If I were to get a tattoo, it would be "5 5 5." I don't think I'd ever do it since I'm a baby about needles, but the number 5 5 5 appears on my body pretty often courtesy of a steady hand and some super heavy-duty waterproof black eyeliner.
This story begins with my love of low sounds and hatred of all things MTV. Bass clarinet, low brass, cellos, deep voices, thunder, jet planes, lawnmowers... well, it really depends on the lawnmower since some are uncommonly shrill, but you get the general idea. MTV has this special channel for colleges called MTVU. They buy fancy TVs for the colleges and put them in common areas so they can stream advertising and bad music at all hours of the day. This idea was especially repugnant to me when I was in my college years. There was however one music video that always made my ears perk up. It's common to hear great guitarists and fantastic drummers, but it's rare to hear a really prominent strong interesting bass line. Usually the bass is far removed from the action and serves only to drive the beat forward. I love a good low instrument, but refused to look at the TV out of principle.
One day as Charles and I were walking across campus, he spotted a huge display of tents plastered with MTVU logos that were blasting the obnoxious music that had ruined my meals all semester. I immediately turned to walk the other way, but he took my hand and insisted that we go check it out (they might be giving away free stuff!). So I went and sulked while he ran around from tent to tent doing who knows what.
A few steps away, there was a table set up with trivia questions and a huge sign that said "Enter to win FREE TICKETS to tonight's concert!!!" I stepped a little closer. There was only one trivia question written down, obviously to separate the true fans from the casual passersby, and it was "how many members are in the band?" Are you kidding me? There were posters everywhere for this concert. While it wasn't a photo, there were three silhouettes splattered on the posters with the band's name on top. Gee, could the answer be THREE? I wrote three on a piece of paper, put my name on it, and dropped it into the box not because I wanted to win but because I thought their question was stupid. A few minutes later, they drew a piece of paper out of the box, but it had the wrong answer (some idiot had put down FOUR). The next piece of paper out of the box was mine, so here I was with two meet and greet passes and concert tickets for a band I'd never even heard of. Oh joy.
I gave both of the tickets to Charles and told him to give one to a friend. If the crap they played on MTVU was any indication of what was going to be performed at the concert, then I wanted nothing to do with it. Once again, Charles insisted that we go. After lunch we walked over to the administration building where the tour buses were parked and were given special VIP meet and greet stickers and posters with the three silhouettes and the MTVU logo. "Hey, is that the band?" I whispered to Charles. "I don't know," he answered, "but we're holding posters and they're holding sharpies, so I guess so." "Look at how tight their pants are! What do you think- gay, straight or European?" As they approached we could hear their accents, which somehow explained everything from the incredibly tight pants to the fact that I was taller than two of the guys in the band. Mindless chatter followed, which was incredibly awkward since we had no idea who these guys were. Then the "tall" one of the group lit a cigarette and it dangled from his lips as he went around signing the posters. I was shocked to see someone smoking and just wanted to smack that cigarette out of his mouth and lecture him. "Don't smoke! It's going to screw up your singing voice!" But what if he was actually the drummer and didn't sing? Then I would be exposed as a fraud and made to explain myself. Smokey the Bear then asked if any of us had a football (soccer ball) and we didn't. I told them they could probably find one over at the rec center, thanked them for their time, and left.
I almost didn't go to the concert. Charles had to drag me. We went to the main administration building and found a beautiful old performance hall in the back, which I had no idea even existed. It was blocky and musty with blood red velvet and gigantic marble slabs. I stayed through the opening act against my will, and swore to get even with Charles for subjecting me to this torture. The three guys were up next and they could barely fit all of their gear on stage. They also had more instruments than expected, which was unexpected, so I folded my arms, stuck out one hip, rolled my eyes a bit, and dared them to try and impress me.
I was blown away from the very first chord. These were musicians. These were guys who knew what they were doing. They had obviously played together for years. Their chemistry was electrifying. Their energy was perfectly matched between the three of them. The tuning and the balance were perfect. They filled the auditorium with a sound unlike any I'd ever heard before. It was so loud that I could SEE my arm hair pulsing to the beat. I could feel the waves of sound penetrating my skin and vibrating through my bones. Just three tiny little skinny pants-wearing punks with accents, who I had written off so quickly... And the singer's voice! Not a bass and proud of it. He didn't care- there was just a message he had to communicate and that's all that mattered. I still can't believe how well they played their instruments. The first song ended and then Smokey the Bear started playing this awesome bass line. All of sudden, it all clicked. Hey! It's that bass line from that song from the band in the video that was playing on MTVU!
The song was Hysteria, the band was Muse, and date was 5/5/5. I've been a devoted follower ever since.
I'm still kicking myself for not walking across the street to the rec center to get the guys a soccer ball.
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