Something that I love about GMC is the fact that there's always music playing. There are a number of campus bands, some of which will jam out the coffee house or the gorge every now and again.
It's fantastic being around so many creative people, so many great musicians.
The music culture is great, too. There are a bunch of people who have gone to this festival or that festival, this show or that. We're only an hour and a half away from Burlington, to boot, which means we're pretty close to Higher Ground, a venue that hosts a lot of different bands and quite frequently, at that.
Now I've always known this. I've heard tons of stories from kids on campus about Higher Ground, the people they've met there, the music, the madness. But honestly I've never really considered going along with. I don't have a vehicle, most of my friends usually just stick around campus on the weekends, and it is a looong drive back, depending on how late the show goes.
But this past weekend, I was somehow coerced (haha) into joining Becky and this group of people she met down at the Langerado festival in Florida this past Spring Break to go up to Burlington. (What a crazy crew! One of them owns his own business, so he's either doing a job, or jumping from concert to concert until he gets contracted for another job.)
It was all rather random. I was walking back from the dining hall, when I saw Becky hanging out with the kids in the back of their van. I had met them the night before, so I went over to see how they were doing, when they were leaving, whathaveyou. And then they told me they were leaving in like half an hour to see this band in Burlington, and asked me if I wanted to join. I honestly had ten bucks to my name, so I told them maybe some other time... but when they offered to spot me the fiver, I couldn't resist. I ran up to my room to get a few things and then... OFF I WENT!!
It ended up being this band called Lotus. I had heard OF them before, but had never heard their music. I didn't really care much, though, as I figured it'd be a great night of dancing either way. It ended up being a funky techno band... I don't really like classifying them as that, though, because although they were technically techno, I tend not to like techno all that much, so the word has bad connotations for me. Haha. The truth of the matter is I DANCED FOR FOUR HOURS STRAIGHT. So they must have been pretty good.
There were a ton of people up there from GMC, so I was pretty much surrounded by familiar faces. I also bumped into a friend that I haven't seen in OVER A YEAR there (she lives in Burlington currently), which was uber sweet because she's such a doll, and I wasn't expecting to see her again for a while.
What a random adventure. I think the best part about it was the fact that I felt closer with the kids from GMC who were there after the concert. Even the kids I didn't ride with... somehow I felt like we had shared that moment, so our lives were that much more intertwined. Maybe that's corny. Either way, I feel a lot more comfortable around some of the people there that I don't normally hang out with.
I guess music just... helps the bonding process. I mean if you're jamming out to a song next to someone who is jamming just as hard, you kinda feel closer.
Anyways, it was absolutely fantastic and I'm stoked to go to another show now. I can't believe I've been missing this scene my entire time here. I hadn't experienced it, so I didn't really know what I was missing, I guess. I'm already planning on going to an Ellis concert next week sometime, which should be a cool time, too.
Peace. Love. Music.