#i wasnt even there and here i am waxing lyrical

[omegalomania]

it really is incredible, seeing how playing one song will spark the exact hybrid emotions that i feel like its meant to generate. pete prefaces by asking the 8-ball, should we play a song from ten years ago? and the 8-ball says my reply is no. so he asks, should we play a song about ten years ago? and so they do. and from the second that beat kicks in, the crowd loses it. they know what song this is, right away. patrick starts singing and the crowd sings back at him. they know every word to this song from an album released this year. theyre not just here for hits from a decade plus ago.

its a hard song to sing. maybe for patrick he has the benefit of distance - but technically speaking, its a hard song. its at an unrelentingly high register and hes singing this in the sweltering houston heat. he nails it nonetheless. there is an incredible elation in hearing this song live in a stadium of thousands, filled to the brim with people who sing along. there is an incredible depth of sadness in hearing the chorus over and over: i spent ten years in a bit of chemical haze, and i miss the way that i felt nothing.

patrick sings these high clear words and doesnt falter. andy and pete are the rhythm section and they keep the tempo, they hold the foundations, they are unshakable and if it is a difficult song for pete to hear live he doesnt show it. hes all smiles for the crowd. and joe...oh god, joe, who listed the kintsugi kid as his favorite off of so much (for) stardust, he plays this song live for the first time alongside his band, he plays the same melody on guitar that patrick sings during the choruses and in that way they are both singing alongside each other. when the song drops into the instrumental its just joe for a minute. just the rising tones of the guitar in this painfully vulnerable song, played to a stadium of thousands.

god, but my heart. im envious of those of you who got to hear this one for the first time, but im also indescribably happy that they played this one at all. its a special song. it deserved to be heard live.