I heard a song on the radio that floored me with its intensity of emotion. As a person of a decidedly hipster-oriented age, I had to deal with the fact that it was a pop song. I could not plausibly say I liked the artist "before he got big," and I knew I would risk alienating my fellow hipsters if I chose to admit liking a top 40-type song.
The song itself is called "I took a Pill in Ibiza," and it is a story about loneliness and the unintended consequences of fame that reminded me of Joe Walsh's "Life's Been Good."
A verse began "I took a plane to my hometown" and there were geographic references to a city I couldn't identify. Later the song went "My friends are all gone, but there's manicured lawns..." That imagery is the perfect reflection of a bittersweet homecoming or of modern America.
Strong attachment to place is the cornerstone of music for me. My favorite musicians are Frank Sinatra, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnny Cash, Tupac, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Turner, Dawes, Eminem and Kid Rock, in no particular order. They play different kinds of music, but these musicians all convey an authentic love of home through their music. Johnny Cash sings about the draught-stricken Arkansas fields and the love that comes from suffering, Sinatra about the power and dreams of the Big Apple. Frank Turner sings with pride about growing up in Wessex, England. The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Dawes both hold Los Angeles in their songs as a mirror that reflects the goodness and grime of the world in its hills and beaches.
Eminem and Kid Rock are both from Detroit, and their music somehow carries the same imprint of place that I hear in the songs of the Temptations and Marvin Gaye. From all that music, Detroit comes through as a place of sadness and hope, and most of all resilience.
I watched a bunch of Posner's live videos on YouTube; it turns out he's from Detroit.
It also turned out that one of his next shows was at the Upstate Concert Hall, a small venue in Clifton Park formerly known as Northern Lights. I got tickets for my wife and me.
The venue was sold out, with the majority of attendees teenagers who stacked on top of each other at the stage. We stood at the back of the crowd, still no more than 20 feet from the stage.
There was an opening act, a guitar/vocal duo that was phenomenal. The equipment manager sound-checked and re-sound-checked all the instruments. Mike Posner got onstage at 8:30, along with five other band members.
Posner began with a song about growing up in Detroit. The stage presence was electrifying, with a chorus of power chords thrashed while jumping up and down onstage and a horn player engaging in similar gymnastics.
The intervals between songs were conversational. A thoughtful commentary on racism. A plea to "Love everyone, including the haters, because if you hate the haters then you become haters yourselves, and you shouldn't hate yourselves."
Mike Posner reintroduced his band with superlatives, then the opening band. There was commentary on celebrity life and on love that sounded honest. There was commentary on depression that sounded real too. I hope it was just put on for the show, but I don't think it was.
The concert ended with "I took a Pill in Ibiza" until the crowd chanted for two minutes for a curtain call. There was a song about racism and more words on the timely subject. The last song was "Lean on Me," with the crowd swaying to the Detroit classic. All the concertgoers left feeling good, and I hope the musicians felt good too.
