And the Beat Goes On

It snowed in North Carolina. School is canceled, business hours are abbreviated, the sun is out, and the high is only 30 degrees. It’s a perfect day to stay home. So, of course, we are GOING TO A CONCERT.

I’m not sure when I first heard Vitamin String Quartet, an actual string quartet (two violinists, one violist, and one cellist) that arranges and covers popular rock and pop songs, but I’m pretty sure it was their cover of Sweet Child o’ Mine by Guns N’ Roses that got my attention. Great for writing, reading, relaxing; the songs are at once familiar and nebulous. Listening, Lee and I often look blankly at each other, flipping through the album collections in our brains. What song is this?

It’s genius, really. A toe dip into the world of classical music.

Rachel played the violin in middle school, or more accurately, she owned a violin which we were able to sell after three years as “slightly used.” Before you feel like I’ve maligned her, she would not disagree with this assessment. I’m not sure why she started, but I know her decision to stay in orchestra had more to do with the end-of-year trip to Busch Gardens than any abiding passion for classical music. She did however love the movie The Pirates of the Caribbean and was excited to learn how to play the theme, or at least to pretend to play it at the school orchestra concert.

As I watched teams warm up between rotations at a gymnastics meet two weeks ago in Oklahoma City, the song “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish filled the arena. My throat tightened. Elisabeth, turned to see me crying and her eyes filled with concern. I gestured upward and croaked out, it’s the song. She nodded and placed her hand on my knee. Like scent, music can be a minefield, whisking you back in emotion and time. It helps if you can control when and where you encounter it. The music of Vitamin String Quartet seemed like a safe bet emotion-wise.

The Carolina Theatre occupies a spot in downtown Durham and the city’s history. From it’s historic seats we’ve watched film classics, extreme sports film festival entrees, and last year, The Mavericks with our friends Dana and Sean. This time, our seats are in the 2nd Balcony. The ticket scanner tells us the fastest way up would be the elevator but we take that as an assumption of need and determine the stairs will be just fine for us, thank you. About the third flight of full stairs with more to go we realize sometimes a suggestion is just that and regret not taking the elevator.

The show is fantastic; it is all I hoped for, transporting me to place and emotion and back again. Ariana Grande, A-ha, Taylor Swift, Prince; sometimes they tell us the artist, often they don’t. Back from intermission, I hear the first chords and my mind reels. Is that? Can it be? I turn to Lee, and he nods. The Weeknd.

I can explain. We created a bingo card with things that were a part of Andrew’s life and invited friends and family to play, a way to remember Andrew. I checked one off tonight.

There is something about live music, live theater, and live sports; experiencing such talent in real time always makes me emotional. It is one of those times in life when I am aware I am alive.

Thank you for being here and for reading. What is your favorite concert memory? What is the role of music in your life? What is your favorite Vitamin String Quartet cover? I’d love to know.

Before you go, my last post was about grief, and I worried about how to transition from such a heavy topic to the everyday things I usually write about. And then, I remembered that grief is an everyday thing. My life and my grief are the fabric of my experience. I can’t write about one without the other.