I can’t hear the word “hope” without hearing the immortal words of Red and Andy Dufresne in Shawshank Redemption ricochet around in my brain.
You know the quote.
“Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.” – Red
“Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of good thing. And no good thing ever dies. ” – Andy
Hopefully just read that in their voice.
Dark days call for hope. Some sort of spirited resilience that there’s a light – as dim as it might seem in the moment – glowing the end of the tunnel. That a page will be turned; that there’s eventually going to be an escape from a gloomy reality.
Hope doesn’t burst in a room like the Kool-Aid Man; it rarely parades around with bashing cymbals.
Hope doesn’t make a show.
Hope enters gently and makes itself comfortable – it just arrives, takes it jacket off, and hangs out.
Maybe even stays for a while.
—
For us big-hearted softies, music is hope.
We’ve all seen the news – It’s bleak out there.
Music, fortunately, doesn’t need six feet to give us a hug of reassurance.
Given all the uncertainty in the world, evening music livestreams during quarantine have become a new type of digital fireside chat. A chance to take a break from the news for a while, sit down to freshly prepared grilled cheese dinner with our favorite soup, and use all those connected devices at our fingertips to immerse into a world that brings a certain kind of hope:
The world of music, shepherded by our favorite artists.
These livestreams are our comfort blanket; the warm hoodie from a another era of your life that you’ll never let go, yet miraculously still fit into.
—
In a short two weeks, these livestreams have become a way to make social distancing feel not so distance. They’re a chance to absorb; a ritualistic moment in the day to connect with our friends, family, and community about something – anything – other than rage-riding the day-to-day.
And out of that performative moment comes hope.
And hope breed resilience.
And all of those ingredients mixed together make the great gumbo of the human spirit, which will get us through this damned thing at the end of the day.
—
Technology, of course, certainly helps. Of all the times to be holed up in quarantined over the many millennia, it’s a nice silver-lining for it to happen to us at a moment of history when the world’s as connected as its ever been.
Last night, Dave Matthews linked up with Verizon to spread a little light from “the room above his garage.” In an intimate livestream, Matthews hosted a 50-minute solo show, streamed on Twitter as part of Verizon’s very first “Pay It Forward Live” series.
It’s worth a rewatch, if you missed it:
— Verizon (@verizon) March 27, 2020
As part of the series, Verizon will support the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and efforts to help small businesses during an unprecedented crisis. via Verizon:
LISC will use the funds to provide grants of up to $10,000 to businesses facing immediate financial pressure because of COVID-19, especially entrepreneurs of color, women-owned businesses and other enterprises that don’t have access to flexible, affordable capital in historically underserved communities. LISC will launch an online process for small businesses to submit applications for grants. Applications will be reviewed and then entered into a lottery. The grants are designed to help business owners fill urgent financial gaps – from paying rent to meeting payroll – until they can resume normal operations or other financing becomes available.
Verizon is also giving its own customers an easy way to support small businesses by leveraging their customer loyalty program, Verizon Up, which will give members the ability to use their monthly reward for a Visa eGift card to use to support small businesses throughout the month of April.
Thursday’s stream was truly an old school Evening With Dave, with mix of hopeful acoustic classics like Dancing Nancies, Grey Street, and Don’t Drink The Water, along with plenty of anecdotes that have peppered his solo shows since the Live at Luther days.
For those of us who grew up lionizing Dave and his music like myself, the #PayItForward stream was soothing music equivalent of slipping into your favorite pair of sweats for the evening.
In classic BroBible fashion, let’s wax nostalgic to the days of ultimate frisbee with college friends before heading back to the apartment to chill with Before These Crowded Streets on in the background.
Throw on your frayed, white college hat from the ’90s and get comfortable for a while.
— BroBible (@BroBible) March 27, 2020
A few highlights from the Dave Matthews livestream.
Thanks to @Wombat_Matt for capturing a handful of clutch moments.
— Stefan Lessard (@SLessard) March 27, 2020
Shout out to the wizard plumber!
— Kelly Jones (@kellyjonesrocks) March 27, 2020
Stay healthy. Be good to each other. We’re all in this together.
—
Brandon Wenerd is the publisher of BroBible.com. Follow him on Twitter.
