44 years old and attended my first Hip Hop show in 20 years. Things have changed…

This is some old man, corny shit, so please bare with me…I love just about all music and I love going to shows. There’s something about being a part of the masses moving together as one. I’ve seen big venue, little venue, clubs. I love it. But there’s been something missing…When I was 18 I had a really bad experience at a club I went to in Philly to see, of all people, Rob Base and DJ Easy Rock. I’d seen them the night before but this second show, I was one of the only white people there and the show had an entirely different tone to it to the point where I felt excluded almost to the point where I felt unsafe.This sucks because my favorite genre is Hip Hop. I was a big Public Enemy/BDP fan and grew up in white washed Midwest suburbs before moving to the Philly area. I was made fun of and bullied for my music choices and excluded, so my Rob Base experience pretty much made me uncomfortable with the idea of going to a hip hop concert.That was in 96. I saw Common and a 50 cent concert from VIP boxes and outside of a very random ‘The Streets” show, I’ve forever put off setting my favorites live while in the crowd.Until last night.Another dad (who happens to be a teacher who teaches kids how to express themselves lyrically) invited me to go with him to see Denzel Curry (Who I absolutely love) at the Fillmore. He said it would be fun and have a lot of energy and that the crowd would be young. We could hang out on the side and watch it all go down.After reading about and seeing the Travis Scott stuff, I had my reservations. I’m not particularly fit and while I love a good mosh pit, I wasn’t sure what to expect so I was feeling reserved.The opening acts were incredible and so full of energy that I began to develop anxiety about being there on the sidelines, but everything was so aggressive and watching the water get passed around between sets was making me feel like I was out of my element.But something weird happened in my brain. I thought if I were there with this other guy who had experienced this, that I should at least give it a go and, being good at navigating crowds I got us center stage about ten ft away.As I looked around me, I realized that the crowd was this incredible amalgam of male and female and all colors. There was a young black kid, at least 20 years my junior, that I turned to to ask if he was okay with where I was and he said ‘Yeah man, ain’t nobody going down tonight’ and I suddenly felt safer and that 18 year old me just wanted to cry at that moment.Needless to say, the concert was insane. I had to make my way out and back in a couple times because, well, I’m old and out of shape. But not once did I feel afraid and it was amazing.I have to say, I’m proud of young people and their ability to be so inclusive. That experience was probably the greatest concert experience I’ve ever had because it broke so many things open for me and gave me hope for my kids who I hope to take to a show like that in the next 4-5 years when I think they can handle it.So that’s my story. I’m sore as hell, but full of life after that. To the younger generation, keep doing your thing. You all are amazing and coming together even more at a time when the world from my view feels like it’s coming apart.Thank you for including me and if you see a person fall, pick them up!TL;DR: Had a jolly good time at the show. via /r/Music https://ift.tt/akVjUKb