Skip to main content

The Importance of Community #ShikariPallyParty


 
Last night (Saturday 14 November 2020), Enter Shikari fans joined a viewing party of the band's 2017 show at the Alexandra Palace, London aka the Ally Pally. Using the hashtag 'ShikariPallyParty', fans were able to tweet to each other and the band about the show. It was a moment of joy however it was also upsetting for those of us who are missing gigs. 
 
This year has been difficult to say the least. Family gatherings have been cancelled, concerts have been cancelled... hell, life in general has been put on hold. Instead of enjoying what was supposed to be, for some of us, a fantastic year, everything has gone, well, to shit. There's no other way to say that. 
 
What Shikari managed to succeed in last night is pulling together a community and giving them something to be a part of. I for one enjoyed sitting with a glass of gin, watching my favourite band play whilst interacting with them and people I don't usually speak to on Twitter. I felt a part of that indescribable feeling of being at a gig, skin to skin with thousands of people. For the first time in a long time, I didn't feel alone. 
 
However, this of course came with its downsides. It made me feel nostalgic, longing for something that is so out of reach, but something I was only experiencing just last year. I felt the energy pulsing through my veins, I needed to let it out. More than anything, I wanted to be in that sweaty crowd, jumping up and down like my life depended on it. Singing along at the top of my lungs, staring up at my favourite band. There's no feeling like it. 
 
All of this had me thinking about the importance of community, especially at a time like this. The importance of pulling together when the tide is rough and the sun doesn't shine. When all we have is the four walls of our own house and the mundane little things that make up everyday life. At times like these, we need to be a part of something bigger. To know that we're not alone.
        
    "We have to squad up and we have to watch each other's backs." - Constellations, Enter Shikari

We don't seem to understand how important it is that we have each other. It's so easy to tweet about mental health awareness and how we should be kind to each other, but it's rare, especially on social media, that I actually see that put into practice. Things are hard enough, why make things worse? What's the point? What do you possibly gain by making someone's day that much harder?

Instead, we should be picking each other up, sharing what we love with each other. Whether your thing is a concert viewing party or #SocialistSunday - it's important to be a part of something. To be a part of a community you can turn to. If you can't find that in everyday life right now, then how amazing is it to find that online?

The internet can be a dangerous place for people, let's work to make it as supportive as possible. We're stronger together, after all, and we're stronger than those who want to bring us down. 
 
Those are just some Sunday thoughts after an amazing night. I would like to thank Enter Shikari for bringing us all together during a tough time. Hopefully, 2021 will see the return of gigs where we know the atmosphere will be better than ever before.

Until the next time,

Char.

 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MY NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS 2019

With only a few days left of 2018, I've been looking back on the year and thinking about what I want to improve on and achieve moving forward. At the beginning of 2018, I had little to no motivation and was on a downward spiral. Things haven't improved much, however my motivation is slowly coming back as the desperation for things to change gets stronger. Because of this, I've given my resolutions a lot more thought than I have done in previous years. Last year I said that I wanted 2018 to be the year that I "get shit done". It was the complete opposite of that. So now, 2019 needs to be that year. My 2019 resolutions: 1. TAKE RECOVERY MORE SERIOUSLY 2018 was the year that I properly started recovery after my mental health plummeted towards the end of 2017. I started seeing a care coordinator fortnightly and went back on my medication. However, I haven't taken it as seriously as I should have. This year I want my mental health to be my ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Battle Between University and Mental Health

As my second year on my university course finally nears a close, I look back and realise that I've learnt more about my own mental health than I have in the subject I'm actually doing a degree in. Not exactly what I'm paying over nine grand a year for... I'm tired, my sleeping pattern has been turned upside down and the sense of dread looms as it finally hits me: this year counts. This isn't first year anymore, and there's no second try at this year, Student Finance will only support you for one more year. If you fail this: you're doomed. The fear of getting anything lower than a 2:1 consumes me. It seems to be embedded in every student's mind that if you don't get a 2:1 or a First, then you've failed. Now, this fear has taken up any enjoyment I was having from this course. I'm no longer writing because I enjoy it, I'm just writing to get a grade. But how can you enjoy something when your brain wants to die? How can you even be good...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Letter From My Body To Myself (TW: Eating Disorder)

In contemplation group you were told to write a letter from yourself to your body (and vice versa.) And my God, you were really horrible to yourself. You called yourself fat, ugly and worthless. Repeatedly, you told yourself to stop eating and that you would have to die if you didn't lose weight. So today, I, your body, am going to write a letter back to you. I'll start of by saying that I understand you were in a really bad place when you said all those things to me. And I would forgive you but you tell me these things daily, even when you're faking one of your "positive" episodes. It has to stop. You wouldn't say these things to anyone else: you wouldn't say them to your mother, your sister, your brother, your friends, or even some random person on the internet. So why are you saying them to your body? It's bullying. Be kind, stop verbally abusing me. When you follow through with these threats of starvation, I feel exhausted. You're a very bu...
Post a Comment
Read more