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When I got to the VNV Nation concert last night, the venue had a sign up warning that strobe lights and similar effects might be used. Okay, I've already got the ticket, I'll chance it.
The opening act, And One, used a lot of strobe effects (actual strobe lights and playing with colors and color change in related ways). I decided to chance things, rather than find a corner to hide in (of which there are probably a few, and I might even have been able to hear the music), and it was okay.
VNV Nation used some strobes, but fewer, and I noticed only the difficulties that I'd had with strobes before my concussion, namely that one can't see things during the dark moments between flashes, which is awkward if you're trying to avoid stepping on people's feet on a crowded dance floor.
I doubt I'll ever seek the things out, but it's good to know that I don't, or don't always, need to avoid performances with strobes. It's nice to have that flexibility back, and it's nice to get good news about a medical thing that I wasn't expecting to improve.
It occurs to me that flashing lights are not identical, and specifically that my reaction to strobes may be different from my reaction to flashing lights on emergency vehicles, which I've had more exposure to in recent years. (It's easier, in general, to stay out of places with strobe lights, or go only with friends who are willing to signal "all clear" after I've closed and covered my eyes during a performance.) Other possibilities: I may expect more stability from the world when I'm sitting at a play or musical revue than when I'm standing and dancing at a rock concert, so whatever visual instabilities are introduced by the strobe bother me less. Or, I may have been sufficiently expecting problems from flashing lights, including things like parked tow trucks and electric company repair trucks, that I was tensing up, and the problem is the tension as much as the flashing.
I suspect I'll still be closing my eyes during strobe effects and movie previews sometimes, and asking friends to signal me when it's safe to open them. But this way I can go to such things by myself, or in contexts where "tell me when to open my eyes" wouldn't work well, like last night's concert, and worry a bit less about flashing lights in other contexts.
The opening act, And One, used a lot of strobe effects (actual strobe lights and playing with colors and color change in related ways). I decided to chance things, rather than find a corner to hide in (of which there are probably a few, and I might even have been able to hear the music), and it was okay.
VNV Nation used some strobes, but fewer, and I noticed only the difficulties that I'd had with strobes before my concussion, namely that one can't see things during the dark moments between flashes, which is awkward if you're trying to avoid stepping on people's feet on a crowded dance floor.
I doubt I'll ever seek the things out, but it's good to know that I don't, or don't always, need to avoid performances with strobes. It's nice to have that flexibility back, and it's nice to get good news about a medical thing that I wasn't expecting to improve.
It occurs to me that flashing lights are not identical, and specifically that my reaction to strobes may be different from my reaction to flashing lights on emergency vehicles, which I've had more exposure to in recent years. (It's easier, in general, to stay out of places with strobe lights, or go only with friends who are willing to signal "all clear" after I've closed and covered my eyes during a performance.) Other possibilities: I may expect more stability from the world when I'm sitting at a play or musical revue than when I'm standing and dancing at a rock concert, so whatever visual instabilities are introduced by the strobe bother me less. Or, I may have been sufficiently expecting problems from flashing lights, including things like parked tow trucks and electric company repair trucks, that I was tensing up, and the problem is the tension as much as the flashing.
I suspect I'll still be closing my eyes during strobe effects and movie previews sometimes, and asking friends to signal me when it's safe to open them. But this way I can go to such things by myself, or in contexts where "tell me when to open my eyes" wouldn't work well, like last night's concert, and worry a bit less about flashing lights in other contexts.
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