Author: Amelia Zeve
When was the last show you went to that healed you?
Really, truly, think on it. Ponder on the last show you went to that made you glow afterwards, the last show that you walked away from thinking, I am more of a whole person leaving that show than when I walked through the doors. I can tell you about mine, because the memories from it still flash in my mind every time I close my eyes, the music I heard still reverberating through my eardrums in the quiet moments when I let my thoughts drift.
Maybe I’m being dramatic, but seeing The Internet at Showbox Sodo this past Friday really truly felt healing. Maybe The Internet deserves a little dramatism. After all, they are the Grammy-nominated, LA-based, R&B band that produces music that stuns with its emotionality but soothes with its melodies. They sold out the Showbox Sodo (which has a capacity of 1800 people!) during their Seattle stop on their Hive Mind tour this past Friday, and even with all those people packed into a room, it felt like you were floating alone in space, drifting through stars with Syd’s voice of an angel and Steve’s funky guitar riffs propelling you forward. OK, now I’m for sure being dramatic, but really, seeing The Internet was special.
The Internet is a five-piece band, consisting of Sydney Barnett (aka Syd) on vocals, Steve Lacy on guitar and vocals, Matthew Martin on keyboards and vocals, Patrick Paige II on bass, and Christopher Smith on drums. Although they all have done some solo endeavors, they’re mind numbingly strong as a group, and seeing them perform and collaborate live gave me the same sense of awe that I feel when I watch Neil Degrasse Tysonunpack a quantum physics question or watch my grandpacompletely disassemble and reassemble the engine of a car- I am watching someone who is very, very good at something I will never understand do something that makes me appreciate them even more. And although both my grandpa and Mr. Tyson are phenomenal and do things I could never even pretend to comprehend, I think that they, too, would have fallen into a state of joy and excitement if they saw the way The Internet was live.
All the members of The Internet are immensely talented, and it shows, but some of the more memorable moments from the night were when Syd interacted with the audience. She was wildly adored by seemingly everyone in the room, which became even more apparent every time she asked a question or made a statement about herself- all met by wild roars from the audience. I remember the most clearly the moment in which Syd asked if there were any couples in the audience, in which she was greeted by an enthusiastic yes!from a couple who had been together for six years in the first row. After hearing how long they’d been together, Syd laughed. “Damn,” she remarked, “that’s how I’m tryna be.” The girl next to me screamed- I don’t mean yelled, I mean screamed-that that was how she was tryna be too, and that she was more than willing to help Syd accomplish this goal. And that was just one of the literal hundreds of voices in the crowd screaming out the same message- that’s just the way The Internet was able to work a room.
Although it’s hard to pick just one favorite moment from the show, oneof the many moments I loved was when the group got the audience very involved on the funky diss track Just Sayin/I Tried.
Before segueing into playing the song, Syd coached the audience on when to song along- and exactly what to say. “Ok, ok, ok-” she exclaimed, trying to get the crowd into a place of relative silence amid our excited titters, “the beat goes, one, two three. And on that, I want you guys to sing the words- which are you, f*cked, up! Can we practice?” She cued the band, and when she heard the intensity that the audience sung the lines with, she started laughing into the mic. “Damn,” she said, looking back at her bandmates, who were also laughing. “They get it… this is an angry group. Holy sh*t!” And I don’t know if it was an intense, mutual desire to follow Syd’s instructions exactly, or if the crowd just really resonated with the anger woven into the bass riffs of Just Sayin/I Tried, but when they played the full song, the audience hit every note that we had practiced.
At the end of the show, we were all starting to lose our voices, Syd included, her voice strained from hitting her famous whistle tunes so perfectly. However, that didn’t stop the band from absolutely nailing it with a live performance of Girl,one of their most famous tracks. From Steve Lacy’s piercing guitar riffs to Syd’s luscious vocals to the affirming roar of the audience during the performance, it was transportative, magical, and exactly the kind of performance I dreamed of for seeing my favorite song played live.
Reflecting back on the show, there are so many elements that made it healing, but sharing the experience of singing and dancing and crying to so many spectacular songs with so many people, friends and strangers alike, was one of the most incredible concert experiences of my life. There are so many pivotal moments of my life that The Internet have provided a soundtrack for- and now, after seeing them live, I can only imagine how many more days and nights I’ll spend listening to their music, making new memories while reflecting on the night I shared with them at the Showbox.
AMELIA ZEVE | Seeing “Girl” preformed live changed my life | KXSU Arts Reporter