Concert Review: Quinn XCII Is My Gratitude Guru At Radio City
Gratitude! I need it! We all do! Sometimes, I wonder if my bouts with depression are because we strive for more and believe just reaching is enough to ignite receiving. Yet, what about waiting? In 2016, Quinn XCII was in the pit of Mercury Lounge playing to a crowd the size of one of Radio City’s bathrooms. He marveled how time, or rather diligence and patience, gave him two sold-out Radio City shows in 2021.
Quinn could NOT stop thanking the crowd. He looked at us like I do my reiki crystals…. with wonder at how they can cleanse you. People were singing HIS LYRICS, cheering HIM ON, and celebrating HIS WIN! While we thought gave us music, he treated his audience like e gave him life. Frankly, while I see many performers, it is rare to see such gratitude. Sometimes, you are so focused on giving a show, you forget to a pause and appreciate that you are even in one. In perspective, that is what tracks like, “Monday Morning,” “Look How Far We’ve Come,” and “Flare Guns,” signify to Quinn and his fans: pausing to praise.
I always marvel at the lyrics of artists’ music more than the sounds because people sing along, and… well…. do you hear what you are singing? Most of Quinn’s music is about rising back up from feeling down or, at least, thinking “down” is the only place you will be. From “Full Circle” to “Kings of Summer“ to even the electricity he shared with “little sister” Chelsea Cutler on stage, Quinn XCII has created a tour dedicated to those that are determined to get up and go from Mercury Lounges to Radio Cities and, eventually, MSGs.
While their was lighting and visuals, ultimately, Quinn XCII’s show was all about connection. No one was there without a group of friends behind them, and they all sang along and swooned to the bonds they had formed with people in good and bad times. Think about it! I am sure not everybody who was “with you” pre-Covid times is still your buddy now in post. Thus, for the people that fully survived in friendship and Quinn XCII, that is what time and growth does: it gives you genuine rewards.
