****Prompt: Write about music.
I can't wait to see her live for myself Oct. 5th...
Since
YouTube first hit the viral scene it changed things. It made superstars in
basements, in bedrooms, and in their living rooms. People made their computers:
the PCS and their Macbooks into their studios. They press record and just go
for it.
Fearless.
The
Internet does that – all that space between your computer screen and the
audience you don’t know; it’s conquerable. Magic happens; it’s like lightning
interrupting your connection when you watch a video and someone important
emerges. A voice you can’t get out of your head. A beat that pulsates still
even after the loading bar has finished. You drag it back to the beginning just
to see it strike all over again.
This
is Kimbra – at her live recording of “Settle Down” at SXSW. She sets herself up
with two mics and her band: her iPads, standing side by side on a small table
to hold each close to her. A large green billboard advertising her sponsor: an
Internet radio player. Who thought any of those words would be said altogether?
She’s
adjusting the height of each microphone as a large crowd is already standing
and waiting to see what will happen next. A few heads from the poke from behind
their neighbor’s back to see if they’ve missed anything - just in case.
There’s
a sense of anticipation in all their faces. Their eyes darting back and forth
to the crowd around them wondering if they’re thinking the same thing they are:
who is this girl?
Kimbra,
meanwhile, is attentive to having her instruments opened and loaded. Her black
bob envelopes her thin and delicate face. Full bangs complete the frame and you
could almost mistake her for pinup doll if not for the unkempt waves that make
her wild. Natural.
She
licks red painted lips and begins to form a steady hip-hop beat and then
finishes it with a hiss. Punching
the air with the beat and softening it with the hiss she loops the first layer
of the track and hits repeat. It continues to play as she brings her mouth back
to the mic to lay the next layer: the booms.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Again.
Boom
Boom
Boom.
Her
cheeks hard at work to make it bump.
She
glides her fingers and the booms mixes with the beat and the hiss. They play
altogether and the volume rises.
People
begin to get excited. More heads begin to move in and out of the crowd to get a
glimpse, make sure it’s real.
And
then she sings.
Pops
her cardigan’s collar and that’s when I love her
When
a fan is born.
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