Rebuilding with Rock years after Hurricane Irene

It was a Sunday night.  I needed supplies for dinner.  Off to the grocery store I went.  But a trip for groceries for a Rock Girl is never something normal.  Driving through Prattsville, NY (a town with a population of only in the hundreds) I all of a sudden noticed a band trailer parked on the main road.  For a rural town, something like that stands out.  Intrigued, I parked and walked in to the grocery store half a block ahead of the band trailer to get my dinner supplies.  Suddenly, a local in the store came up to me and started to tell me about a rock concert going on that night.

She said something to the effect of ‘I figured you would want to know about it, with your blue hair…’ and of course I smiled.

I finished paying for my groceries and even more intrigued now went down the road to check out the scene.  Apparently in the heart of a rural town that was almost decimated after Hurricane Irene, and had to almost completely rebuild from scratch, there now sat a building used in part as an arts venue and concert hall.  One of my most distinct memories of the Prattsville area was seeing National Guard tanks all around following Hurricane Irene, followed by houses with red ‘X’ marks all in a row on the main road.  It was heartbreaking to drive around and see the destruction.

Similarly, it’s amazing to see how areas of New York have rebuilt in the time since the hurricane, and clearly stumbling upon a rock show was not something that I could ignore!

Looking up the concert flyer, I saw two bands that were playing.  Both bands were described as fitting in to the hardcore/metalcore scene; I decided that I clearly needed to go, support the community, and cheer for some younger bands.

There are no words to describe the experience of buying groceries and winding up at a random rock show.  But that’s exactly why I love living in New York (and being a rock girl).  Life never gets boring!!!