Concert-going hero promises to fill any and all moments of silence
TORONTO, ON—Silence. There isn't enough of it in the world… or is there? And even if there isn't, does it belong at a concert, where you've just paid hard-earned dollars to listen to the latest indie rock group tickle your eardrums with their quirky mix of klezmer, blues and hip-hop?
Local man Trevor "Righteous" McTree says no. Does anyone else call him "Righteous"? That's also a no, but it's a name he christened himself with a decade ago when he first realized his true calling — saving concert audiences from the brief moments of quiet that can befall them during shows.
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"I go to this Ryan Adams show, right?" McTree explains. "And there's this moment when he's just finished a song and he's gotta switch guitars. And I can feel it, before the reverb even stops — the pause. It's coming. But I won't let it."
McTree promises to save us all from any shred of silence, whether it be in that tenuous moment when an emotionally fragile lead singer contemplates addressing the audience, or in the sombre seconds after an artist has dedicated a song to his recently deceased mother. Even in those harrowing gaps in a song when no one's quite sure if it's over yet.
"I had it measured, and I can interrupt a silence literally seconds before it's even begun," McTree says proudly.
He has a number of tools at his disposal, his favourites being the sustained hoot; the "You fuckin rawk!"; the "We love you!"; and the insistent "Play [classic song the band hates being asked to play]!".
"I like to change it up," McTree explains. "But what doesn't change is my tenacity. I will always, ALWAYS break the silence. No hush is reverent enough not to be shattered by my cries."
McTree's experiments in other venues have yielded mixed results. His "coughing fit" at the orchestra was shushed, and his incessant cheers at a recent poetry reading got him gently expelled.
Clearly concerts are where McTree truly belongs, an unsung hero of our time. "I'll be there," he says. "Before you have the chance to catch your breath, or to let a moment of transcendence resonate, I'll be there. To interject. To interrupt. To do what I do best."
"I also do weddings and funerals," he adds, before screeching "Yeeeaaaaah!!" and startling a nearby sleeping baby into hysterical wails. McTree smiles. "My job here is done."
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