THE moment

If you're a regular reader of The Culture Club Blog here at Flagstaff Cultural Partners, you've noticed the flood of concert posts and the lack of.. just about everything else. Because my second favorite moment in the entire world is THAT moment at a concert (my first is when a little kid runs up screaming your name through a smile, so the concert moment had some pretty stiff competition). It's different for each show, but I've never seen live music and not experienced THAT moment. When I rode the shoulders of one of the chaperones at a Newsboys concert when I was 11, and I saw my first crowd. When my family took me to see *NSYNC (yes, I'm such a loyal fan that I use the asterisk) at U.S. Airways Center back when it was called America West Arena. THE moment: every moment. I was a 12-year-old girl at an *NSYNC concert. Be real, people.

Swoon

When my step-brother and I fought our way to the front row, and for the first time, I didn't resent my parents for getting a divorce. The sky lit up with thousands of cellphones and lighters during a song I don't know because I'd never listened to Good Charlotte before. My step-brother wrapped his arm around my shoulder and we swayed to the only slow song of the concert.

Everyone has these moments. The experiences at a live show that somehow sneaks into conversation every time The Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin or Dolly Parton or Pat Benatar is mentioned. For my dad, it's dancing to the B-52s' "Rock Lobster." For my boss, it's getting in early at an Arcade Fire show (the ticket is still hanging on the wall by his desk). For my boyfriend, it's watching John Butler play "Ocean" at Pepsi Amphitheater- a moment I'm reminded that I missed every time the song comes on the iPod and he "seriously can't believe he saw this live in Flagstaff!"

Tonight, I went to the Arboretum for the last concert of the Summer Music Series. LoCura came from San Francisco to Tijuana to Tucson and barely made it to Flagstaff. THE moment: The last couple songs, the band invited the audience to stand up and dance into the sunset. Two little girls in the back twirled their skirts in imitation of the Flamenco dancer in the band. It was almost a combo of my first and second favorite moments.