Blog #96: Kadence

Like seriously, I know I talk about them nonstop, but I just can't get over my friends. Over the past couple of days Mary Alice and I have spent a considerable amount of time 'studying' together, sharing numerous conversations, even more laughs, and yet even more coffee.

Sarah helped me make my best chana masala to date, and encouraged us to sing together at open mic night tonight at Kadence, the music shop where we all bought our instruments (one guitar and two ukuleles, to be exact). The three of us, most certainly not better known by our stage name Destiny's Child 2.0??, and who most certainly do not live up to that name anyway, have been telling each other for months now that we would sing together at this open mic night which happens every Tuesday. But, of course, over the course of four months, life also happened every Tuesday, and we always found ourselves too busy or too exhausted to go.

Tonight being Mary Alice's last Tuesday here, and mine and Sarah's second to last, we decided there was no option but to go. Forget about finals, our GPA, sleep, whatever. There was no way we were going to leave India without performing together at least once.

So, we went. We decided to sing our favorite song since day one, 'River' by Leon Bridges (I know there's a post about that song somewhere deep in the trenches of this blog), because it's perfect for harmonizing, we have a strong connection to it as it has helped define our friendship, and, well, damn... it's just a really good song.

As we waited for our Uber to Kadence, we sat downstairs in our apartment lobby, where the rain was pouring in from the thunderstorm happening right outside our gate. Monsoon season is gearing up to take over Bangalore, and that name could not be more accurate. Even if for a short time, here in Bangalore, when it rains, it pours.

So, we sat surrounded by the rain and made music while we waited. Actually, there wasn't a lot of sitting. We danced and jumped and almost slipped in the rain puddles, and we laughed and sang and yelled. There were a number of visitors to our little party, one of which was our good pal Rebecca, who came with us to open mic night!!

Once the four of us got to Kadence, only a little soaked, we almost instantly were ushered onstage to perform. Sarah strummed the first few chords, and we were off. I'll be honest that I was a little nervous for some reason, but I fell into the moment of singing that special song with those special people. Afterward, Sarah stayed on stage to perform one more song, 'Beautiful Girl' by Sara Bareilles, a recent hit among us that we can't get enough of from Sarah. When she finished, I heard the guy across the room ask his friend "How am I supposed to sing after that?" Honestly, I wouldn't want to be the following act after Sarah either.

It was really just a great night of performing and getting to watch others perform, meeting new people and getting invited to other music events.

After it was all over I mentioned to Mary Alice that I wished we would have done this earlier, and done it more often.

She said "yeah... but honestly, I'm just happy we did it."

And damn, Mary Alice is right again. I shouldn't regret what we didn't do, but just be grateful for what we did.

Tonight was wonderful, and that's all that matters. We got to spend time together, we got to make music, and we made a memory from Bangalore that we'll never forget.

And damn, I'm just so lucky to have all that.