No longer tired, Henry comes away from the wall where he's been leaning, and walks into the middle of the dark auditorium, towards the great engine of sound. He lets it engulf him. There are these rare moments when musicians together touch something sweeter than they've ever found before in rehearsals or performance, beyond the merely collaborative or technically proficient, when their expression becomes as easy and graceful as friendship or love. This is when they give us a glimpse of what we might be, of our best selves, and of an impossible world in which you give everything you have to others, but lose nothing of yourself. Out in the real world there exist detailed plans, visionary projects for peaceable realms, all conflicts resolved, happiness for everyone, for ever - mirages for which people are prepared to die and kill. Christ's kingdom on earth, the workers' paradise, the ideal Islamic state. But only in music, and only on rare occasions, does the curtain actually life on this dream of community, and it's tantalisingly conjured, before fading away with the last notes.
...
And here it is now, a coherent world, everything fitting at last. He stands, swaying in the dark, staring up at the stage, his right hand in his pocket gripping his keys. Theo and Chas drift back to centre stage to sing their unearthly chorus. Or you can be happy if you dare. He knows what his mother meant. He can go for miles, he feels lifted up, right high across the counter. He doesn't want the song to end.
From Saturday by Ian McEwan
I have felt this a few times. The most recent was March 2004 at a small club in London, I caught a glimpse of the ultimate musical happiness, the kind where you are at peace with yourself and everything around you.
To your left is one quick scribbling music journalist, to your right another. You stare to the stage and catch a glimpse of more band members. You can't quite see them to count but you think there's perhaps three or four. People around you are gasping for breathe as they sing along. You have an otherworldly feeling as the band kicks into a hand clapping poppy number and you feel like you have found the exact moment in time to be standing in this exact spot. This is one of those things you will write about later in awe of finding IT... the elusive new sound you didn't even know your heart was craving. You glance back at the faces behind you, and each one wears a Cheshire cat grin. You feel completely alive... empowered even... there is nothing out of your grasp in the seconds your ears are bombarded by the tinkling xylophone and simple guitar chords.
From The Magic Numbers - My Pick for SxSW 2005
In just a few weeks, The Magic Numbers will be in Chicago. I could implore you to attend this
show at Schubas. I won't. If you chose to attend, it shouldn't be as a favor to me. It should be for the desire to feel this for yourself. My recollections of pure happiness over the past two years, occur with these four strangers. They can find that place within you, if you let them.