The Suicide Concerts

Author : Morrow Brady

They legalised suicide to combat over-population but the widespread stench of decay demanded a more ritualised approach.

This emerged as a celebration of a life lived too long and metastasised into the suicide concerts.

In the summer of 2212, the festival of life was performed in an open ended quarry high on a mountain, overlooking a modern metropolis. The featuring artist was K from Underworld, singing his 9:47 remix of the anthemic track, Pearl’s Girl.

Two centuries of performance had trashed K’s body. Today, his brain and vocal chords resided in a customised maxiLED DanceBot which linked to an eclectic biomechanical orchestra. K walked on, red anodised arms to the sky, gradating LEDs rolling up his body and the crowd went mental.

Within the three sided granite enclosure, thousands of Enders grooved to a warming baseline that throbbed down from the musician’s platforms installed like rice paddies either side of the stage. The attending wake stilled to merge with friends and lovers for a solemn final hug.

From silence, the hardened wind of Pearl’s Girl wobbled slowly to life. Vibrating tones grew alongside repetitive vocals and when the hard breakbeats slammed into force, the front eight rows of Enders were thrown backwards. Distorted burbles and gurgles echoed off the blue lit rock wall faces as K started a hallucinatory swim dance across the undulating stage. Clinical sound layers began to build and light strobed like artillery fire, frightening loose debris from the quarry walls.

K in full control, coated aural complexity into the frenzy while maintaining a flurry of dance moves that physically embodied a storyline of pure emotion. In reaction, the mile long sweating sea of Enders rhythmically marched motionless away from the city’s shimmering lights in rolling waves as white dust from the raving energy filled the quarry like a milk bath.

Behind K, a townhouse row of hand sized LED panels, hinged and pumped, creating glistening sequinned serpentine forms. Blood red smart mist spiralled from the panels, as each panel faceted to create K’s face streaming consciousness.

“and old man Einstein crazy in his attic. crazy crazy crazy crazy…..”

K pulled inhuman dance manoeuvres, releasing blinding blue light from fissures in his torso as he hovered inches above the floor. His pitch perfect verse synchronised with an ellipsoid shaped white laser that beamed out from his voice box and launched to the heavens.

Slowly the backdrop faded to an avalanche of light distorted by its own sound energy and flanked by fluorescent yellow robed choirs that washed the fervent dance floor in angelic harmonies. Amongst them, chrome search lights emerged to sweep the grinding tribe as the sun finally slipped below the horizon.

The song descended into a pit of streaming synth tones, peppered with skin pricking breakbeats, offering a glimpse of self reflection before the final push.

No one dared stop.

Synchronised orb-lights appeared from mist above centre stage forming a truck sized glowing sphere that expanded and contracted to the beat. These flickered to merge into iridescent squids that throbbed around K.

Shuffling, spinning and smiling, K began to rise atop a gyroscopic crystalline entity. The backdrop faded to grey as the baseline echoed to silence. K thrust his arms to the night sky and imploded in light, releasing shadowy spectral clouds that descended to sweep the audience of life.

Listeners cried pain-free blood.

The final dancer dropped.

The sweaty corpses lay with locked smiles from ear to ear.

The harvesters commenced preparations for day nine, as Justin Bieberbot cried a fearful tear for his impending finale.