How Son Lux Left my Mind in Tatters

And a brief interview with guitarist Rafiq Bhatia…

If your concert history is longer than a single event, there’s a good chance you’re aware of the “it’s-better-if-you-already-love-the-song” phenomenon. There’s just something about anticipating a sound before it’s played that elevates a song watching experience to sensual nirvana. Don’t get me wrong, if you never heard of the opening band, or if the band you came to see decides to play a song from their upcoming album, I won’t deny that soul touching is still possible. But when I walk into a venue, wanting to hear those songs, and I’m not sure if they’ll play those songs, and then they do, those are the moments why I buy the ticket. I mean, consider for a moment going to a Vanilla Ice concert, and not hearing “Ice, Ice Baby.” It’s like, why even go to a Vanilla Ice concert if you can’t get down to “Ice, Ice Baby.” Unforgivable; you see my point. Well, the reason I’m saying all of this is because, through unavoidable circumstances, I really had no idea who Son Lux were as I stood in the Constellation Room last Friday night, waiting for them to take the stage. There were no songs I was looking forward to, and only a vague idea of what to expect. And yet, when the drumsticks were lowered, the PAs turned off, and the lights undimmed, I found myself paralyzed in a state of musical shellshock, my beliefs wholly defied. Now, you may think that’s just a bunch of empty words and rhetoric, but I’m prepared to dedicate an entire blogpost to explain how a band I’ve never even heard of before could actually live up to such exaggerative phrasing. Continue reading→