Music is what we make it son

A few years back I remember going to a gig, that gig was Atreyu! I don't know if you're familiar with them, but they're a bit heavy and they used to be one of my favourites.

I remember the night well, it was raining, and as usual I thought it was a great idea to get a cheeky bottle of Strongbow (it used to be thee boy) and drink it on the train up to Glasgow. I was set for an amazing night, and I wasn't disappointed. That's not what this blog is about though, it's not about me or the band. It's about a frail old man, who was at the gig.

I remember getting in and having a few pints while I watched the support bands, as I normally do. I was disappointed, as none of them caught my attention, but I was still looking forward to Atreyu. I remember I had a bandage on my arm from an injury at work, and so I couldn't take part in "the pit" so I stood near the back, far enough to be out of harms way but close enough to get a good view and listen. I remember I turned round at one point with my pint in my hand and there he was.

This man could not have been a day younger than 70, and there he was at an Atreyu gig. My friends had all pushed to the front and so I was on my own, so I made my way over to the old man out of curiosity, perhaps he was a grandad of one of the members of the support band, perhaps he worked there I thought. I approached him, and he looked at me and turned his head back to the music. I was intrigued, this old man looked to be loving the music so much, that I felt a strange sense of warmth in me. I made the usual hand gesture to him to see if he would like a drink, and he replied with "JD and Coke" this baffled me even more. I got him his drink and together we watched the band perform. Every song, he would not take his eyes off the stage, he appeared to be into this so much I was amazed.

After the show, I made my way outside just behind the old man and he stopped in the street. I stopped behind him, eager to approach him and ask why he was at an Atreyu gig but before I could say anything, he turned to me and said "Don't stereotype people son, music is what you make it" and he walked off.

Those words still ring in my ears today.

Who says you can't like a certain type of music because you are a certain age or dress a certain way. Music is everywhere, it's all around us. We make music with everything we do, every breath, every word, every footstep. Music is in every single one of us, it's in our blood and it's in our hearts. The day the music dies, is the day the world dies.