Walk the Moon in Manchester Academy 3

On the 20th of February I attended a Walk the Moon concert in Manchester Academy 3. This was a big move for me because I suffer from a condition almost identical to that of Raskolnikov of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. I often find that I talk too much and do very little and I wonder if I do nothing because I talk so much or if I talk so much because I do nothing. Before I became Afam this was an insurmountable barrier. But now I have learned the importance of participation. It is not enough to be a wallflower and observe things as they happen. Sometimes I fail at this. For instance, I have never been to Europe and I wanted so desperately to go to Spain on the Swimming Team's Easter tour but I didn't rouse myself in time. It is now too late for that but it isn't too late for other things.

I came across Walk the Moon quite by chance. You might say that it was fate, or God or kizmet if you're a little bit of a hippy. You see, it was a normal day in spring last year when someone I went to school with but only spoke to once shared the video of Anna Sun on facebook. I wasn't really one to click on links then. There was no need to do so. The ramblings of a madman was still a very personal blog where I wrote about things like nostalgia, and not being ready for life after University. It wasn't a place where I raved and ranted about things that I thought were worth sharing and recounted the adventures I'd had and spoke about the people I know. That one time though, for some inexplicable reason, I clicked on the link.

Screen falling off the door; door hanging off the hinges
My feet are still sore; my back is on the fringes
We tore up the walls; we slept on couches
We lifted this house, we lifted this house

...

What do you know? This house is falling apart
What can I say? This house is falling apart
We got no money, but we got heart
We're gonna rattle this ghost town

It was their words but it was my story. In my time in Manchester I have seen screens falling off doors and the doors themselves off their hinges. My feet and back are often sore from all my drunken shenanigans. I've torn up walls, I've slept on couches and I've lifted houses. I have no money but I like to think that I've got heart and I have no doubt that I will rattle this ghost town.

I bought my ticket on a whim. I didn't embark on an epic search for them. I didn't wake up at seven so that I could refresh a ticketmaster page a thousand times like some of you did for the Beyonce's Mrs Carter tour. The tickets were on sale in my University's student union. When I bought them there were only seven left. It sold out the next day. I had hoped to invite someone to come along with me for people generally aren't expected to go anywhere alone. At first I was skeptical that I was alone but in the end I was glad for it.

When I went back to Lagos for Christmas I attended several concerts, Chris Brown, DRB, Dbanj etc. I saw several people perform. Most were good but I was distinctly aware that if Lagos wasn't just a place I visited for three weeks at a time, or a place where the presence of international performance is still quite rare I would not have gone. For instance, Chris Brown for all his faults is wildly talented but I have no desire to see a man simulate sex on the stage or shout, "I want to fuck you tonight!" and during Tinie Tempah's performance of "Pass Out" at the Koko concert I wondered if I did not prefer just clubbing to his music. After my musical Christmas I wondered what a concert with performers that I actually liked would be like.

To say that the concert was amazing would be an understatement. The lead singer, Nicholas Petricca was conductor, fuhrer and princess.

Nicholas Petricca

The other members Kevin Ray, Sean Waugaman, and Eli Maiman were his generals.

Kevin Ray

Eli Maiman

Unfortunately I couldn't get a picture of Sean Waugaman as he was hidden behind the drums.

I didn't realize that upon crossing the doors I had relinquished everything hitherto known as free will to their whims. They directed the roller coaster. I only had to scream and clap and jump in places to have a good time. I lost all sense of self awareness. When they said go to Walk the Moon land, I went. I need not be told that there exists no geographical location called Walk the Moon land but I went there all the same. For the first time I considered that the name of the band was quite literal. They left me in such an ecstatic state that I might as well have walked on the moon. By the time they closed the concert with, "I can lift a car" my sweater was tied securely around my waist and my shirt was tied on top of it. Even more worrying than my tragically unfashionable and undoubtedly unstylish appearance was the fact that I could not recall when I had amended my dress. As they sang the final note I thought, "so this is what fun is."