I stood in the dark backyard, waiting for the concert to begin as a blue glow poured from the open basement door. Regardless of how nervous I was, the warmth of the basement was inviting on such a cold evening. Plus, the friendliness of the strangers around me made me excited to descend into the concert with them.
P Daddy celebrates its own absurdity, writing party anthems about feeling inadequate. The music often rejects rumination and accepts a strain of Camus-based-philosophy, asserting that one can find joy by embracing the absurdity of life. It seems that the music is telling you to embrace sorrow, but find joy despite it.
On March 10, I experienced the four-hour, sold-out, sixth annual Love Rocks NYC! show in the grandeur of New York City’s Beacon Theatre. Yet my perspective was far different from the rest of the audience. I studied the musicians, yes, but from their backs. As I hunched from my post as drum tech, securely hidden behind the kit and the congas, my eyes darted from the musicians I was working for to the faces of nearly 3,000 radiant music fans.
One year ago, Guitarist Rubens De La Corte was on top of the world, touring across continents with Grammy Award-winning performers and streaming his album Nomad on Spotify. Now, he’s giving guitar lessons from his living room for extra cash.