who is a member of the band tulengua and host of the KPBS podcast “Port of Entry.” His band’s debut album, “LOWKEYBANGERSVILLE,” was released last year. tulengua.mx/alanlili
If I would have known my last show before the pandemic would be my last show for well, who knows how long? I might have cried onstage. Live music is a profound experience for any musical soul. It’s an incomparable adventure: playing songs that were birthed in the privacy of your inner world in front of an audience, feeding off their energy, giving them yours.
It’s almost, dare I say, sexual. It’s the closest thing to a communal spiritual experience I’ve found what I imagine religious folks feel when singing within the warmth of their temples. Live music was my temple. Or so I thought. This pandemic has recalibrated my entire relationship to music.