By: Gabby Chinnici
Our memory vaults are filled with moments from our life that we had no idea would stick by our side for the long haul: first loves, meeting some of our closest friends, the taste of a really good piece of bread, or the first glimpse of an album that would soon be on repeat. Yet, though it may be cliché to say, the best memories are the ones that we had no intention of even making.
Coming to college, one cannot fully predict what the semester will look like outside of the usual attributes of school. Of course, many of us would agree though that, the moments in between classes are what we really crave throughout our experience. With this being said, having no idea what to expect out of my first semester of college, I have come to grow a deep liking to these spur of the moment decisions. Whether that is running to the Metro North two minutes before a train leaves for Grand Central, teaching people, who are now some of my closest companions, piano at one in the morning, or rummaging through old postcards in Brooklyn.
Last weekend, I was lucky enough to add another one of these experiences to my own memory vault, by seeing Alicia Keys for her one night only concert at Webster Hall. I can truly say this is one of the best nights of my life. Not only did I get to see a 15 time Grammy Award winner, but I got to do so without knowing so 45 minutes before the concert started.
It all started over some chicken parmesan and gnocchi, of course how the best nights always begin, as my roommate asked me if I was sad to not be seeing Alicia in concert that night. She knows that Ms. Keys is one of my all-time favorite female performers, and Alicia was celebrating 20 years of the release of her most famous album: Diary of Alicia Keys. As we finished up a delightful meal on Mulberry Street, my roommate said “What if we just went Gabby?”. I choked on some gnocchi as I couldn’t even fathom the thought of that. We quickly looked up last minute tickets and realized that someone was reselling them for a quarter of the price! It all happened so fast, and suddenly we were stepping out of a cab and walking up the entrance of the venue.
Webster Hall. There is so much to say about this place. From being the holding place for a majority of rallies, for the working-class and immigrant population on the Lower East Side, during the19th century to now being considered the first-ever modern day nightclub, Webster Hall is unique to say the least. For Alicia, this was the first place she ever performed her widely acclaimed album, Diary of Alicia Keys. 20 years and seven million sales later, she decided to come back and show some love to her city by putting on an anniversary performance.
If you have ever been to Webster Hall, you know how personal the space is. With the capacity being less than 1500, you are bound to have an exclusive experience. On this night in particular, the Hall was filled with Alicia’s family, producers, and a plethora of renowned artists: Jermaine Paul, Swizz Beatz, and Pharell Wiliams to name a few. Being in a shared space with them was alone an incredible feeling, while simultaneously being a few hundred feet away from Alicia herself.
Starting with a nocturne she wrote herself, she performed the entire album from top to bottom, leaving everything out on that stage. Yet, I would argue that this was much more than a mere concert. Between each song, the audience was given access into Alicia’s Diary, of course not physically, as she shared who she wrote each song for, highlighted the artists in the building who she collaborated with, and finally shared her own vision and writing process. For fans and music lovers alike, this is what it is all about. Music is love. Music is empathy. Music is a story.
Though Alicia Keys is loved by a mainly older demographic, she is much more than just the artist who sings “This girl is on fire”. She is a crafter of beauty,and her music is the essence of soul/ R&B. Yet, even more than that, she is a storyteller. With her album Diary of Alicia Keys, she delves into themes of cause and effect in personal relationships through hit songs such as “If I Ain’t Got You,” “Karma,” and “You Don’t Know My Name”. Overall, The Diary of Alicia Keys is a significant work in Keys’ discography, further establishing her as a formidable talent in the music industry.
Outside of this album though, Alicia has written multiple scores for film and television, such as “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”, “Bridgerton”, and most recently “The Color Purple”. She even now has a broadway show, “Hell’s Kitchen”, where she collaborated with Pulitzer Prize-finalist playwright Kristoffer Diaz. All of this is to say that, yes I am a super fan, but there is truly so much to mention.
As a whole though, I am now a firm believer that good things do come from conversations at Italian restaurants. Even though we can’t plan for these memories to come about, that is definitely how it is supposed to be. My hope for you is that music becomes more than just the sounds that play between your earbuds. Allow music to be an experience and I assure you that your own memory vault will start harboring unforgettable adventures soon.
