Ludo Takes Manhattan

After a lot of pleading and a lot of smoothing over of the details, Neil and I got to go to the Ludo Takes Manhattan show yesterday at the Highline Ballroom. We took a bus there and a train back. It was an amazing experience, even better than the last Ludo concert I went to. It was just... it was amazing. 

When we got to New York, I was nervous. I have never been in NYC before, let alone without an adult or a clear plan. We walked the nineteen or so blocks from the bus station to the ballroom and then walked an extra block not realizing that we had passed it. It was pretty bad, because we passed this line of people and I thought "Hmm. Wonder what's going on?" and we got to the front of the line and someone called out "I like your shirt!" and I said thanks and we kept walking and then all of a sudden we realized we just passed the venue. 

I was wearing this shirt. Should've realized it was a Ludo concert-goer when he recognized it.

So we walked back to the back of the line and then decided to go get something to eat. We ran to Subway, got food, and then ran back to get in line. The whole standing-in-line thing lasted about an hour, but it wasn't too bad. We made jokes and had short conversations with the people ahead of us in line who happened to be nerdfighters and, oh yeah, got passed by Andrew Volpe. I kinda stood there going "Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit." for a couple minutes afterwards. Eventually the doors opened and we were the third group let in. We bought our tickets and headed into the ballroom where we stood and waited for yet another hour. 

The last Ludo concert I went to, there was a guy there with a Pizza John shirt (vlogbrothers reference). I wanted to say something to him, but the time it took me to work up my nerve by staring at his shirt was the same amount of time it took his girlfriend to decide I was checking him out and get all territorial and shoot me death glares, so I was too scared to go say something (thank you social anxiety). This time there was a girl there wearing a Pizza John shirt who happened to pass Neil and I in the ballroom. I tapped her on the shoulder and told her I liked her shirt ^-^

Also, everytime I have typed "shirt" so far in this post, I've missed the "r" key at first. Good times.

The opening acts were all right. The first was Electric Sun, which was a band that played music. I can never properly genre-lize music. The guy had an interesting haircut, that's for sure. I don't think he was used to the type of mic that the Highline Ballroom had. It was a unidirectional mic, and he kept going off to the side and the sound was really unclear. The second act was PDA, which was a rap group. That struck me as a little odd. I don't go to Ludo concerts to hear rap music... They did know how to work their audience, though, and his shirt said "The cake is a lie," so I didn't hate him. 

And then Ludo came on. They were, of course, fantastic. 

I spent a lot of time last night thinking about why I go to Ludo concerts. I can listen to their music anytime I want. I have all their albums. I can watch videos on YouTube of their banter between songs. There's just something about their concerts... Not many people have heard of Ludo, and then to be in one room with 600+ people who are fans... it's something special. Plus, there's something about a concert, and I'm not sure if it's just Ludo or concerts in general because I've only been to two concerts in my life and they were both Ludo, but something about it makes me feel great. I'm more confident, happier, even more sexual (AKA I'm almost able to pass as sexual :P). Normally I get antsy around crowds, but I'm perfectly fine with the rule of no personal space at a concert. I do a lot of jumping and screaming at concerts, whereas normally I don't show much excitement unless I'm around certain people. I just feel like a totally different person at concerts.

I sang and shouted along to every song they did. A lot of the time, though, I was just mouthing the words. Not because I was afraid of being heard and judged which is my reason at birthday parties, but because I just couldn't sing. It was hard to find enough breath to make noise. I actually started crying a little during "The Horror of Our Love" when it was just Andrew Volpe on stage and it was beautiful. It was just a really good experience, and I can't wait to do it again. 

Inventory: Voice: gone. Hearing in right ear: slowly coming back. Ringing in both ears: still here. Legs: sore. Mood: through the roof and probably not coming back down anytime soon.