That feeling of walking into a venue after countless weeks of waiting for this one night is an indescribable feeling that I have found myself chasing as much as possible. Being in a small, intimate room or a massive stadium with thousands of people feeling the same is pure happiness and absolute euphoria. Everyone that is there is there for the same reason, for the artist and the music. There is a common interest that brings everyone together and creates a community for the duration of the concert.
Once the artist comes out and starts their performance and everyone sings along, dances, and shouts obscene things at the performer (mostly seen at teen heartthrob shows like One Direction, 5 Seconds of Summer, and Justin Bieber) there is this amazing feeling that takes you out of the real world. It takes you somewhere else, and you are one with the music and are just in the moment and loving every second of it. I am a lunatic and dance and sing like nobody’s watching because I have just as much a right to be there as the mother that brings her little daughter and her daughter’s friends.
I have been to too many concerts and when I say too many, I mean it in the best way possible. I am from Mansfield, MA. For those unfamiliar with the town name, it is also home to the always name-changing XFinity Center. Mansfield is also next to Foxboro’s Gillette Stadium, where the New England Patriots play and the place artists go to when they’re on their stadium tours. We are nestled between Boston, MA and Providence, RI with easy access to either city. Living where I do, I feel spoiled because there are people that I meet at UMass that don’t live as close to places like this as I do. I also get major FOMO while at school because it isn’t easy to get back home for every concert that I want to go to, so I have to suck it up and live vicariously through a live Twitter feed, Instagram posts, or if possible, a live stream of the show. Social media makes this easy and I feel better about not being at every single concert I want to go to. I guess it’s better being out here in Amherst because concerts can get expensive and I’m saving money if I don’t go to all of them.
I have been to many different types of concerts and each one is special and amazing in their own way. One of my favorites was Rixton on their Broken Heart Tour in the summer of 2014. It was at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston and I got really close to the stage; close enough where Jake Roche, the lead singer, kept looking in my area and then my friend was able to snag the drummer’s drum stick. This venue is on the smaller side and this band wasn’t necessarily huge yet. They’re under Scooter Braun’s management and touring with Ariana Grande on her Honeymoon Tour, so everyone there was very into the music. After the show was over, I was able to take a picture with each member of the band.
I tell people that concerts are my happy place and that going to them is my hobby. I would rather pay for experiences that I will never forget than some object that can get ruined or lost. Next time you are at a concert Collegiettes, I challenge you to take a second to yourself, put the camera down from taking pictures of the stage and your friends, and take a deep breath and look around because life is good. Enjoy every minute of it. Now bring on the summer concert season.