A Lull in a Storm

Been having some very rough weeks lately, dealing with academic and personal issues. Quite stormy I would say, like the weather. Only yesterday did I get a short break and some quiet time for myself. 

In the early afternoon today, a friend and I went to Bohemian Café. It wasn't a real café, but an annual event organised for the sixth time now. We slipped in towards the end of the event, and met our friend who was about to perform live for the first time. Naturally he was nervous, but I couldn't wait to see for myself what form would his performance take. 

There were colourful rugs arranged facing the makeshift stage, small pools of lights scattered here and there (think Deepavali), as well as pieces of cloth draped over the harsh white ceiling lamps, now dimmed. The effect? The room had a yellowish/orangeish hue to it and would be quite scary (think Halloween) if there weren't people singing, laughing and clapping.  

I was comfortable sitting cross-legged on the floor, immersing myself in the beauty of music flowing around me. While the aforementioned first-time performer was rapping (I never thought he could!) with his partner onstage, two course mates came and sat on either side of me. Like myself, they came to support my rapper friend. The rappers were going on about overachievers, and the friend on my right nudged me, saying "eh, you la overachiever". I smiled and shrugged it off, but I know what he said was reflective of me.

After the rap performance, most of my friends (and most of the audience too) left for their classes. I sat right where I was because I had no other commitments and was too lazy to take my shoes off to sit on the rugs. I listened to three other performances and felt grateful to have this little break. Time suspended, worries allayed - for the moment. 

The last performance was the best, probably because I recognised and love the song myself. It was Ed Sheeran's Give Me Love. The guy who did the cover of the song was using a portable karaoke machine whose name escaped me even though he did a good explanation of it. 

Nearing the end of the performance, the guy asked everyone in the room to join him. The left and right sides of the audience sang harmony, per the performer's instruction. It was a powerful, goosebump-inducing moment as different voices came together. In that instant I realised that music is a force on its own. Through the centuries different forms of music have come and go, but its core quality (e.g. soothes the soul, unites people) remains intact. Why else would anyone attend this event (besides giving their friends moral support), if not for an appreciation of music?

p. s. I found out later that Ed Sheeran already did this gospel choir / higher vs. lower harmony thing in last year's iTunes Festival. Copycat! - 5 Nov. 13.