Just over here sobbing while reading Jeremy’s recount of Frostapalooza.
In fact, the tentative plans we had to travel to the States in April of 2024 for the total solar eclipse ended up getting scrapped in favour of Brad’s shindig. That’s right—we chose rock’n’roll over the cosmic ballet.
Given that Jeremy is the main reason I ever know that the ISS is visible in the sky, I take this is as high praise.
We’d end up spending a lot of time playing music with Chris over the next couple of days. I loved every minute of it.
This was exactly what I dreamed. I knew there’d be a ton of talented musicians scattered around, and was really hoping there would be some impromptu jam sessions. I sure was busy the night of the pre-party, but I’m thrilled we had a great little fireside acoustic session on Thursday night after our rehearsal.
I wasn’t playing on the first few songs so I got to watch the audience’s reaction as they realised what was in store. Maybe they thought this would be a cute gathering of Brad and his buddies jamming through some stuff. What they got was an incredibly tight powerhouse of energy from a seriously awesome collection of musicians.
This was 100% the goal of the night. That was the vision the entire time, and that vision became more likely with every recording each musician sent to me over the months leading up to the show. I wanted the audience to enter totally clueless about what was about to transpire (“a cute gathering” is exactly right), and leave with their eyebrows blown to the back of their heads. And I can say with confidence we accomplished that vision.
At the end of the night, everyone got back on stage. It was a tight fit. We then attempted to sing Bohemian Rhapsody together. It was a recipe for disaster …but amazingly, it worked!
That could describe the whole evening. It shouldn’t have worked. It was far too ambitious. But not only did it work, it absolutely rocked!
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
What really stood out for me was how nice and kind everyone was. There was nary an ego to be found. I had never met most of these people before but we all came together and bonded over this shared creation. It was genuinely special.
Nothing gives me greater happiness than introducing people to other cool people, and this was easily the best excuse to do that at scale. It was one of the overwhelming themes of the entire experience: holy shit everyone is just SO NICE. My Uncle Joe said it best in a text to me a few days after the show:
Ya know as i think about the weekend what’s amazing to is that with all those people there was not 1 dbag in the group (except me)!!!! everyone everyone i interacted with was kind, positive, encouraging and engaging- that my friends is blessing tamped down and given in good measure!! (i’d give you bible chapter and verse but i forget) thanks again!!!
So good.
Brad started working with Project Healthy Minds. In fact, all the proceeds from Frostapalooza go to that organisation along with NextStep Pittsburgh.
Just think about that. Confronted with intimidation and racism, Brad and Melissa still managed to see the underlying systemic inequality, and work towards making things better for the person who drove them out of their home.
I’ve never thought about it that way, so this very much made me cry.
I sincererly hope they got some catharsis from Frostapalooza. I can tell you that I felt frickin’ great after being part of an incredible event filled with joy and love and some of the best music I’ve ever heard.
I certainly got some serious catharsis from the show, but more importantly I hope that _everyone_ got some catharsis from the show. In fact, that’s how I framed the whole night after our . We’ve all BEEN THROUGH SOME SHIT. Some of that shit is shared (Covid! Unrest! Politics!) and some of that shit is acute and personal. I wanted to create a night that gave people an excuse to convert their negative energy into positive energy. To be reminded of the joy and fun life can offer.
Based on the many conversations I’ve had since Saturday night, I really think we accomplished that goal. This was truly a dream come true.
Thank you, Jeremy, for all you’ve done for me over the years and for you and Jessica for signing up to be a part of this crazy endeavor. You definitely got at least a few great photos out of it:
