“I’m still young, wasting my youth, I’ll grow up next summer.”
It’s a warm night in Mesa, Arizona. 84 degrees, and there are hundreds, maybe thousands of eager music lovers standing in the fresh grass of Mesa Amphitheater, waiting for the show to start.
On Oct. 21 Machine Gun Kelly, or ‘MGK’, brought his Tickets to my Downfall tour to Arizona with opening acts, Carolesdaughter and Jaden Hossler, also known as ‘Jxden’.
Slowly, the amphitheater began to fill up as the first artist came on stage. To say the least, the opening act Carolesdaughter was interesting. Her music had a lot of different sounds to it and was unique, to say the least, but it wasn’t anything any of the concert attendees were expecting. Some of her songs even went from indie to screamo to rap.
While her voice did sound really nice at times, and you could tell she had talent, it seemed as though she didn’t necessarily choose the right genre to sing and write for. Personally, I didn’t like her set, but I did love her lyrics and could tell that she wrote from very personal experiences and perspectives, which is something I always appreciate. She even opened up to the audience with a song she wrote while dealing with a serious mental illness in a hospital at the age of 16.
When the time came for Jxden’s set,. The crowd was much more captivated by their music. He obviously had a knack for crowd control and was able to keep the attention of his audience for the duration of his set. In my opinion, his music was of good quality, but I didn’t think it was anything special or shocking. Though his music was widely enjoyed, the anticipation for MGK’s arrival was quickly growing.
Between Jxden and MGK’s set, those sitting on the stairs swiftly moved down to the pit to squeeze in with the already very packed audience. For many, this was the first show they’ve been to since March of 2020, when the COVID-19 Pandemic began. As you can imagine, the anticipation for Kelly’s appearance was quite literally tangible by this point.
When the time finally arrived for his set, a large pink pill bottle emerged from the dark wings of the stage, which was Kelly’s point of entrance. He rose from the top of the bottle, beginning his set with “Title Track” from his album, which holds the same name as the tour.
Throughout the concert, anybody could tell that Kelly was incredibly dedicated to his fans and loved audience engagement, he even went as far as welcoming some of his youngest fans on stage; who appeared to be not even 10 years old yet! What an unforgettable experience for them; an experience that was sure to turn every adult in the venue green with envy.
Overall, the concert was unlike any other I’ve been to before, just because of the connection between Kelly and his fans. Not only was his audience engagement terrific, but his performance was surreal and life-changing for some of his fans, especially after it’s been so long since many have attended a show. My personal favorite song from the show was “Lonely,” but throughout his set, there wasn’t a single song that the audience wasn’t ecstatic to hear. I can for sure say that you’ll find me at his next tour, hopefully at the beautiful Mesa Amphitheater once again.