As I walked to Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel to see the Wailers perform the famous album Exodus, all I could think about how damn cold it was outside. The walk was frigid and long but when I saw the Lupo’s sign I forgot about the temperature and sped up my walk. I walked in through will call, the woman scratched my name off the list and I walked past. Next, I was lazily frisked by a large man for any weapons or paraphernalia of any sorts, once he let me by I took a left towards the bathroom.
I walked in to find two adults conversing with each other about the sale of some sort of drug. The two men were open about their conversation and had no problem with anybody else hearing what they were talking about. After I was done washing my hands I walked out in to the concert hall.
The sounds of Tomorrows Bad Seeds filled the room. They were in the middle of their set list. At the back of the room there were the more older and relaxed fans sipping on alcoholic drinks and sitting in booths taking to each other. The bars were surrounded with a much older crowd waiting on the bartender to serve them drinks. As I moved forward towards the stage, the crowd got younger and denser, and the aroma of weed grew stronger. I stood to the left of the stage and slightly elevated so I could see the majority of the crowd.
The crowd was filled with teenagers and young adults. The crowd in front of the stage swayed and danced to the music. People slowly moved back and forth to the beat of Tomorrows Bad Seeds. The band was energetic and this was reflected in the crowd. When the lead singer yelled “get your hands up and clap,” the crowd obeyed and got into it. The band played its reggae/alt-rock sounds and the mellow crowd nodded along. There were multiple people with dreads and knit hats on, but many different styles were represented. The crowd was also very racially diverse, and every different race was represented. There were preps, reggae fans, hip-hop fans, and various people sporting Jamaican colors.
As Tomorrows Bad Seeds continued to play a fight broke out in the middle of the crowd. Two large security guards ran by me and broke up the fight. As the song ended the lead singer called out to the crowd for no fighting and said that we were here together to enjoy the music. The crowd responded with a loud yell in agreement and applauded the band. The guitarist proceeded to dedicate the next song, which was a faster hard rock song, to the people who fought and got kicked out, in a way of mocking their actions. The energy of the crowd picked up even more as they played their last two songs and more people continued to file in for the Wailers.
Tomorrows Bad Seeds finished their set to a huge applause and made their exit. The wait for the Wailers to come on began. The stage was empty for what seemed like an eternity. Repeated chants of “WAILERS! WAILERS! WAILERS!” erupted over the hiatus of music. Everyone chatted in the crowd happily expecting the Wailers. I ran to the bathroom again and got an idea of how the crowd had changed since I had first came in. The back of the crowd had grown substantially with even more adults sitting in booths and standing waiting to be served at the bars.
While standing at a urnal a black man in his 50’s stared at me while he stood at the urnal adjacent to mine. He was wearing a Jamaican flag shirt and some baggy jeans. He started laughing and said “Whats up.” I responded “nothing, how are you doing.” He smiled and yelled “Great!” I Washed my hands and winded my way through the now massive crowd. Once I returned to my spot from before, the lead guitarist of the Wailers came out and introduced a Jamaican singer.
Then there was a pause and from my position I could see the singer take two huge hits from a joint. He exhaled a huge puff of smoke and made his way to the stage. The crowd greeted the singer/guitar player with huge applause and the blunts lit up. Everywhere I looked people were lighting up and smoking. Repeatedly passing it back and forth as the Jamaican singer performed. Security guards could clearly see people smoking and did nothing about it. The crowd had a steady stream of smoke coming from it now.
The singer started his third song and as he sang the Wailers came on the stage and started playing. The smoking intensified, and the Wailers performance officially started. The next song began and the backup singers and a man wearing a red, yellow, and green zip up sweatshirt came onto the stage. The man sounded exactly like Bob Marley and sang his lyrics. A few people started raising Jamaican flags in the air and waving them. I turned around and a Jamaican man waved a flag in one hand and had a lighter in the other and he swayed back and forth to the song Exodus.
Everyone in the crowd knew the lyrics and sang along. I found myself singing along with them as I remembered every word from the album. I was impressed with how even the youngest of fans knew the words to the songs the Wailers performed. Young teenagers danced along and sang next to adults in their 40’s and 50’s. As I looked over the crowd I saw a large number of young teenage couples dancing together. The middle of the crowd was a mix of younger kids. Many of them wearing Jamaican sweatbands or Jamaican colored shirts. As the Wailers continued to play the front of the concert hall got more and more crowded and repeatedly people tried to politely get by me to the front despite there being a railing in front of me. The majority of them apologized and smiled at me except for one girl who appeared to be way too drunk.
It was the first concert I attended where I didn’t have to struggle to get where I wanted to stand and didn’t have territory disputes with anyone. I left the concert and walked back to campus in the freezing cold.
Word Count: 1076
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