The toughest thing to learn in the midst of tragedy is how to really care about the more pedantic things in life, like opinions on the arts. Of course, I personally wasn’t thinking about new records or whatnot in the midst of my power being out. And like a good deal of campus, I was one of the fortunate ones. My apartment was still there and the power was back on within two days. I apologize in advance because this will obviously be less of a critique of the arts and more an effort of closure before I can go back to whining about bar covers and interviewing local musicians about their tunes. Of course, the same local musicians were also just as affected. Friends of mine had their houses completely destroyed just for daring to live somewhere where the rent was affordable. I do hope to give exposure to their work in the next couple of summer columns. The primary lesson I hope we all learn is a sense of understanding between different viewpoints of taste. I know that’s impossible, and frankly, that’s trying to imagine a world where hecklers won’t heckle things because they exist on the road, but there is a serious undercurrent of love among the community. Hopefully, we’ve at least gotten closer in appreciating what we have and at least temporarily drowning out the whiners who say, “This city is so boring, why does it suck so much?” This isn’t to say we shouldn’t change if the process requires it or the talent deserves more, but it is to say that right now is a time to be cool to each other. Show some love and we’ll fix our problems together as we fix the city we live in. This weekend is the Roll Tide Relief show (Friday from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m.), which obviously is entirely focused on help to those affected by the April 27 tornado. But it also sort of hits another crossroad. While we as Tuscaloosa residents have returned to normalcy, we haven’t given to the idea of a mass gathering that serves as hopeful mental closure just yet. Even The Dexateens have opted to do a brief reformation for the relief of the storms. This can only be a good thing for Tuscaloosa residents who like stumbling into Egan’s on a Thursday night. The shows will run at 7 and 11 p.m., and yes, I think people will enjoy it a lot. Normally this would be the part where I gave my personal preference, but again, I’m trying to avoid being pedantic about something as cool as tornado relief shows. (After all, this is a lot of the reason the “intellectual crowd” didn’t give Kenny Chesney crap for coming here after donating his appearance fee to relief). Instead, I can only merely hope you go or give in any sort of way you can. This column will obviously not be the last time the tornado is mentioned either by me or covered in a story. And moreover, one final wish to those who were affected by April 27 – this city loves you and I hope it supports you in every way it can to get back on your feet.