I could already see the salt lamps and crystals set up on top of amps, mirroring the theme of crystals in La Dispute’s newest album, Panorama, which is just about a month old as of the time of writing this. As I had left my day job early for this and didn’t bring a bag to check, I was able to make my way up to the barricade, stage left, and wait for the hour between doors opening at the first notes of Slow Mass’s set, while people trickled into the venue.

Thalia Hall, inside, looks like a beautiful old theater I volunteered at in college (ironically, the one where my supervisor first told me about La Dispute, though I wouldn’t really sit down and listen to their music until this past February, and then every day between then and now) if you sandpapered the paint off the walls and tore out all the seats, which means it looks awesome. As I sat down on a stoop, looking out at the church across the street while the guy next to me wolfed down a sandwich and the girl on my other side craned her neck around, looking for her friend, I was nearly vibrating with excitement.

Of course, the closer I walked to Thalia Hall I could also pick them out by the way they wrapped around the corner, leaning against the stonework and talking to friends. As probably the most boring-looking person who would end up waiting in line to see Slow Mass, Gouge Away, and headliner La Dispute (I’d just come from my day job, sue me), I could pick out fellow concert-goers by the metal-band font on their shirts and the dye in their hair. Tuesday, April 23rd, was a nice, cool day, not rainy as the forecast had promised the day before: a lovely day to guess who exactly on the Pink Line toward 54th and Cermak was getting off at the 18th Street stop based on their clothes.

The Little Queen by Meia Geddes