the barrier at my first gig

Your sister got you both to the barrier two hours early and you held it like it was a job. When the lights finally dropped, the whole room fell forward at once, and she braced an arm on either side of you and shouted you're fine, I've got you, straight into your ear. And she did. The whole night, through every surge.

The bass came up through the barrier and into your hands. You came out with someone else's drink down your back and your ears ringing into Tuesday, hoarse for three days, and you have been chasing that exact feeling into every dark room with a stage in it since.