OBSERVATIONS OF A DISTANT SHOW (10th jan 2026)
For about an hour, short snippets of music have been trailing into my room. The pluck of a guitar, banging of drums, twinkle of a
keyboard; all taking turns, one at a time. Now, the music is synchronous. There's a band playing a show nearby.
I can hear it clearly inside the house, but I've moved out into the backyard to try and
locate the source1. There is no verdict. Sound floods in from every direction.
A small crowd talks and hollers loudly2. But the loudest voice is the one digging into each quiver of the
microphone. It's deep with a thick Aussie accent that latches onto every word of every song. The other singer is higher-pitched,
and sometimes their words come in strong and duet the lead, but mostly they fall
into backing vocals. A few birds join their ensemble, squawking high in the sky. A flute has been added to the list of
instruments. The band experiments with incorporating it into a song, playing the intro to 'Wild Thing' by The Troggs
over and over again. It's 5pm and the summer sun is far from setting. Today is cooler than the rest, and the music blends into the
breeze to create a peaceful afternoon3.
EXPANSION:
1And soak in the afternoon sun. Today, there's a breeze keeping the land cool. I can write this observation
directly into VS Code without my laptop frying. I was coding anyway with my window open to hear the band when I
finally decided to go out, which was a good decision. It's even better here. I feel like I'm at the show.
2This leads me to believe it's a house show. The crowd seems to be a group of friends.
3Shortly after finishing writing this, they began to play a heavenly rock rendition of Nicki Minaj's 'Super Bass',
but they stopped mid-way. I need to hear the rest.