Caiti's Crossing

I wrote an article this week titled “My First Metal Concert” about a trip I took with my boyfriend, Mychal, to Biloxi, Mississippi to see a metal band that we both love called Parkway Drive and the experience I got from the concert. Maybe you’ve heard of them, maybe you haven’t. If you haven’t you’re totally missing out.

I told Mychal I was writing the article and through conversation, an interesting idea grew that perhaps he could write a complementary piece noting his perspective of the same experience. I thought it was a great idea and urged him to get busy writing. Here is Mychal’s perspective:

“If you are reading this, then you probably have read the article “My First Metal Concert,” that my girlfriend, Caiti Johnson, wrote. If you haven’t read her piece, then I suggest you check it out so you’ll have a better understanding of my perspective.

My name is Mychal. I am “the Boyfriend.” More specifically, I’m Caiti’s boyfriend. I believe that I can refer to myself as “the muse” of her articles because, knowing Caiti as well as I do, I am sure you will learn more about me through her content with Odyssey as she progresses in her college career. I won’t babble on about myself, though, because that isn’t the reason I’m writing this article. I thought it would be an interesting idea to share my perspective of Caiti’s most recent article. Since her piece about our trip to Biloxi, Mississippi is the first time I’ve been mentioned to the Odyssey audience, I figured I could compose an article about our experience that would complement hers.

On our weekend getaway to Biloxi, Caiti had arranged for us to see Parkway Drive (easily my favorite band) perform at one of the local venues. I was extremely apprehensive about Caiti and I going to this metal concert. I was mostly concerned about maintaining her safety. I’ve been to a few of these types of concerts in the past and when there are enough people in a mosh pit, bodies can fly and Caiti is not built for flight.

To be honest, I never thought she had any interest in going to a concert like this. I thought my taste in music was something she tolerated.

When we got into the venue, there were so many things that I was worrying about and so many things I was taking into consideration that I wasn’t sure if we were even going to have a good time. I suppose in the end I just wanted everything to work out well and for her to have a good experience.

We managed to find ourselves a spot on a raised area about 25 feet from the stage. The opening acts played for about two hours. It was interesting seeing her reaction as big, hulking guys were crashing into each other in the pit and as crazy fans would climb over one another to surf the crowd. As the opening bands were performing, I noticed her occasionally bobbing her head to the beat of the music or she would note how she liked the way something sounded. Taking all of those things into consideration gave me some reassurance that maybe she was really enjoying herself…

…and then Parkway Drive came to the stage.

I’ve been to one of their concerts in the past. When they enter, something happens that ignites the crowd to reach a higher-level of intensity and it adds a rush to their concert that makes the experience much more exciting. That’s exactly what happened in Biloxi when the band opened their set with “Destroyer” off their new album. As the opening guitar riffs and drums played, you could feel a surge in energy that raged through the building that you didn’t experience with the opening bands.

It was electric; and as “Destroyer” kicked in, Caiti must have been caught in the power. She was jumping, she was yelling, she was throwing her hands in the air, and she was head banging. All of these things I would never have imagined she was capable of doing, let alone doing them all at once. It went on for about ten songs and by the end of it all, we both were drenched in sweat, our legs were dead, and our throats were sore from the yelling.

Caiti calls it “the best concert she has ever been to”, so I think I can chalk that night up in the “win” column.

I learned a few valuable things from that night:

•Caiti IS built for flight. I was in shock and disbelief, but she was catching some air in her jumps! It wasn’t much air, but enough for me to generously tally it as a flight.

•Moshing can get pretty intense. We had a lot of close calls with people crashing into us and we caught many a glimpse of some extreme moshing; hardcore punches being thrown and kicks being delivered. We had an older person that was wildly bouncing around too close to us and frantically/violently throwing their hands around to the point that they came into unwanted contact with Caiti. So I had to give a little “tap-tap” (forceful nudge) to let them know not to head our direction again.

•I’m appreciative that Caiti made the effort to be a part of something I enjoy and I’m fortunate to have her as a girlfriend. There aren’t many guys I know whose girlfriends would just go to a metal concert on a whim. She is supportive of the things I value and I cannot express enough how lucky I am.

Maybe if there is positive reception from this article I’ll chime in again sometime. Feel free to check out Parkway Drive’s newest album “Ire” so you can really understand what I am saying.

– Mychal Grames”