Holy shit, what a rush!

If you had asked me the day before yesterday, I would have told you I'm not really into concerts.

The music is too loud. There's too much commotion. It's too long.

But that was before my buddy Jackie Berroyer (who, let's not forget, was a music columnist for Hara-Kiri, and whom I'll be writing about here soon) invited me to see Fat White Family last night at La Cigale. Never heard of them. I wasn't expecting anything. "You'll see, they're pretty good, you might like them."

OK, now I get why people love concerts.

Incredible experience. Yes, the music was wild, hard-hitting rock, but with real craft, a progression, and some unexpected instruments (flute, baritone sax). Then there's the lead singer, Lias Saoudi. He's in shorts. By the second song, he's down in the pit singing in the middle of the crowd. That sets the tone. For the rest of the concert, he sings (sometimes screams, but without ever losing the music) balanced on amps, in a fetal position on the edge of the stage, or crowd-surfing.

From above, the pit pulses. It's a collective experience. But you can tell it's all masterfully controlled by a seasoned band: here and there, you catch the small, extremely precise signals the band gives the crew; behind the wild personas are professionals who have crafted a structured and generous show. And La Cigale, where you can move around freely, gives you both freedom and intimacy to enjoy it.

I can see how people who've experienced this once can keep going back to concerts, chasing that first "high". And why some old-timers endlessly reminisce about a show they saw in their youth: "Oh, you know, when I saw that band back in '76..."

"A concert like that, you remember it for the rest of your life," Jackie told me as we walked out. Looks like it.