I get it now!
This was my second Rock Boat, and last year, I thought I understood. There was something missing, and I couldn’t figure it out. I was on a boat with a bunch of people who were having a blast, and I just felt like I worked there. It seemed like I didn’t have anything in common with anyone – the music wasn’t really my cup of tea, and I was just the new girl.
This year, it was a world of difference. I’m not sure if it was the music, or the fact that I made a few friends last year, and was able to build on those relationships. Whatever it was, I’m eternally grateful.
During Sister Hazel’s last show in the Palladium, I was one of the lucky Sixthman staffers who got to shoot a confetti cannon during the finale performance of “We are the World.” (Dude, I totally cried. More about that later.) We had to position ourselves in the audience a few songs before, and we got there during “Champagne High.” I was in the balcony, and could see one of my new friends, Sam, in the lower level, about 2 rows away from the stage. He was screaming at the top of his lungs, along with everyone else, absolutely rocking the F out! I looked at him, and I got it.
The Rock Boat is home. Home isn’t necessarily a specific place or any specific person. Home is the fleeting feeling that no matter what, this is where you belong right now, and everyone around you is your family. To me, the smell of casein paint takes me home- it reminds me of the long hours spent in the theatre in college. The Rock Boat is different every year, but we still return, with the knowledge that these people will be our family for the next five days.
After this epiphany, I was on kind of an emotional high, and when it came time to shoot the confetti cannon, I was misty. Ok, I was more than misty. There’s something about seeing all the artists onboard singing “We Are the World.” It was the day after the inauguration, and there was a big undercurrent of unity and banding together to make a brighter day (“so let’s start giving…”) Yeah, Ms. “Let’s have a metal cruise!” cried like she was PMS-ing, watching Beaches. If you tell anyone, I’ll kill you.
Did anyone else cry? Or am I just a wuss?
-Barb