Love and Death Metal

First blog post!

Last Thursday, I went to see Eagles of Death Metal at Webster Hall. The venue was considerably packed, mostly with people my age or older. As the lights dimmed and the band took to the stage, Kool & the Gang's "Ladies' Night" played through the speakers - the Eagles were definitely setting up a particular mood. What followed after was 100 minutes of hardcore rock - with a side of "frisky." Lead singer Jesse "The Devil" Hughes charmed the hell out of the audience, consistently blowing kisses to the girls in front of him and proclaiming his love and affection to everyone present. With his gyrating hips and quirky dance moves, he was a total "character" and made the overall experience a richer one.

An hour or so into the show, when it came time to do an encore, Mr. Hughes came out onstage and brought along with him a young man. The kid was probably around my age, and was definitely not part of the band. Hughes let the young man speak for himself, so he did, and he in turn asked his girlfriend to come out on stage. When she did, and saw the chaotic crowd before her, she kind of realized what was about to happen. Everyone went wild as the young man told his girlfriend that he had recently been separated from her for far too long, and he did not want that to happen again. He then got down on one knee and proposed, and she very happily accepted - as Mr. Hughes stood to the side, grinning from ear to ear, with his young son next to him. I'm not sure whether Mr. Hughes is still married or not, but one could tell he was unabashedly excited about what he had just seen before him. Although I've read that his politics are more center-right, his enthusiasm for his line of work - and the way he gushed about the "newly-engaged" couple - makes him seem more like a 21st-century hippie more than anything else. It was a genuine and heartfelt ending to an otherwise raucous night, and it made me take notice of the "high" that one gets when groups of people come together to enjoy a given experience. We were there for the music, and, in turn, that young man felt the need to share his love for his gal with all of us in the crowd. That's pretty neat.