"One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain."

~Bob Marley

I've loved music for as long as I can remember. It's a rare day when I don’t listen for at least a few hours. I usually listen to music all day, either on Spotify, iTunes, or a YouTube playlist in the background. My personal taste has varied over the years, but my favorite genres are definitely rock and pop-rock. I listen with and without headphones, in the car, off my phone or off my computer and my mood varies with each listening method.

Live music is something that I hadn't really experienced up until 2015 and I honestly wish I hadn't waited so long. The quote above from Bob Marley is so incredibly accurate. In fact, music hitting you is the opposite of pain. It's the physical manifestation of joy. Whether you're at a stadium concert with thousands of screaming fans or an intimate venue with a handful (or ten handfuls) of people, live music makes you FEEL. One of my favorite feelings in the world is feeling a bass beat vibrate from the floor, from the wall behind me, or moving in the air around me and THROUGH me. You can actually feel the music in your body. And your body moves with it. The pounding of the drums becomes the beating of your heard, the strum of the guitar becomes the swing and swivel of your hips. The vocals course through you and you move your head to the music.

To me, music is the meta-physical manifestation of feelings. It can make you feel joy, sadness, or nostalgia, among nearly every other emotion. It can hype you up and it can calm you down. It comes in all forms. Music can help you concentrate or it can make you lose all train of thought. Music is different to all of us. It is a vehicle for all walks of life.

Whether you're in at a stadium concert with thousands of screaming fans or at an intimate venue with a handful (or a ten handfuls) of people, live music makes you FEEL. One of my favorite feelings in the world is a bass beat vibrating up from the floor, from the wall behind me, and in the air around me and through me. You can actually feel the music in your body. Your body moves with it. The pounding of the drums becomes the pounding of your heart, the strum of the guitar becomes the swing and swivel of your hips. The vocals course through you and you move your head without thinking. You become the music and the music becomes you.

That is the beauty of music.