"music moves us. respect that fact" - a lil interview with the masked dancer of Kilby Block Party

I am almost done talking about Kilby Block Party. Almost!! But after a full hour-by-hour recap (including snack intake), plus interviews with hey, nothing and Josaleigh Pollett, I have one more thing I wanted to talk about on this blog, and that's a magical individual we encountered on the last day of the fest.

So it was Sunday. We were taking a load off in the upper section of the Days of '47 arena, having a nice time at Nation Of Language's set. Then I spied (with my little eye) a figure in black pants, a white t-shirt and a white balaclava. They were dancing—not in a contained floorspace, but all across the Mountain Stage audience. I watched them boogie from corner to corner, mixing fancy footwork with more interpretive motions, and seemingly knowing every contour of Nation of Language's music. It was especially mesmerizing up in the stands and seeing how many attendees weren't in a position to notice the apparition of Pure Fest Zest doing grapevines around them.

I couldn't help but take a video of this masked dancer. Filming people having fun in public is usually not my modus operandi, but the anonymizing mask made it feel less extractive, and anyway I did not plan on posting the video on a social network where it might 'blow up' beyond my control.

We left the set a little early and my husband and I danced with the masked figure for a moment (ENERGY IN / ENERGY OUT). Hours later as Justice's light rig blasted searing columns of white out over the audience, I had the random thought, It would be cool to see the masked dancer again. Suddenly they appeared!! Our group lost our shit and we all jumped around like lunatics before letting them continue to dance their way through the crowd.

The next day the masked dancer appeared on the Kilby Block Party subreddit—going by the name Midas Mutus, they revealed that not only did they have a great time at the fest, but that they were there against all odds. "I fractured three of my ribs and part of my c7 two weeks ago, working underneath my truck briefly when the jack gave out," they wrote. "Heartbroken, I healed up enough to convince myself I could sit through the performances. Was half successful on the sitting /squatting part right? Paid my respects to the many gods of sound this weekend in the only way I knew how to." This commitment to live music, even at the expense of recovering from having a truck fall on top of you, was next level.

So I took the opportunity to DM Midas Mutus with a few questions about their fest experience, and how their personal bodily expression might inspire others to enjoy themselves more freely at this type of event. Below, answers...

[Molly O'Brien] First, saw from Reddit that you came to the fest w/ some sustained injuries. How are you feeling after the fact?

[Midas Mutus] Recovery is going strong! Starting PT here soon for my shoulder so hopefully in the next month I’ll be fully able to move freely again, thanks for asking.

You have serious moves! Have you ever taken dance classes or are you a self-taught groover?

Everything is self taught/ in the moment at the festival. Sometimes I dance in front of the mirror/use my shadow to see how the movement correlates to the music when at home. I dance a bit more wild and unorganized to live music so the fest was a perfect zone for me to get my body out and move it around. 90% of the music I danced to there I’ve never heard before so whatever my body wants, it gets. Thought about joining a dance class though, classical or not who knows!

You wore some anonymizing headgear to Kilby—what would you say are the advantages/disadvantages of enjoying the fest in an masked way?

Pros with the mask: not concerned with my identity of course. It attracts attention but so does my dancing so if people do like the moves, I want them to focus on the dancing instead of who I am. It’s been funny seeing who people think I am though (from Robert Pattinson to a bishop's kid lmao). Maybe it’ll give a people an idea if they want to move around, no one will judge them if they conceal their identity. But people will have an opinion anyway, so mask or no mask, dance anyways, music or no music.

Oh and cons: breathing at points was hard, had to take it off/adjust the mask to allow better flow, it got HOT. Mask smelled like dog water after the fest, but worth it. It could freak some people out or look weird, too. To each their own, I liked it and that’s really the only thing that matters.

In this self-conscious time, you were enjoying yourself freely. Do you have any tips for people for how to enjoy themselves at concerts and festivals?

Some tips? Fucking live, man. I’ve been down so many rabbit holes of judging myself and others that it lead me to harbor negativity about how I “should” act. What I should be doing is living more.

Music moves us. Respect that fact, and allow yourself to feel. In an age that shuns being out of the norm, we need more individuals, not more cliques. Another tip is if you’re self conscious, realize that they don’t have to watch. No one is forced to form half shelved opinions on something like movement. Be kind and respectful, love who we are and stop trying to control things out of your scope which is literally almost everything.

Favorite set of the weekend, if you had to pick one? Or sets, if you can’t pick just one?

Favorite act was Justice. What a set. Tried to take breaks but I couldn't shop running and shaking, so so so energetic. NEEEEEVVVERRRR ENDDDERRRRRRRR. Honorable mentions are Nation of Language and Wallows. They ripped.

Thank you Midas Mutus! You can follow their masked adventures on IG.

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