זכרונות, רגשות ואחדות - Memories, Feelings and Unity

 זכרונות, רגשות ואחדות

מי היה חושב שהופעת מוסיקה יכולה לגרום לבן-אדם כל-כך הרבה רגשות חזקים?
אני הייתי עד לאירוע מיוחד שבו הרגשנו בדיוק ככה ויותר.
קוראים לו "מלך העולם."
בישראל הוא מפורסם ואהוב יותר מהמלך בארה"ב, אלויס פרסלי, דומה למה שהחיפושיות עשו לעולם בשנות ה-60 וה-70.
אנחנו מקבלים את מתנתו עשרות שנים ללא הפסקה. אפילו לשמו האמיתי יש משמעות: שלמה ארצי - אחד ממלכי ישראל בארצנו.

הפעם הראשונה שראיתי אותו בהופעה הייתה בקיץ 1996 - כאשר אני ביקרתי בארץ.
מהקיץ הזה הכל נשאר איתי: הטיולים, החברים, הנופים, הריחות, הנסיונות של הביקור לקבר רבין וההופעה של שלמה ארצי. אני הרגשתי שהניסיון הזה היה ממש מיוחד ואני זוכר כמה שמחתי אז

לא מזמן הייתי בהופעה נוספת שלו וכאשר שמעתי את קולו המוכר, נזכרתי בכל אותם דברים וראיתי את הדמיון בין שתי ההופעות. גם בפארק בירושלים. גם בקהל הישראלי. גם עם אותם שירים ועם עוד חדשים.
אבל הפעם הבנתי את המשמעות יותר - לא רק על המילים, אלא גם על מה זה להיות ישראלי, לגור ולחיות בארץ. אני הרגשתי את הכל ברגע אחד והיה נפלא ומיוחד

מכיוון שגדלתי בחו"ל, החיבור שלי לישראל היה דרך מוסיקה ישראלית עכשווית וכתוצאה מכך הנסיון הזה היה יותר מרגש וחזק מכל קונצרט אחר. כל האנשים האחרים שהיו שם גם נהנו מההופעה כמובן, אבל הנסיבות שלי היו שונות - להיות באירוע הזה היה כמו להגשים חלום. באותו לילה הרבה השתנה - כיוון שעד אז עדיין לא הייתי צריך לחלום על ישראל אבל היום אני נמצא כאן ויכול להצטרף לתרבות ולחיים במקום, לראות ולשמוע מקור ראשון. זאת הסיבה למה השירים האלה מוערכים בעיניי בדרך נוספת

בהופעה אני כמעט בכיתי פעמיים. הפעם הראשונה הייתה כאשר שלמה הקדיש שיר לגלעד שליט. אני אפילו לא יכול להסביר את האחדות ותחושת המטרה שהייתה שם.היה די עצוב לדעת שהיינו יכולים להזמין עוד איש להופעה שעכשיו עדיין חסר מאיתנו.
הפעם השנייה שכמעט בכיתי הייתה כאשר שרנו את השיר "ארץ חדשה." שמתי לב שכולנו שרנו ביחד - כל אלפי האנשים שבאו לבלות בקונצרט. כל אחד בקהל הכיר את המילים של כל השירים ושר אותן בקול רם. זה היה מיוחד עבורי והשיר הזה ריגש אותי מפני שאני עולה חדש וסוף-סוף מצאתי את הארץ החדשה שלי.

לשיר ביחד עם אנשים שלא הכרתי באופן כזה מרגש, הראה לי מה החשיבות והמשמעות של "אחינו בית ישראל."

Memories, Feelings and Unity
Who would think that a concert could cause a person to have so many strong feelings?

I was a witness to a special event where we felt just this and even more.
They call him 'King of the World.'
In Israel he is more famous and loved than the 'king' in the United States, Elvis Presley, and has done for Israel what The Beatles did for the world in the '60s and '70s.
We receive his gift for years without a break.
Even his real name has meaning - Shlomo Artzi: one of the kings of Israel, in our land.

The first time I saw him in concert was the summer of 1996 when I visited Israel.
From that summer everything stayed with me: the hikes and tours, the friends, the views and the experiences of visiting former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's grave as well as the Shlomo Artzi concert. I felt that this experience was very special and remember how much I enjoyed it.

