Explosions in Farmingdale, NY. Photo Credit: Valerie Fremin


Explosions in the Sky
Crazy Donkey Bar and Grill
Farmingdale, NY 4/6/08



I'm so glad I didn't listen to those kids outside. They told me not to bother going in. I stood there listening to guitars explode behind closed doors, which told me I had to plead to be let in. What ensued was the kind of luck some single people have: "All right, just you can come in." Beyond those doors of the Crazy Donkey in Farmingdale, I joined the standing meditation.

Up close to the stage I joined a quiet crowd, all of us watching carefully as the musicians all swayed in synchronicity with the slow, building songs, before they crashed down around us. The absence of lyrics allowed them to easily melt one song into another. I heard a quiet whisper, "These guys soothe souls," and I felt an air of peace around me that I hadn't experienced for a long time.

--Christine Thelen