Western Mass was now touring with this band. What are the odds. Mikey was able to put us right on the guest list for free entrance to the show. Once we entered, we headed over the merch table where Mikey was responsible for selling T-shirts, posters, buttons, stickers and CDs for the band, talk about synergy on a smaller scale. It's important for bands these days to branch out from just selling music as often music can be found for free online while a T-shirt isn't as accessible. As Media & Society discusses, much of a bands income comes from the sales of things other than their music.

As the band began to play, Mikey had another surprise for us. He gave us passes to watch the band from a behind stage balcony. I have been to Higher Ground many times but never viewed a show from up here. It was a really fun but different experience. I wasn't surrounded by hundreds of random people all excited and as amped up as I was but rather just a few close friends. Here are some pictures of the band performing from our view that were taken with my cell phone, uploaded right to Facebook from the venue and now they are embedded in this blog. Technological shift!

A few weeks later I had the pleasure of seeing New Found Glory at the same venue, Higher Ground. I probably wouldn't have gone to this concert if 1. I wasn't able to receive tickets through my work or 2. my best friend Carrie wasn't going to make the trip there from Boston, MA. Good thing both things happened. I got some of my friends to come with me, jumped in the car and headed to the venue. This time we weren't allowed even close to backstage (important note: it's all about who you know) but I was okay with that. As soon as the band came on, I felt myself get carried back to my high school days and with a huge smile on my face,Carrie and I got as close to the stage as possible, surrounding ourselves with the other fans. The energy of the crowd was so apparent all around us and it added so much fun to the experience. Live music will never go away just for this reason. Tours are important for a band to get their name out and to make money for themselves so support your favorite artists, it'll be well worth it no matter where you view the show from.

Just to add to my media experience here, I got home from the show after saying my goodbyes to my Boston friend Carrie and logged into Facebook (obviously). Carrie had uploaded the following picture from her Blackberry just 20 minutes after I left the venue. The caption read "NFG set list and drumsticks. My life rules." I smiled as our mutual high school friends pushed the "like" button underneath this picture.