MUSICOGENIC EPILEPSY

MUSICOGENIC EPILEPSY
There is in our dictionaries a new term which was not there 20 years ago. The reason is because there was not a condition to warrant description. Musicogenic Epilepsy is a term that describes an altering of consciousness brought about by music. Is it possible that music could alter consciousness? The Greeks have said so for millenniums and civilizations have used it in various ways, usually in a positive way. Still, in our own time, the condition has taken a different turn. Let me describe one condition in point. In 19?? A dear friend, Lucy Child sent her handsome ?? Year old son, Curtis off to what should have been a good experience. Curtis never returned home. He went to Salt Lake City with some friends to witness a concert of ACDC at the Salt Palace Convention Center. Curtis had been “lucky” enough to get good seats in the lower gallery section of the auditorium. In the course of the concert, the audience began to surge forward in a great wave of reckless abandon, breaking down barricades in the path of their havoc. Unable to withstand the power of the onslaught, for a moment, Curtis and two other young people were forced to the ground. Given Curtis’ stature and physical prowess, it is amazing that this could have happened, but it did. The security guards and the police witnessed the scene and saw the three victims go down. They came on to the stage, and drew the devastation to the attention of the band, but were unable to cause them to stop the music. When the concert was over, the friends who had come with Curtis to the event, could not find him. The hospital to which he was taken, was unable to contact next of kin, since in the course of the destructive act, someone had removed Curtis’ wallet and watch, leaving him with no identification. When Curtis’s family found him, they had the heroically difficult task of deciding to turn off the machines that were sustaining his life. The Doctors showed them that there were no brain waves, that Curtis had essentially lost his life at the concert, but was being sustained artificially by modern technology. This situation is very close to me, because I have a great affection for Curtis’s family. In addition, I will never forget the night of June ??, 1995?? when my son walked across the stage of the Logan High Auditorium to receive his diploma. There was one major absence that night, Curtis Child. Everyone felt it. A moment of memorial remembrance was noted, and a large group of the graduating class took candles to the Logan City Cemetery to celebrate with Curtis at his gravesite. What a great loss! What took his life? Did those people attending the concert intend to cause the deaths of three innocent young people? I don’t think so, in fact, I think the intent that evening was to come together and have a good experience. But, that is not what happened. The “normal” behavior of those present was altered to such a degree that behavior, usually abhorrent to those present, became the “norm”...Musicogenic Epilepsy. When ACDC was asked about this event in a subsequent media interview, their response was that it was not an uncommon occurrence, and that each time such a thing happens, their ratings and popularity increases. That is a chilling comment. Deaths at concerts used to be so unusual, that they would take prime coverage on the front pages of newspapers. Now they have become commonplace occurrence. Who is responsible for this carnage? That is a question that has not been answered as of yet. Many lawsuits and court cases have been brought to bear against musical groups whose music can be linked to destructive actions. But, for whatever reason, verdicts to link responsibility for such actions to a given group have not been forthcoming.