Just recently I was at another Shlomo Artzi concert and when I heard his familiar voice, I remembered the same feelings I had during my first Israel experience and saw the similarity between the two shows. In a park in Jerusalem, surrounded by an Israeli audience and with the same songs as well as new additions, too. But this time I understood the meaning more - not just the words, but rather what it means to be Israeli and to live in Israel. I felt the power and significance of it all in one moment.

Because I grew up outside of Israel, my connection to Israel was by way of modern Israeli music. As a result, this experience was more powerful and moving than any other concert. All of the other people who were at the concert also enjoyed it of course, but my circumstances were different - to be at this event for me was like a realization of a dream. In the same night a lot changed - I still don't need to dream about being in Israel. I am here now and can participate in the culture and the life here, to see and to hear it from the source instead of envisioning it through music. This is why I value these songs in an additional way.

"Let Him Return Home"

Twice at this recent concert I became emotional. The first time was when Shlomo dedicated a song to Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier held hostage in captivity. It is even difficult to express the unity and feeling of a common goal that was especially present then. It was also incredibly sad to know that we could have invited someone else to the festivities who is still missing.

The second wave of emotion was when we sang the song 'New Land' (Eretz Hadasha). I noticed that we all sang together - all of the thousands of people who came to enjoy the concert. Everyone who came to the concert knew the words to all of the songs and sang them enthusiastically. It was a special thing for me and the particular song struck me since I am a new immigrant here and can relate very directly to its meaning since I am just finding my new land.

To sing together with people that I hadn't met before in such an emotional manner showed me the importance and meaning behind "our brothers of Israel."

Dedication

This story started back on the afternoon of July 24, '07. it was an ordinary day at work...until I got an email that made my eyes do a computer double-take (I think that means that they just widened and made sure the screen had been refreshed) because of an email I just received: the Ten Club, Pearl Jam's fan club - also known as 10c, sent a message announcing a pre-Lollapalooza show. in Chicago. in Lake View, at The Vic! could it get any better? let me spell it out again for y'all: pre-concert concert, my home town, my neighborhood, great venue next to my favorite hangout. wow. and all just a 5 minute walk from my place.

tickets would be sold on the 10c site two days after the email announcement (so on the 26th of July for all of you taking copious notes) for a show just a few days before their upcoming Lolla headliner. I knew what had to be done.
Preparations Checklist:

1. is my membership up to date? check.
2. does my log-in/password work? check.
3. does my computer have its cookies enabled? (weird, but required by the site) check.
4. am I familiar with navigating the site and finding the area for ticket sales? check & check.
5. does my billing info match my credit card number? check.

I felt like I was on a mission and was going through the operational guidelines in my head:
All checks have been processed and systems are a go
The run-through has been completed successfully
Clear your calendar - Advance to stand-by position

my friend Dan and I made a mini-pact that entailed that in case one of us was not able to buy a pair of tickets, the other could have the spare ticket from the person who did get the tickets. nice. we're going to see Pearl Jam baby!

The morning of July 26th was calm. almost too calm. the mildew left an uneasy sense in the air. people knew. tickets were to go on sale at 11am PDT - 1pm Central. at noon I started prepping, dancing through the steps once more. clockwork baby, we got this. there was a twinge of nervousness in me, but I was driven that morning by adrenaline and excitement of almost incomparable proportions.

I put aside all real-world obligations like eating, drinking and...oh yeah - working to make sure that I could get tickets for this show. my anxiety was high. at 1250pm CDT I logged in to my 10c account and began the CCCP routine, but applied towards ticket sales instead of email. I had been doing this for about 10 minutes to be sure I would be among the first to click in...1pm came and went - still no link with the Chicago tickets. ok, maybe the guys & gals at the 10c in Seattle needed to get more coffee or whatever. 101, 102, 105pm - still nothing. I began what was to become an incessant email barrage with Dan to see if his experience was similar. someone else in my office called me - he couldn't get the tickets either. shit! I had been clicking and double-clicking and re-clicking and re-loading and opening new tabs and windows and every combination thereof to figure out what was wrong. 130pm strolled along and it was around then that I first saw the link for the Chicago show. phew! ok let's do it....or not! for what turned out to be the next few hours to come, the only thing that would appear on screens of many, or realistically most, fan club members was text that said 'Temporarily Out of Stock.' noooooo - say it ain't so! this was my chance to make it happen and the site was bombing out, not able to handle all of the volume it received. two things came to mind here: first, would one really think that, since the concert was open only to fan club members, so many people would be interested in a Chicago show? there are way more fan club members in the NYC area and I didn't anticipate such a huge draw to a small place in Chi. but I ended up meeting a ton of people who traveled for the shows for this weekend. secondly, the Ten Club staff would have to anticipate this frenzy for tickets. I even complained last summer when their site failed me for tickets then. my right arm was so sore from literally clicking on the mouse for a plethora of hours - pretty much solidly through the rest of the day. I became very sullen and angry. I felt that I deserved a ticket.

