I’ll preface this entry by saying that I don’t cry very easily. However, sitting on stage at Frederick Meijer Gardens with the vines behind me and a crowd of almost four thousand people in front of me as “Michigan and Again” reverberated through the venue almost got me. I felt myself tear up right at the start of the song, at the advent of the first chord. It was nothing like anything I had ever felt. It was truly and deeply magical. The Reimagined show in Peoria also felt like magic to me, but it wasn’t just the stage, it was the people in the crowd that made the magic truly come to life and provided an experience I will never forget.
If anyone out there has ever seen a kid light up at Disneyworld, they know how I feel. The stage is my Disneyworld. I imagine that many other members of the orchestra feel the same way. After all, we share the stage as performers and we’re all here to do what we love.
These shows have helped to reignite the fire in my heart that burns with a love of performance. Peoria and Frederick Meijer have easily been my favorite two shows without a doubt, but for very different reasons.
Image taken by me from before sound check in Peoria
Peoria was intimate and small. I could see each individual member of the audience and observe their individual cheers. The beautiful lights illuminated the orchestra and flooded my view with shades of pink, blue, and green to match the colorful array of emotions in my head. What really impacted me was the rendition of “All Shall Be Well” at the end when everyone (including the orchestra) joined in for the chorus. I believe it was one of the ‘awe moments’ Amber, the manager of the Accidentals, said we should set out to create at the beginning of the tour. It simply resonated with me in a way that nothing else on tour has matched.
After our set list for that show, the Peoria audience allowed us an encore. As I pulled my instrument back to my shoulder to begin “On the Shoulders of Giants”, I was filled with a childlike sense of wonder that music hadn’t given me in a very long time. I get emotional just thinking about it. The Reimagined tour has been so new and refreshing to me. Observing how much the audience connected with the music and the band made me realize just how much that connection should be treasured.
Another image I captured during “All Shall Be Well”
In Peoria, I learned that audiences don’t only connect during the show, they connect after the show as well. When the last note had been played and my instrument had been put securely in its case, I made my way over to help at the merch table. I experienced the heartwarming joy of hearing thank-yous and signing shirts, but one particular aspect of the merch table stood out to me: how personal The Accidentals are with their fans.
I only got a small taste of this, but I met a person named Cami who just so happened to be a part of a group called Emily the Band and collaborated with The Accidentals. Even after working so closely, they both appeared to be such genuine fans of each other’s music. Cami even confessed that they listened to the Reimagined arrangement of “Mangrove” while washing their dishes and got so excited they cried. This conversation allowed me to truly realize how meaningful the music I helped create really is and how deep of an effect it actually had. The only word I can think of for the experience: magical.
**NOTE: Still waiting on permission from Cami to use this interaction, I contacted them yesterday 🙂
The show at Frederick Meijer Gardens was just as magical despite the extreme contrast in environment. The orchestra, particularly the string instruments, were having extreme difficulties as a result of the heat on the outdoor stage. These stumbling blocks made me question how the show was going to work out. Being honest, I was expecting disaster and only prepared for about one thousand people. What I was greeted with was a beautiful show and a crowd so dense it looked like there was no space between any of the audience members.
Image courtesy of Denise Carbonell, another wonderful member of Kaboom Collective.
When the show first started, I felt drained and tired. On top of that, I forgot to take off my hat for the five camera shoot so that my face would be visible. At least it helped with the fact that I was sitting in direct sunlight at the very start of the concert. Even with everything going on, all it took was the first cheer from the massive crowd to dampen my worries. I was filled with awe as the crowd roared. It finally dawned on me that so many people were there to see us (not the song).
I looked at my stand partner, Angie (Angie Zielinski), and we both exchanged looks of complete bewilderment. A crowd like this was unheard of to us. It spanned the entirety of the green area and the stands in front of the stage. From the first announcement to the last note, everything felt surreal. During rehearsal, the show felt long and cumbersome, but the real show made everything fly by. The beginning of each song was like a restart button, resetting my energy and mood every time.
As I mentioned in the beginning, “Michigan and Again” impacted me the most that night. Maybe it was playing it in Michigan, maybe it was Sav finally joining us, or maybe it was the crowd that made the difference. In any case, that song hit a different beat with me at the gardens. Normally, if I feel myself getting emotional during a show, it’s during “Cityview”, “Memorial Day”, or “Crow’s Feet”, but that night it was “Michigan and Again.” My eyes definitely wanted to release the tears, but I didn’t want to cry on stage even though I saw Liza and Sav begin to tear up. The impact it had on me and those around me made me want to play that song again and again and again and again and again in Michigan again and again and again and again and again.
I’ve learned a lot of things on this tour from how to keep myself occupied on a bus to how to set up a pickup microphone, but there’s one thing I’ve learned more important than all of the others: music is magical. Kaboom Collective is making magic.
