The smell of weed fills the air as I watch a man breakdancing to the song “Ripple” by The Grateful Dead. This is only my fourth concert ever, and I’m watching a man, maybe in his mid-60s, literally breakdancing to one of the slowest songs ever. All around me, people are either dancing, singing or smoking. Or all of the above. I’m with my dad and two of his friends whom I’ve never met before. Everyone is barefoot and standing on the grass inside the Dos Equis Pavillion. It’s a little damp from the rain the morning before but no one really minds, they’re too busy dancing. Me and my dad aren’t any different.
I’m 16, and I’ve been to a whopping 36 concerts throughout my lifetime. Some of the most notable ones are Noah Kahan (twice), Dead and Company (twice), Hozier, Lumineers and Kelly Clarkson. I’ve seen some singers in concert more than once but it never gets old. I could see a person in concert 10 times and never get tired of it. Each time it’s a different setlist, a new audience, maybe even a new song or two but it’s always the same thrill. It’s my dopamine, it’s like being on drugs. It doesn’t matter who it is. I’ve seen from Nelly to little folk bands with barely any listeners. I will go to ANY concert offered, I don’t even need to know the songs to enjoy it.
One of the concerts I’ve been to that I barely knew the songs is AJR. And even though I know they aren’t very popular with people my age, they are one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. The amount of production quality and the mere performance were enough to make the whole night absolutely magical. At the start of the set, you see the lead singer starting the song, but the spotlight dances around to about 10 people on stage who look identical to the lead singer. So you don’t know who’s actually singing and at the end of the verse, all the spotlights shine to reveal all of the look-alikes. Then everything goes black. You hear a countdown and then huge smoke machines, lasers, lights, screens, everything explodes in song and color. It was the best performance quality I’ve ever seen. It was completely life-altering, my senses were overwhelmed in the best way possible.
That’s why I love concerts, everything about them is so life-changing. Even watching people around me is wonderful. Watching other people dance to the same music I hold so dearly to myself is such an amazing feeling. I love watching people be happy, and I love watching them enjoy themselves. Concerts are a way for me to just have fun while being myself, and I don’t have to worry about them judging me because I know that honestly, I don’t care.
Throughout my teenage years, I’ve had issues with always worrying about people judging me. No matter where I am, if I hear someone laugh or whisper behind me, my mind instantly goes to the worst possible scenario. I constantly think people are talking bad about me, even if there’s a shift in tone I start to worry. I’ve had therapy to help with the constant self-doubt. It works every now and then but not always. Everywhere I go I have to worry about what people are saying and what they’re thinking. But at concerts, I don’t have to worry about that.
At concerts, people are free-flowing and they are too busy focusing on the music and the rhythm to pay attention to me. I’m simply just another person dancing in the crowd, why would they pay attention to me? I don’t have to constantly have that lingering fear that people are watching me or judging me. I don’t know what kind of switch happens when I walk through the doors to the venue, but all concerns magically go away.
Music is such a powerful thing, and I think some people don’t realize how much it actually impacts others. It has the power to bring people together but it also has the power to divide people. There are always artists that I don’t enjoy. I don’t particularly hate them, I just don’t listen to them. But people seem to think that if THEY don’t enjoy an artist’s music then the artist is a terrible songwriter. I believe this is far from the truth by miles. I don’t listen to Taylor Swift a lot, but I do know that she is an incredible artist who has changed the music industry. Her songs have meaning, and her production quality is insanely impressive. Even though I don’t really listen to her, I’m able to recognize her as an amazing singer with many talents, and I think that’s something everyone should be able to do. We have to remember that artists and bands are REAL people with REAL emotions. Hating on an artist with millions of listeners is not going to bring you praise. Nobody cares if you despise Taylor Swift. She has enough listeners and followers to where you aren’t going to get the attention you seek. I think as a society we should all start recognizing artists for their musical talent instead of hating them because you deem them terrible.
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Sitting at the top of the Texas Trust CU Theatre I watch as lasers bounce around the crowded venue. The Avett Brothers are performing one of their more popular songs, “Ain’t No Man,” and the energy on stage just isn’t there. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Avett Brothers, but this was one of my least favorite concerts. I think how high our seats were and the fact that their performance wasn’t great just added up to a bad concert experience for me. So throughout my 36 concerts, I have only had one “bad” concert. But every single concert I’ve experienced has been unreal except for a select few.
I’ve never been much of a huge crowd person. At one of my first concerts that I can remember I was surrounded by stoners who had no sense of personal space. I was constantly being pushed around, offered a smoke or asked to watch someone’s seats. At some point, some woman came up to me and asked us to watch her and her boyfriend’s lawn seats. Her speech was slurred, and by the look of her dilated pupils and red eyes, she was definitely on something. “Can you watch our seats? I’m gonna go use the bathroom. If I don’t fall down this hill first,” she said. She sounded like she was joking, but I didn’t consider it improbable. The Pavillion we were at was a huge lawn area that had a pretty steep slope down to where people were actually seated. She spun around and took maybe two steps before she fell down the hill. Her boyfriend is yelling at her to get up and asking if she’s okay all while she’s giggling and finding her balance. They left “to the bathroom,” and I didn’t see them come back for the rest of the concert. I still think about that woman and I wonder where she went.
Throughout my concert-going experience, I can confidently say that I’ve never regretted a concert. I’ll continue going to concerts, and I’ll never get tired of them. I believe a concert is something everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime because it’s such a life-altering event. So buy the tickets and live your life to the fullest and please tell me everything about your concert experience when you’re done.
