Saturday, for the first time in the history of the Newport Music Hall, a local band produced a sold out theatre. Our son, Taylor, was somewhere in the mass of young people that crowded together in what seemed like one mass of humanity. Miss and I hung out in the balcony area and perched on the edge of the bar for a birds eye view of sorts.
We had arrived at 9:30 just in time to see the headliner, 21 Pilots. I wasn’t so excited to be there. I had never heard of this band and was going as a favor to my Miss. Taylor had just heard them for the first time the week prior at Young Life camp and had bought 7 of their songs on Itunes. I hadn’t bothered to listen.
The show opened with two guys. I leaned over to Miss and asked where’s the rest of the band. “That’s it,” she replied matter of factly. Oh bother went my brain. I agreed to do my best to reserve judgement until they started to play. The first thing my ears heard, unfortunately, was a heavy dose of synthesizer. And before I could tell my brain to ease off the throttle, my overwhelming bias kicked in. This was going to be a long night, or so I thought.
The lead singer began to rap and my overwhelming bias doubled down yet again. I was about to shut down all systems when the drummer’s beat began. He looked like he was going to break his sticks, his arms, and his drums all at once. I’d never seen someone becoming ONE with a drum.
I have now.
I noticed the singer again. I couldn’t understand a word he was screaming but the entire mass of humanity right below me was screaming it back at him and shaking parts I was sure I didn’t have. I was hooked…
For the next 75 minutes I went from the band of two to the band of two thousand, my eyes and ears filling up, and my heart too. 21 Pilots doesn’t play to the crowd, they play with the crowd, they play in the crowd, the crowd plays them. 21 Pilots connects with those that come. 21 Pilots plays for those that come. The crowd plays them back. Witnessing this connection was pure MAGIC.
Today, play with your team, play for them, play. Catch your bias toward one or another, and shove it to the back of your brain. Tune in to your team, all of ’em. You just may be surprised by what you hear…
BUILT TO LEAD 