let down by language

The most foreign part of a foreign language? For me, it's at a live concert, right when the band has finished a song and the crowd is sweaty and breathless from dancing. Right then, when you're zoned in with the music and the other people, the singer throws off some one-liner, something to warm the crowd up and hold their attention during the wash of the drummer's outro and the retuning of the guitars. Right then, he says something casual and off-the-cuff, maybe about their tour or a fan's shirt in the front row.

I know what it should sound like: "Mr Michael Gordon on bass, everybody." "How you doing out there, Chicago?" "This next one's off our new album." And I know how to respond, maybe politely or with a little encouraging laughter and applause. And easy as that everybody's closer for it and primed for the next number. But in Thailand its just gibberish to me. I have absolutely no idea what he said. Right at that crucial moment, when the guy's knitting up the crowd, I'm bounced out to the edges. And again I'm a naif, unprepared, and told in so many incomprehensible words that I'm not really ready for this experience.