Perspectives of a Partygoer. (01)
- somniumhos
- Feb 4
- 2 min read
SOMNIUM JOURNAL
Anonymous Entry 01
Thursday, September 7th, 2017 — Boulder, Colorado
I bought the ticket on a whim.
A friend insisted—insisted—that I join her and another friend to see a beloved British artist playing in Denver in just a few hours. It didn’t take much convincing. I already trusted her taste; it was worldly, curious, disciplined. And despite having to leave the next day to check into a hotel forcommitments that required focus and restraint, I said yes.
I had responsibilities in the days ahead. Drinking and party favors were off the table. This was going to be a sober experience.
We drove to Denver, to a basement venue called Vinyl.
Walking down the stairs, I was met by the echo of a heavy bass—each hit raising my
BPM—layered with the murmur of a crowd making noise without speaking. Low ceilings. Strategic hanging plants. Strobe lights bouncing off gray walls, momentarily caught and softened by leavesmid-flash.
The space felt compressed, intentional, alive.
Crossing the threshold felt like a breath of fresh air.
The atmosphere was electric. The music was otherworldly, yet familiar—tribal, ancestral, as if
something old had been translated through modern circuitry. We danced. We sweated. We smiled,yelled, jumped, stomped, hugged. Eventually, we surrendered.
To flow.
That almighty state that slows time and mimics being underwater. Your pulse steadies. Your
breathing evens out. Sound dulls, wraps around you. Your body floats. Your head grazes the
ceiling. Movements slow—but that’s irrelevant, because slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.
And when the track I would later learn was Kerala detonated through the room—when everyone jumped as one, perfectly on the beat—I knew.
In that moment, I was meant to be there.
I was meant to be free.
I was meant to see.
I was meant to feel.
I had been invited into an experience.
Over the years I would encounter that music again in other cities, and once even meet its maker.
Still, every time I hear it, my body returns to that basement in Denver.
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