It’s late Friday night, Feb. 20, and music is thriving. Bathed in a neon blue haze, the lead singer of Dori leans into the mic and screams, “We don’t want radio to go away!” The crowd cheers. To one side, friends are drinking and laughing while the crowd of passersby flick through vinyl crates behind. Almost everyone is entranced, swaying on the dance floor. Occasionally, a mosh breaks out during heavier breakdowns, while other concert-goers pose for silly pictures with newly-made friends using analog cameras. People are living in the moment, and phones are nowhere in sight.
The Blind Pig concert was a winter benefit fundraiser for the University of Michigan’s own FM radio station, WCBN 88.3. Contributing to the fundraising were a variety of knick-knacks for sale: vinyls, CDs, sweatshirts, pins, bags and stickers were all laid out on a table, hanging on the wall or stacked in boxes just past the venue entrance. The crates were stocked with rare country, rock and R&B LPs sourced from WCBN’s archival music room.
The crowd was primarily made up of young people clad in baggy jeans, all searching for a good time. They bounced and moshed to Maxine’s reverb-heavy, power-chord-laden bridges; whooped for the virtuosic, stank-face-inducing guitar solos of The Mansion; and bopped their heads, swishing back and forth to the hypnotic chants and synth of Dori. Surveying the room, it was hard not to notice the lack of phones. Everyone was focused on the performing bands or being silly with their friends. In every direction, people were merging friend groups and reciting their names until they stuck — it was a unifying experience…