Music After Midnight

The smoke from the fireworks began to subside and the crowd slowly dispersed. Before long, only a small number of the tens of thousands gathered there earlier remained. Midnight had come and gone and a new year – a new millennium – had officially begun. Yet, here I was, still standing along the reflecting pool on the National Mall, waiting for the program to resume.

The concert had aired live on stations across the country, ending in an extravagant fireworks display along the Mall. As far as those watching on television – and many of those gathered on the Mall – were concerned, that was it. The plans for a post-fireworks encore were never actually confirmed, simply rumored. Those of us who stayed did so purely on faith, or maybe it was curiosity.

For a while, nothing happened. The stage remained empty and revelers continued to stream away from the Mall. Then, more than thirty minutes later, just as my friends and I had resigned ourselves to leaving, a single spotlight focused on the stage. There stood the rumored encore, an internationally popular rock star with nearly twenty years of hits to his name. He sang one of his group’s slower-paced hits, at half of its typical speed. Then, he walked away and the stage again was empty.

With that, my friends and I, too, turned and walked away.

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