Two high school seniors after a Miguel show.
Three minutes on a Denver sidewalk outside a Miguel show, two people stopped on the way out and asked the plainest questions available. The crew say what they are doing before they start: “we’re just asking people in Denver who they are, what they’re doing”, plus some AI questions later, which never arrive.
Alyssa answers first, “my name’s Alyssa and I’m a senior in high school”, and Aiden gives the same, “I’m also a senior in high school”. On the show itself they do not hedge. “Amazing. Best thing ever”, she says. “It was great”, he says.
The city gets a colder read. Asked how they like it, Aiden says “It’s all right”, and then the line the piece turns on: “I mean, Denver is not what it used to be, but it’s still Denver.” Pressed on what exactly has changed he will not be pinned, “I don’t know. It’s just not what it used to be”, but Alyssa fills it in, “Used to be a lot nicer, cleaner”, and Aiden gets to the word: “There was just more culture here, I feel like. But now it’s just gentrified.” Asked whether there is more going on now or before, Alyssa says “Oh yeah, probably now”, and Aiden closes the subject with “Yeah, I don’t know, bro.”
Part of what makes it work is that the interviewer is not local either. “No, I’m not from here at all. When I ask, I’m actually asking”, he says. He also knows the timing is bad, apologising for “hard-hitting day-to-day questions” put to somebody who says “I just got out of Miguel, bro.” Asked whether they have anything going on beyond that, the answer is work and nothing fancier.
The last minute inverts the interview. The crew say they are not good at asking questions tonight, and the two teenagers talk them out of it. “No, you’re doing an amazing job”, Alyssa says, and “You guys like attracted us to come like see like you’re doing great.” Asked what would actually be worth asking people, they hand over better questions than the ones they got: “Oh, that’s a good question. How much did you drink? How much did you smoke?”, and then Alyssa’s, which is about the room, “I want to know what song attracted the older crowd because they shouldn’t have.” From there it is two people who just saw the same concert arguing about who was worse behaved in it, and it ends with the crew asking for socials.