The SouthBySoWhat concert brought a hurricane of people and intoxicating events. This entertainment venue carried a truly amazing experience to the metro-plex.

Many extraordinary people traveled to this concert from many different states; some patrons from California held a thin, crudely wrapped calendric object with smoke curling thickly from it like smokestacks. My friends and I, being only juniors in high school, investigated with curiosity. We know what cigarettes look like, but this peeked our curiosity. The smell came in waves along with the smoke from which seemed to crawl directly towards us. The smell being so pungent told us exactly to what curiosity lead us to, marijuana. Excited and scared our nerves jittered in our bodies as our mind raced with questions. The guys, all dressed in skinny jeans and various band T- shirts, looked us over cooly. They smiled and held up the calendric object as if to offer it to us. Overwhelmed by the offer, we stood frozen like statues. We finally moved after what seemed like years of time going by, but being only mere seconds in our buzzing reality. As we reached the group of three, our excitement seemed to dwindle as fear crept into our minds with each step. We knew not these guys; we had no clue to what they smoked. What could happen to us? Even with all of these questions, we continued to walk forward. Finally, meeting them close to a crowd of throbbing bodies, we stopped. The tallest boy of the three, an olive colored boy with deep emerald green eyes and shoulder length hair as black as coal, smiled brightly and politely as he asked our names. We answered behind girlish smiles. He, now verbally, asked us if we wanted a “hit” of the “joint”. Looking at each other for a log moment, we shook our heads answering no shyly. He shook his head and raised his boy shoulders as if to say “oh well”. Now, feeling dumb, we said our goodbyes an walked away. We turned towards the crowd of bodies from which never seemed to stop throbbing in one motion all together like waves in an ocean. Bodies slammed and people threw punches as f to be fighting off one another. Our inexperienced minds knew not, that they practiced “mashing”; a type of dance in the rock culture. A blue haired boy jumped into the “mash pit”; he flailed his arms and punched at the air as if to be fighting off a thousand demons and moved his body as if doing an enchanted dance. The song seemed to throw him, and the singer seemed to scream right directly at the boy, their anger radiating towards each other but working together. The song came to an end, and the boy stood up, breathing heavily, the air seeming to run away from him as he smiled brightly ad high fived strangers before taking off to a different stage. As the next band prepared for their show on stage one, we made our way to stage two which gradually started pulling us nearer with the force of the music. The trance distracted us so strongly it caused us to almost miss the girls closing in on us. The screamed and laughed like hyenas not having a care in the world for anyone around them. They smoked a similar calendric object as the boys from earlier had, but they acted a lot less in control of themselves. Falling on the ground and rolling around like wild hogs, the girls landed once again on one another. Out of nowhere the girls simultaneously took off their shirts. One girl’s bra had neon pink with black cheetah print. The other two girls’ bras matched one another, other than the fact that one said “Best” and the other said “Friend”. They yelled again and threw their shirts into the air, the guys around them watching the beady eyes. My friends and I practically tripped trying to get away from them. Even though this happened, everyone else exuded friendliness. People constantly laughed from almost every angle; it echoed as if in a hollow room. The vibe from the concert came off with such a complete ecstatic nature that it seemed to overshadow any chances of my reality to ever again exist. Getting to meet a band only intensified this feeling. On this day I got to meet a newer band called Ghost Town. They had lack being famous but progressed enough to the point that they had enough recognition to get to play at SouthBySoWhat. The first band member for me to meet happened to be Kevin, the lead singer of the band. He stood about five six or five eight and had long brown hair and baby blue eyes. He wore black skinny jeans, grey vans, and one of his own bands T-shirts. When he introduced himself he said “my name is Kevin McCalluagh, the lead singer of Ghost Town.” The cat had my tongue because I couldn’t speak a word. My mind had frozen in an hour earlier when I saw him singing. I stood in front of stage two when the new band set up. I heard not of them, and I lacked interest. I got to be in the front of the crowd right next to the stage, the security guards staring intently to make sure no one passed beyond the gate. All band members appeared on the stage, and Kevin announced that the first song would be called “Tentacles”. The song began with a techno beat, and the sound seemed almost alien. Evan, the techno guy, played with much excitement. The drums and guitar abruptly came in, the guitar growled and the drums pulled a steady beat. They all seemed to feel their music and work perfectly together as Kevin started to sing. Alix, the guitarist, screamed lowly behind Kevin’s higher pitched voice as everyone in the band worked intricately. By the end of the song, the crowd that gathered cheered loudly. With every clap all of the events from the day rushed into my mind and made me smile.

The experiences of the day flooded my mind one by one. I felt them quite physically. I noticed, not at first, but now that a certain smell seemed to pop out everywhere. People smoked marijuana as if it became an everyday thing. By the middle of the day, I noticed the smell not being the only thing getting to me. The drug itself took control. I felt as if under water or far away. I felt like the earth let go of its gravitational pull on me and simply let me float away. My friends became affected also, constantly messing and paying very much attention to their hair and clothing. We all ended up getting what people call the “munchies” and found ourselves walking around without food. Our stomachs crawled up to our throats and clenched for life as if starving. The long day brought fatigue and pain from walking about the venue. So we all decided to lay down, the heat of the day and marijuana taking their tolls. Music played around us, the sound of three stages and different beats melting into one constant hum of life. The sun beamed down on us, and the sweat poured in waves soaking our clothing. People came around giving out water in which many of the other sun dwellers indulge as well as my friends and I. As the day went on, most people sat in huddled groups on the simmering turf of the baseball field talking and listening to the various bands until the day cooled. When the sun finally set, every person half dressed, colored hair, or pierced faces got every ounce of energy back. Everyone once again moved around busily. A crowd formed in the front of stage three where the band OfMice&Men set up to perform. As they finished setting up, more and more people gathered around. People started to squish in all trying to get a closer look at the stage. My friends and I stood in the exact middle of this crowd. The band began to play, the singer growled, and the guitar screeched highly. The drummer started up and set the beat; the song was off. All of the sudden everyone jumped, sang, and laughed continuously. The crowd jumped as one in a constant motion, inevitably enjoyable. The heat that encircled the crowd suppressed us and after each jump sweat flung itself into the air and then onto the ground around our pounding feet. Out of nowhere five or six people pick me up and lay me on my back. Instantly, they threw me into the air. Screaming, I fell back down landing hard on the tops of other people. My body crumpled onto their heads, but as if by automatic reaction arms engulfed me again and tossed me into the air, again. I felt like a beach ball. I came down again, my legs flailed and my arms searched for leverage, but other bodies seemed to be my only support. As I accelerated once again into the air towards the night turning sky, the coolness of the air drove m sweat backwards, and for a split second I felt as if weightless. My body crashed down again hard, and then to hands, of stronger grip than the rest, snatched me out of the air. He held me up right and set me down lightly. As my mind and eyes came back into focus, I accurately took in the ma in front of me. A tall man husky and bald ordered me to return to the left side of the stage, his tiny black eyes and beard reminding me of a warrior. I listened. The left side of the stage led back into the crowd, and I met back up with my friends. My mind whirled at all of the excitement. My night seemed to be made; I crowd surfed for the first time in my life.

The whole experience felt as if it flooded my mind with intricate emotions from which I couldn’t see to grasp. I experienced the best day of my life at SouthBySoWhat, and I hope one day I will get to go again.