You’ve seen the looks from your friends when you stand in Hot Topic clutching a copy of your favorite band’s new album and you gush about how great this new batch of songs are - of course you already know how great they are, you listened to them on Spotify once or maybe fifteen times since they came out last night. There have been plenty of eye rolls when your friends pile into your car to hear the same album blasting from the speakers for the fourth week straight. Sighs of annoyance have escaped your friends' lips when you’ve begged them to go to concerts with you just so you don’t have to go alone. You’ve seen the head shakes when you buy yet another shirt from the same band, or better yet the vinyl copy of that CD you just bought at Hot Topic.
You’ve stood in line for hours in the blistering heat and freezing cold for a shot at getting to the front barricade. Paychecks have been put towards VIP tickets and meet and greets with the band. There has been heartbreak at the shows when you get stuck at the back of the crowd or the shows that you end up stuck in the balcony when you want to be down on the floor. Admittedly the view and the acoustics are better up there, but that’s not why you’re at the show. It’s okay, we both know that’s not the atmosphere you’re craving. Toes have been crushed, bruises have littered your skin, you’ve been kicked in the head by crowd surfers, and you’ve probably ended up with more sweat from people you don’t know on you than you’d care for.
At the end of the day, it’s always worth it. You’d give anything to be right back in that venue the next day because a concert isn’t just a place to go and see music played live: a concert is your escape.
The crowd will sing along to your favorite songs at the top of their lungs without a care in the world. You’ll dance like no one’s watching and make new friends. You’ll cling on to every word that the singer of your favorite band says between songs; sometimes it will even feel like the speeches they give will resonate deep within your soul. Hundreds of photos and videos will be taken to remember this night on top of your lengthy Snapchat story to show your friends what they’re missing. The shouts of “One more song! One more song!” at the end of the set will leave your throat sore, but you’ll keep singing until your lungs give out. It will all be over far too soon and you won’t want to go home. Until security starts kicking you out of the venue, you’ll try to hang around after the show to meet your favorite band. Eventually, you realize it’s time to give up because you deem that, ironically enough, it’s too crowded now that you’re outside, or you really just can’t justify standing in the snow for another hour. You say that you’ll meet them next time, and it sounds like a good enough reason to get back to your car. The drive home will be filled with the same songs you just heard and you’ll sing along just as loudly as you did at the show no matter how much your friends protest.
When the next morning comes you’ll cuss out the alarm and get up, only to flip through your photos and videos as the post-concert depression begins to set in. You'll go through the day with ringing ears asking why it was a good idea to stand so close to the speakers. The cycle repeats the next time a band you listen to is rolling into a town near you. You’ll be right back at it again. Why? Because music is your escape. Hearing a band live and uncut is a completely different experience. There’s something therapeutic about being in the crowd with a few hundred strangers who’ve come together to watch the same band. Music brings people from all backgrounds together. Everyone is there for the same reason, to listen to some good music and see a band that has made some kind of impact on their life.
No matter what your reason for going is, you know that you’ll be standing in line next week, clutching a ticket to your next big show and reminiscing about the last time you saw this band live. And for that moment, you’ll realize that you are the girl at the rock show. You’ll realize that maybe being the girl at the rock show isn’t exactly what Blink-182 painted a picture of. Today, being the girl at the rock show is about finding a place that lets you escape reality for a few hours and be surrounded by people who are more like you than you think.
You’ll know when you find that place, and it will be your turn to be that girl at the rock show.
