Hungry

May 28, 2020

I didn't know that Dave Grohl, singer-songwriter-drummer and founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, could write. But man, is he ever gifted. A few weeks ago, in the May 11 edition of The Atlantic, he published the most profoundly expressive piece I've seen about the experience of the pandemic and our longing for what we've lost, at least for the summer of 2020: "The Day the Live Concert Returns." 
 

In today’s world of fear and unease and social distancing, it's hard to imagine sharing experiences like these ever again. I don’t know when it will be safe to return to singing arm in arm at the top of our lungs, hearts racing, bodies moving, souls bursting with life. But I do know that we will do it again, because we have to. It’s not a choice. We’re human. We need moments that reassure us that we are not alone. That we are understood. That we are imperfect. And, most important, that we need each other.

It's not usual that I give my column over to someone else's words, but the sentiment deserves the space, and Dave Grohl is in a position to convey it better than almost anyone. But you know it, too. Your version of a rock concert may be hip-hop or car racing or horse racing or your daughter's Quinceañera or standing on the top of Cadillac Mountain in a crowd at dawn so you can be the first to see the sun rise. But I'm with Dave: I'm longing for live rock and roll, and the unique experience of shedding inhibition, living an art form, and bonding with the stranger next to you that you find nowhere else in the human condition. We need it back, we need it badly, and we just have to wait.