After work I headed down to the Vic with my camera and some guarded optimism. apparently there were quite a lot of others who shared the same thoughts. we all were big fans and we all wanted in. I stood around and talked to a few people for about an hour before walking away empty-handed. before I left, this guy (pictured) was a trooper and seemed of the cool sort. better luck next time, you and me pal, right?

Then, as is ritual for many nights, whether sweet or sour, I naturally headed to Matilda's. not only is it my favorite bar in Chicago, but Matilda's is also my 'spot.' it's a Cheers type of place that has a unique setting, crowd and offers an enormous comfort-zone above what any other bar could. I got a burger and mashed potatoes, which are a resident token of the bar along with the stomach-ache inducing nachos - but only because they are that good...or that cheesy, along with a Point draught. I sat at the bar and chatted a bit with the bar tenders. at first I was complacent. say "oh well" and move on, right? then I became really bitter and angry, realizing that I knew the words to all of the songs playing on the jukebox - all Pearl Jam, all night. it drove home the FACT that I was not going to the concert that I thought was meant for me. it was then that I felt an incredible feeling of emptiness and of being let down.

A few days passed; the anger subsided. Pearl Jam and I would try to be friends again. so I got some earplugs and two liters of water (this was a borderline fiasco: I quickly ran into the CVS at Clark/Halsted to get the earplugs and water, but they didn't have water. ok - we're in the middle of 90+ degree, humid-as-hell {ignore that oxymoron} weather and they had no water! so I took a few bottles of Dasani from a bulk package. the clerkess wouldn't accept it. so I asked them to check their inventory in 'the back' as if it were some magical kingdom with all the supplies customers wanted but weren't put out front. no luck. they had two one liter bottles of Smart water I think. but one of the bottles didn't even have a label of any kind on it. so I told this clerkess, by now full of way too much attitude, that I would buy the earplugs and water - but the second water would be half price because of the inconvenience and lack of proper packaging. the manager agreed. nice. kinda like my version of a David y Goliath victory. or Roger & Me, but I still haven't seen that so I don't know how it ends. shh!) and brought along a light back-pack thing I picked up from one of the previous summer festivals and headed out to Grant Park, which was transformed into the epicenter of living music the first weekend of August 2007.

I walked in and immediately got a large beer in a Lollapalooza collector cup. sure, it was a bit of hoopla, but it carried more beer. I headed through the crowds with a direct path to the southern end of the park where Pearl Jam would play. I squeezed my way pretty far forward until I thought that I would have trouble a) keeping my own space and b) not annoying every other person if I pressed even further. the crowd was alive all around me and very ready. admittedly, I wasn't looking forward to hearing My Morning Jacket at all, but they ended up playing an amazing set. during this time I managed to make friends with a group of Canadians by me (Vinnie and Ashley pictured to the left). they were pretty fun. then later on two guys from Guam joined up with us. everyone had a blast.

Pearl Jam came on pretty hard. it was so great to hear them, though for me it was only a hiatus of a year. (could have been only 3 days. hey - we moved on, remember?) check out the set list for the show. pretty energetic. the pain and sincere aggravation of missing that fan club show, where many rarities were performed, was all but erased. Pearl Jam, as always, played a spectacular show.


there are many who don't follow them and/or picture the band as very over-ripe from their early '90s prime, but I strongly disagree. Pearl Jam still has the creativity and the talent and plays better than most musicians I've ever heard perform. no show is shy of two hours and most approach three. I remember being in New York at Madison Square Garden for a show and Ed made mention of how many fan club members were in attendance, recognizing and appreciating the audience. at that show, the group continued playing past their max end time, incurring a fine. why? just so everyone could continue the vibe and enjoy the special night of music. now I was on an adrenaline rush - not the kind you get when you're sitting impatiently in front of a computer to buy tickets. it was the kind of rush from just drinking and...enjoying the greatness of the spirit of the night by myself but very much not alone in celebration of the band and the love of music.

Pearl Jam caters to what a fan would want in a band. they just need to work out some kinks in their website.