Concerts are one of my favorite things in the world. As I’ve grown up and come into my own music taste, I’ve fallen in love with the magic of concerts. There’s something so incredible about being able to lose yourself in the music, totally enraptured by this artist and the space they’re creating. There is so much beauty to be found in the very fact of a crowd full of love and joined together in that excitement.
Whenever I’m at a concert I’m reminded of the beauty of the human experience, of the ways in which we’re not all that different. Concerts are a uniting force, a celebration of love and artistry, and the feeling of being there and giving yourself to the experience is amazing. To be truly present at a concert is to be reminded of so many of the beautiful things about being alive. And maybe some of that is a post-COVID thing, where people are so thankful to be in these spaces, but I think a lot of it truly just is the magic of music.
Finding friends who love music this way too is one of the biggest gifts in life. Some of my favorite memories with some of my favorite people in the world have been at concerts. There’s so much shared joy within that concert space and getting to share that with people you love only makes you closer. Dancing and shouting your favorite songs with these people who mean so much is one of the greatest feelings in the world. Sometimes you go because it’s an artist you know and love, and sometimes you go because it’s an artist your friends love and tickets are cheap and then you also find a new artist to love. For me, concerts offer some of the purest joy in the world, they remind me so clearly that there is beauty and love in this world. Falling in love with concerts truly can change your life. Allowing yourself to love things that fully and completely can change everything.
For a long time, concerts seemed very daunting to me. I’m not the biggest fan of large crowds or loud noises, but a lot of that falls away when you’re really there. Sometimes it doesn’t, and you spend the show being a little frustrated and anxious, but more often than not you’re able to embrace the magic of the moment and the space. As someone who often struggles to live in the moment, concerts have become these spaces where I so often can be fully present and there, making beautiful memories. And there can be a thing as too many concerts, I went to one every week of July last summer and was about ready to fall over. But once you find the balance that’s appropriate for you, of energy, spacing and anticipation then you’re truly participating in something wonderful.
I do ultimately think that going to so many concerts has helped me to be more loving, and to see more hope and more joy in the world. Those spaces of collective radical joy that take hold at concerts are breathtaking, and I can’t wait to go to my next one.