It’s insane that it took a music lover like me 18 years to attend my first concert, however, last week I attended The Beaches concert in Kitchener. A last-minute decision to buy tickets turned into a night I’ll never forget. Although I didn’t know many songs, by the end of the night, I had all my favourites picked out and made a Spotify playlist.
The truth is, at first, I was a little skeptical about my first concert being a band I didn’t really listen to because I didn’t want to be the only person in the concert just nodding my head, pretending that I knew the words. However, some people really got into the music and others like me just swayed around for two hours and enjoyed the unfamiliar music. Both ways are equally as fun. You don’t have to love a band to have fun at their concert. A concert in itself is an activity, just like how some people like going to the movie theatres for the experience and couldn’t care less what movie they watch.
To prepare for my first concert, I got ready while listening to The Beaches, of course, and picked out a cool outfit. I wore a leather jacket and combat boots that made me feel powerful. I think getting ready for events is just as fun as the event itself so I enjoyed this part. The pre-concert excitement and nerves, since I had no idea what to expect, made it difficult to catch the bus on time. My friend and I ended up on the right bus but happened to miss our stop and went right past the center. We ended up having to Uber back to where we came from…
Our seats were in what people call “the nosebleeds,” which was actually perfect because I could see everything. At the back, people were using lighters instead of their phone flashlights which made me laugh. And I got to see all the band members and dance without worrying I was obstructing someone’s view.
However, there were some things I was unaware of pre-concert. I’m not quite sure why I thought this but going into the concert I believed that the “opener,” which in this case was Beach Weather, sang one or two songs and then invited the band on stage. However, Beach Weather ended up singing an entire setlist and spent just as much time on stage as the Beaches did. I loved this though because it was like being able to experience two concerts in one night.
Then, you’ll never guess what happened to me. Everyone’s worst concert nightmare! My phone was working fine for the opener Beach Weather but the second the Beaches came on stage I got a notification that my storage was full. This almost made me cry. My first concert experience now had to be documented by my memories. Luckily my friend was kind enough to let me take photos and videos off her phone. But still, it was heartbreaking.
I’m not quite sure why it took me so long to attend my first concert, I think I thought it would be too overwhelming. But once you start hearing the music, all that anxiety goes away. It has now been a week later and I’ve been introduced to a new favourite artist which I’ve been listening to non-stop, and I can’t stop saying I heard this in person. If you haven’t been to a concert yet, I highly recommend it.