004. My Impetus
When I first secured 7 Radiohead tickets in one week, I was frenzied with excitement, relief and an insane amount of adrenaline. "I've never seen you so happy," was a line thrown around by co-workers, close friends and family members ⎯ and I can't say I disagree. When you've dreamed of something for years and finally found it within your reach, it's an incredible feeling. With a full heart and rushed brain, I went through my weekend feeling on top of the world. As I shared with others the insane stories and lengths I'd gone to in order to secure these tickets, one idea kept coming up: "You need to document this."
But how? Some recommended a vlog; some recommended a journal; and a handful thought of my skills in the documentary film industry, and the immense passion and dedication I hold in my work day to day ⎯ and recommended I made a documentary film. At first I was hesitant ⎯ in no way did I want to taint this amazing experience I'd saved up money for and put so much time and emotional stake into ⎯ but then I thought of all the people who love this band and weren't able to get tickets, as well as the Radiohead community at large who shared my enthusiasm.
I posted on the /r/Radiohead sub-reddit, to see if anyone else had secured as many tickets as I had. One person had. This person was Yang, a Chinese PhD student studying in Copenhagen, who bought all these tickets because he knew Radiohead would never come to China. He told me that he'd seen Radiohead once, with nosebleed seats in London. While he had initially passed off their music, his love was reignited later on and he became infatuated. This was his chance.
His story struck such a chord with me. I knew there were so many others like us ⎯ putting life on hold in pursuit of that incredible feeling you can only get at a Radiohead concert. Displaying the full power music has to unite us, two people from two totally different worlds, sharing one joint passion. It was infectious and inspiring.
Fast forward to now: a week from tomorrow I will be flying to New York for my first round of shows and interviews with a savvy cinematographer at my side every step of the way. We're ready to give this band and fandom the homage it deserves and has never had. We want to display the full extent of the impact it's had on so many of us.
Unfortunately Yang is not able to make Radiohead's show on August 4th. However, hehas entrusted our team with finding a suitable home for the General Admission ticket he secured! See the video below and our contest page for more details on that. Thanks to everyone for their support as we take on this mammoth endeavor.
Jamie