Vicarious

I saw The Felice Brothers at Water Street a few weeks back. They're tremendous. If you've ever seen a show and felt like you wanted more commitment from the band, you should check them out next time. Anyway, it occured to me as I watched that a lot of the draw for seeing a show like that, and maybe for rock 'n' roll or music in general, is vicarious.

Most of us are not allowed in the course of our daily lives, in the check-out line or at the dinner table or in the hallway at work, to start jumping around and scream and sob about a lost love or whatever else. We are not allowed to throttle something like a guitar and vent and pout and sulk, and chances are we don't have a band of brothers behind us screaming along. These guys are allowed and they can and do and we can watch them and feel better. We whoop and lift our beers and feel better and wait for the next show.