With the U2 show and Fall Break just moments away, emotions are running high all around Grounds. Excitement is in the air now that the earliest midterms are out of the way, and the later ones seem so far off that a little quality time at Scott Stadium tonight doesn't sound like too bad an idea. After all, having Muse and U2 come to U.Va. is apparently a big deal.
While I'm not going to argue that it isn't, I will go out on a limb and say that it shouldn't have to seem so incredible. I say this because Charlottesville always has held a certain amount of artist-pulling potential that remains consistently untapped because of one main issue: a lack of musical passion and appreciation from the student body as a whole.
Don't get me wrong: I've had many fine music discussions with several fellow classmates, but there have been far too many other instances when discussion is impossible beyond mentionings of fleeting obsessions with whatever's currently "in" and an acknowledgement that Girl Talk is pretty cool also. If you think I'm little off-base with this comment, I think a stroll around Rugby Road any given Saturday night might give you some idea of from where I'm coming.
After having witnessed my fair share of unexcited Charlottesville concert crowds, it has become no wonder that big artists pass us by more often than not. Even the smaller venues are having a hard time pulling the same acts they could before, to the point that they are eventually driven out of business.
If Charlottesville is to see more shows like this come around, the burden is on us to make artists want to come and rock our socks off. This goes beyond buying a ticket and showing up to hang out with your friends against a backdrop of lights and sound. You have to cast aside routine social interaction, lose yourself in the moment, submit yourself to the rhythm and just let it all hang out.\nIt is a shame I feel the need to actually articulate how one should act at a concert, but it just seems necessary. I don't want tonight's big shindig to flop simply because everyone is sitting around, taking in the show as if U2 were as bad as our football team. Because, if this kind of cool reception is all we have to offer, I fear the event may further contribute to Charlottesville's slow but steady musical decline, albeit on a much larger scale.
-campbell bird
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