Hazy View

I stood at the show last night, watching the mass of urban scenesters push their way closer to the stage as the security guard demanded that I fit my feet on the concrete floor of the pit. I sighed and shoved my toes further in toward the blonde in the Ramones shirt that was standing close enough for me to smell the Herbal Essences in her hair.

Observing is half the fun at a show, and I was in my element, quietly watching the hipsters silently eye each other's tattoos and judging the style choices of the girls who had so clearly come only for their boyfriends, not for the music.

A smoker lit up behind me, blowing his cancer cloud toward the back of my neck, giving me a hazy view of the requisite row of blonde style mavens hanging out on the railing to the right. As the band played, they merely nodded their heads in time with the changing beat, refusing to show any more indicators that they actually liked the music.

However, deeper in the pit, the over-the-top fans were trying hard to show the band how much they adored their lyrics by intermittently pumping their fists and folding their black-nailed fingers into the international symbol for rock.

One boy stood silently next to me. His hands clutched the required band tee that every avid concert-goer obtains, but his similarity to the rest of the people in the crowd ended there. His worn fleece pullover was pilling with age, and his hair, though shaggy, did not angle diagonally over one eye like the rest of the crowd. My eyes were fixed on his grey sleeve, but his eyes were fixed on the stage. He did not move. He did not sway to the music. He did not break his stare of allegiance to his favorite band. With his hands in his pockets, he did not sing along with the lyrics, yell cliche rock concert cheers or even blink, for that matter.

When the set was finally over, he pulled his hands up to give five strong claps and nothing more. With a dazed, awe-struck look in his eyes, he turned away from the stage and walked out of the haze, my eyes boring holes in the back of his head.