It’s no secret that I love music. I spend most of my time with headphones in my ears, making playlists, or trying to discover new artists. My Spotify is my prized possession, and naturally, my favorite place to be is at a concert. Being at the College of Charleston has definitely fed into my concert addiction, with so many of my favorite bands coming to local venues like Music Farm and the Charleston Pour House. I’ve seen a ton of different artists since my first concert in 2014, so to spare you some time, I’ve narrowed down the list to the worst three and best four concerts I’ve been lucky enough to see.
- Worst: Rock Out with Your Socks Out Tour – 5 Seconds of Summer – 2015
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Don’t hate me for this one. I was absolutely OBSESSED with 5SOS back in the day, and I had the time of my life seeing them live for the first time. They weren’t terrible, and Disconnected was amazing, but I have to admit, their debut tour was not the best performance. For me, they just didn’t sound nearly as good live as they did in the studio. I’ve seen them more than once though, and they got way better with time.
- Worst: Warped Tour – Real Friends – 2018
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I hate to put this one so low because I love Real Friends, and screaming “I’ve Given Up on You” with hundreds of other emo kids was a surreal experience. But live, they just don’t sound good! Or at least, not as good as I expected or wanted them to be. I went to Warped Tour with a friend that I dragged along with me who hadn’t ever listened to the bands that were headlining. She did a great job throughout the day pretending that she liked the music, but she couldn’t even hide her reaction to Real Friends. We ended up leaving their set early and going to see As It Is instead.
- Worst: Warped Tour – Falling in Reverse – 2018
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Falling in Reverse is already kind of problematic, and they weren’t terrible, but I definitely wouldn’t pay to see a full-length concert of theirs again. “Fashionably Late” was their best song; the crowd was hyped up and it made it a lot more enjoyable. The only reason I stuck around for the whole set was that Mayday Parade was set to perform on the same stage immediately after.
- Best: Fandom Tour – Waterparks – 2019
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This concert was one of my favorites for many reasons. First, the setlist was so well-crafted. The tour was for their newest album, but of course, they played some songs off of their previous albums. But, they created medleys for each of their old albums to get all of the songs a little bit of playtime. Second, this concert was my first in Charleston and at Music Farm, which has turned into my favorite venue so far. The main reason this concert holds such a strong place in my heart is that it was the first one I went to with my Concert Soul Sister that I met in college. Ever since the Waterparks concert, we have seen every concert together because we like all the same bands and match each other’s energy in the crowd. My favorite song from that night was “Easy to Hate” because everyone was so hyped up and excited.
- Best: Monumentour – Fall Out Boy, Paramore, New Politics – 2014
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This concert was the first one I ever went to, and I can confidently say that it remains one of the best ones I’ve seen. Each of the bands had such high energy crowds, the setlist was incredible, and I had all of my best friends around to experience this amazing moment with me. Fall Out Boy, in particular, was amazing; they opened their set with “The Phoenix” and to be honest, I could spend the rest of my life chasing the adrenaline high I had during that song. I would highly recommend getting tickets to Fall Out Boy if at all possible.
- Best: East Coast Tour 2020 – Beach Fossils – 2020
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My favorite concert so far has been one of my most recent ones. Beach Fossils came to Charleston at the Pour House and I made it to the front. Going to this one was a last-minute decision, but the tickets were cheap, and my Concert Soul Sister’s lab had gotten canceled, so we went on a Tuesday night. It ended up being the time of my life. The opening bands were some of the best I’ve seen, the setlist had all of my favorite songs (“Down the Line” was the best in my opinion), and the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me was at this concert. After it was over, my friend and I were waiting outside for our Uber, and we saw the band loading into their tour bus that was parked outside. We saw them and jokingly waved at them, but then they waved back. We decided to walk up to the side of the bus and wave at them again, and they opened the window and started actually talking to us! We thanked them for coming, and they offered us some goldfish that they had in their bus. They were super cool and we managed to get a selfie before we left. It was, by far, one of the best moments of my life.
If you ever get the chance to see some of these artists, I encourage you to do so. Concerts have become my happy place, so I bet they could make you happy too! I’ve been so lucky to be able to go to so many awesome concerts, and I can’t wait to see what others make it on this list in the future.