My first concert I attended was just last year: a small venue in LA featuring Eaj, a small pop musician who had just started his solo career after leaving the band Day6. I eagerly waited in line once we arrived at the venue not knowing what to expect. When the opening acts came on, I was enthralled. Not only was this my first time really hearing live music up close, but I loved how the artists were able to feed off the energy of the audience and entertain the crowd while interacting with them.
I couldn’t help but cheer as soon as Eaj stepped on stage. I found myself mesmerized by the performance. While I have heard his songs on Spotify, seeing him play live while explaining the meaning behind different songs left me speechless. I left the concert taken aback and found myself listening to videos I had taken at the concert days after.
My next concert I attended was the music festival Head in the Clouds featuring many Asian artists. My friend had just received free tickets and I was lucky enough to be able to go for half of the first day. As soon as we arrived at the venue, I was in shock. I was met with multiple performance stages, each with a different set of performers and large crowds. It was my first time being at such a large venue with multiple artists playing.
Despite not knowing all of the artists that were performing, I was once again captivated by the performances. I didn’t want to miss a single moment of the night. Hearing artists such as Jackson Wang, Phum Viphurit, and Rich Brian live gave me a chance to not only understand more about the artists, but also allow myself to get lost in the crowd of people and enjoy the music together.
Since then, I’ve been to concerts such as Joji, Eric Nam, Jeremey Zucker, Mitski, and, most recently, Alt Bloom. From large crowds with music that makes you want to dance to small and intimate spaces where you feel like you’re the only one in the audience and interacting with the artists directly, attending concerts has been a newly formed interest of mine. I love being able to listen to live music and enjoy myself in the moment and support my favorite artists in person. Hearing the music I listen to while walking to class or doing homework was an entirely different experience than seeing the artist live and in front of me.
This summer, I’m planning on attending Summer Sonic, a music festival in Tokyo featuring some of my favorite artists. I actively am on the lookout for different concerts to go to for large and smaller artists and hope to experience more live music in the future.