Shaking Off Psychic Strain: A Live Music Heals Essay by Martin Douglas
ACT I
I started going to shows on a regular basis in 2005. I dabbled in the practice beforehand, but the practice started in earnest when some friends bought me tickets to see Franz Ferdinand at the Paramount for my birthday, but none of them would go with me and told me to find someone to go with. Sometime before the show weeks later, I had a bitter falling out with my entire friend group over a flippant comment I made shortly after the first time I tried to end my own life. I ended up going with a buddy from my fashion retail job; a tall, handsome fellow who looked a lot like Kyle from