Catharsis, Shame (or the lack thereof), and Conformity

I just got home from seeing the most amazingly incredible show I have been to in nearly ten years. Maybe it's because I went to see Emery (they are... well, the best there is in the post hardcore scene, and I don't care what anyone has to say about the new album, I will always love them) or maybe it's because nearly every band that played was talented and well put together and presented a good act.

But in any case, it provided a long overdue moment of catharsis. I could scream at the top of my lungs, and though surrounded by a thousand kids, no one heard me. I could throw my body about in the violent passion of the beats and the screams. I felt the emotion of the song and then vented it with my voice. In short, I did some soul cleansing.

Perhaps it is good I went alone. Such things work best when not observed by those who may later comment.

Though I was disappointed that only one band (of course, not all of them were Christian... that is, Christians in a band) made any mention of their true purpose. I understand the urgency to avoid labels, but I think many groups avoid the Christian music title so that they may not alienate those they are trying to reach. Yet there was one who showed no shame in their faith. The lead singer/screamer in Devil Wears Prada proudly declared that they were there to serve the man Jesus Christ. I cannot describe the thrill I felt at that shameless cry.

But then, when the cheers were far less than they had been, and I heard the laughter of the kid next to me, I looked around and laughed. In a sad sort of way. Every kid looked the same: swoop bangs, with hair dyed either black or platinum, tight pants and Converse/Keds for shoes, big black watches and wrist bands, tattoo sleeves and monstrous gauges. They were all trying to stand out, but, as we have seen a thousand times before, they all ended up looking the same.

The ways of this world are flawed and boring. So hurray to the iconoclasts and the rebels and those who would make their true allegiances known without fear or regret.