"Fresh" Not So Fresh

Thursday night rolled around. We began our trek from Founders to the amphitheater on Art Street for Thursday Night Live. As we approached the intersection of Kiefaber and Lawnview, the atmosphere was inviting. The amphitheater was luminous and intriguing to its viewers. It almost gave you the feeling of an intimate concert. In addition, the weather felt amazing on my skin and there was a warm breeze that tickled my face. My friends and I found seats on the hard concrete. It was slowing approaching 9:00 pm, when all the events were supposed to start. The first performer was David Fresh. It seemed like the whole audience knew him. I definitely felt out of the loop because they had all heard him play before, so I was interested to see what all the hype about this “Fresh” guy truly was. Automatically, you could sense the intense amount of nervousness that was radiating from him like heat rays on asphalt on a scorching day. He began with a song, not sure of the name, but sounded slightly familiar. He began to sing. UH OH! Not to be mean, but to be honest his voice wasn’t satisfying what so ever. I felt kind of bad; however, he was talented at guitar. The sound resonated and was a delight to the ears. Unfortunately, the sound of his shaking, wavering voice overpowered that of the guitar in a BAD way. As a listener, it was difficult to enjoy. Near the beginning, he made it known that he had only sang in front of people for the first time a week before his performance. I feel like he should’ve been more confident and not afraid to mess up on the outside, even if he was freaking out on the inside. It might have even been more enjoyable to see someone that felt confident in his or her abilities as an artist, even know they didn’t sound great. The next two songs included “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room” by John Mayer and “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” by Death Cab for Cutie. These are songs that I really enjoy listening to and have a great respect for both those artists. I frequently listen to their collections of music. However, a DISAPPOINTMENT! This word is really the only word that I can think of that embodies the way I was feeling. I was just tuned out for most of these two songs because, truthfully, they can’t be replicated. I was paying more attention to the bugs biting my ankles then him performing. As he was wrapping up the last song that he had written, I was ready for his performance to be over.