Show 13: How Do I Live? (feat. LeAnn Rimes & Shohei Ohtani)

On September 28, 2024, in an unlit parking lot of a hotel in Aurora, Colorado, a shadowy figure approximately fifty yards away suddenly took an aggressive straight line path towards me.

With each hurried step of the figure, my confusion increasingly turned to feeling threatened. At ten yards away, I saw the figured hand reach to his side.

“Hey! Why are you following me?”

Feelings of threat had turned into preparedness to fight to the death in the dark.

And then a flash of light pierced my eyes

Again I yelled, “Why are you following me?”

My instinct was to physically engage, but I made the split-second decision to aggressively stride towards the better lit area by the front entrance of the hotel.

Still fuming, I screamed at the hotel attendant, “Why is this dude following me?” “Why didn’t he say anything?”

The hotel attendant replied, “He doesn’t speak English.”

I left even more angered.

To resolve the issue on the following morning, a hotel employee offered me a snack.

They also lit the parking lot later in the day.

Colorado is a concealed carry state. That flashlight could have easily been a gun. I was mistaken for a vagrant trying to crash a hotel that had a wedding reception that night. Even without a handgun, if I had given in on my NYC-honed instincts to physically defend myself, I could have been entangled in a law enforcement saga in an area of Colorado not known to be friendly to folks like me and the shadowy figure.

How do I live?

Unfortunately, I have lived a life of constant concern, vigilance, and constant risk/reward assessment that many Americans can afford to avoid.

How do I ever, ever survive?

I was singing those words quietly just an hour before I felt like my life was being threatened.

On the evening of September 28th, I had intended my lasting memory to be hearing the majestic voice of one of my high school crushes, LeAnn Rimes.

With the support of the Colorado Symphony, led by Christopher Dragon, LeAnn’s soul-piercing vocals stood out most in her performance of “Blue” for the first half of her set. It wasn’t until her rendition of “Can’t Stop The Moonlight” that the synergy between her and the Colorado Symphony reached it’s full impact. I was especially captivated by the Christopher Dragon’s dynamism and enthusiasm as conductor.

For the finale, LeAnn sang “How Do I Live?” in a way that made me feel validated in sacrificing my Colorado Rockies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers tickets to watch the greatest baseball player of all time in his historic World Series-winning season.

It’s fine. I was able to get field level access to get close to Shohei Ohtani the next day.

Shohei was the common thread I used to connect with fans at Coors Field during my first night in Denver. One of my favorite interactions was a conversation with Mark, a self-confirmed Republican who loves baseball. I bridged the conversation from Shohei to old baseball names like Ozzie Smith to bring out for maximum nostalgia. ‘

Nostalgia is my secret weapon to bonding with folks who don’t look like me, have never lived like me, and may never align with my worldview.

Nostalgia is also part of the reason why I went to see LeAnn Rimes, and why I love concerts.

I wish I left Denver only with stories of LeAnn Rimes and Shohei Ohtani (not to mention Anderson Paak at Red Rocks).

I wish I could just focus on the power of concerts and sports to bring people of far-ranging backgrounds and identities for moments of unity.

But I also left Denver considering the fragility of my existence as an immigrant in current times and whether extraordinary talent—whether in the form of a child singer prodigy or a soft-spoken Japanese giant—can move the world enough to be a much better place for folks surviving the shadows.

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Concert access + more:

1. Check out Lincoln Center’s Festival of Firsts—FREE concerts all this month

2. John Legend is celebrating the 20th anniversary of one of my favorite albums, Get Lifted. Check out the tour dates here.

3. It feels like the Jonas Brothers have been touring nonstop. See upcoming dates here.

4. For subscribers in NYC, if you want free jam session access on November 14th in Times Square from 7pm-9pm, send a message to Cris_at_Concerts on Instagram. You can enjoy great live music and get on stage with the band!

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Job/Career Opportunities in Music and Entertainment:

1. Here are open US roles at Warner Music Group.

2. Sony Music Group has jobs in product, marketing, and more

3. Universal Music Group has open roles ranging from Data Governance Analyst to Project Management to Finance to Full Stack Engineering, Cloud Engineering, and various creative roles.

4. Spotify has many open roles ranging from Data Science to Machine Learning to Accounting and Account Management.

5. Sirius XM has various Social Media Management, Software Engineering, Business Development, and Operations roles currently open.

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About the author:

Cris is the award-winning Founder & CEO of GrantAnswers, an NYC-based data, strategy & consulting firm founded in 2013. His journey to becoming an award-winning entrepreneur has been highlighted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, MTV, and Forbes. He has helped +1000s launch careers in tech & secure acceptances to top colleges & programs. His speaking engagements for the likes of Columbia Business School, Teach for America and the US Chamber of Commerce encompass immigration, career development, entrepreneurship, and tech diversity & inclusion. He is also an avid concertgoer for +25 years and counting, and likes to tell stories about it.