Lindsey Stirling: South by Southwest and Beyond Series - Part 6 - Farwells and Futures

Greetings fellow denziens of the internet. Today's blog wraps up the series on my time at South by Southwest. In this section I gloss over the rest of the weekend after that first special concert. For the price of one concert I got three Lindsey concerts and shows by a wealth of other bands. A very good deal. The original artical I am pushing to magazines is in black italics. Please take the time to comment, because you could help me modify it and make it shine for publication.

The show is over, but the crowd wants more. Enough Lindsey fans are present that a chant of “One more song!” commences. She has already unplugged her violin. Her keyboardist and I exchange shrugs at each other. He seems game for another song but the venue is on a schedule and it is probably almost closing time. The band is flattered but closes down shop. The venue breaks down into controlled chaos. Lindsey comes over to exchange a few brief words of small talk with me before she is bombarded with requests for photos. One man literally leaps up and down over me to get her attention. She is escorted out by members of her stage crew and progress is slow, because she honors as many requests for photos as she can. Meanwhile, I visit with Drew and Gavi for a while.

As much as I would have liked to talk further with her, I wanted her to get the heck out of dodge. The crowd was unpredictable and at different levels of intoxication, and some were even hostile towards her, throwing things up on stage during her performance. I didn't feel she was all that safe and hopefully they can truly get the venue reserved if they do something like this again.

I do not overstay my welcome and make my way back out onto the organized chaos of sixth street with a feeling of having just witnessed something truly special. There may be a time not far off when Lindsey is too big for the random appearance at a small venue, because it is obvious the girl is going places and continues to wow audiences. I have just seen the start of the next chapter in her career.
She performs twice more at South by Southwest and manages a few interviews. I happen upon a performance by chance the next day for Pandora while traversing Sixth on my way to the Willcall office. An RSVP list for the venue is strictly adhered to this time, and I am content to listen for a while from the street. Last, I attend the concert I originally bought a ticket for—a charity event for the VH1 Save the Music Foundation in which several amazing bands like “A Great Big World” and Ingrid Michelson participated. Although nice, neither of these compare to being at the edge of the stage and capturing the essence of the performance.

The Perez Hilton event was unique in a different way, and I gloss over it here. If I return to Lindsey Stirling in my Independent Music blogs, I may go into more detail. I felt a bit like a spy, but from my balcony I could see things the general audience could not. I found it intruiging how she was led around from camera to camera, person to person, doing the walk of a star before they finally let her prep for her set.

I watched Lindsey Stirling perform three times in less than twenty four hours. I can add this feat to my list of above and beyond fan accomplishments. It may seem like overkill, but each performance was a completely different experience. This is one of the benefits of being a fan of such a unique brand of music. There is always something new to see and hear, and the music is so layered it can take on a number of meanings. It must be exhausting to perform three times, rehearse, give several interviews, and who knows what else in such a short amount of time—but this is the extent of Lindsey’s dedication to her art and to her fans.

I am dedicated to the power of imagination to change the world. We cannot always be prepared for when inspiration will hit us in our lives, for I believe inspiration comes from God and arrives on his time. Our challenge as mortals is to harness the power of this motivational force for creativity when it strikes and pass it on to as many people as we can through our own talents. Lindsey conducts herself as a shining example of this ideal, and the encouraging motifs of her music urge people to fight through adversity, keep love in their heart, and realize their dreams. In this way, she has been granted the power to change the world. I share her belief that we all have this power within us and can cause the same sort of positive influence on the world in our own way. In short, when we come across someone who has the power to change the world we want to help them do it.

Thanks for reading everyone! Please go support this amazing talent. I plan on covering Pentatonix in my next blog on Independent Music, so stay tuned.

Lindsey’s music and style of performance is easy to access on youtube at www.youtube.com/lindseystomp
Tour information can be found at her website at www.lindseystirling.com
You can also preorder her next album and get exclusive content here: http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/lindseystirling