The best way for me to unwind after watching a good show is to play.
When I play for an audience, my musical batteries are recharged and I am on a three day high.
The line is fine between listening and playing. You cannot play well if you do not listen to what is going on around you. The bass player that comes in a half beat behind or the drummer who insists on upping the volume. The sweet Call & Answer when two like minds execute with precision.
You have to hear to have a reply.
And as in language, when talking with someone - if you spend the time they are talking thinking of your reply, then you are not hearing what the other person is saying.
Listening is an art in which it usually takes a moment for a reply to formulate. The reply may then take the next thirty two bars but you have to have heard what preceded to be able to properly answer.
Harrison's is a local road house. George invites you and twenty other musicians to play for an evening. And if we're lucky each invitee brings a friend.
After the first time or two, you generally know all the players. Have an idea what to expect.
And then a night like tonight blooms.
It was Black Magic Woman that started it, but the percussion section really took off. The drummer had some instant help from a conga player. Then people at the tables were drumming to the beat. All of a sudden it took off.
The interaction was sublime. Everyone was actively listening to the others.
The bass player heard the drummer and the chords met each measure with precision. The zone opened and I stepped through.
By the time we hit the last three chords that everyone was anticipating it was leap in the air and windmill time for me.
(The fuck I am doing?)
Listening...
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