So, let me set the scene for you. It's a Thursday night, September 13th, and my roommates are gone. I'm alone in my room watching YouTube. The particular YouTuber I was watching, Ryland Adams, is talking about how he just bought tickets to a Drake concert. A lightbulb moment. My birthday had just passed, and I had money burning a hole in my metaphorical pocket. I decided to look at the tickets and see where the nearby shows were, just out of curiosity. When the Drake tour was announced, I looked at the tickets immediately, but I didn't buy any because I am a responsible adult.
So I'm sitting in bed scrolling through Ticketmaster's app when I see that Drake will be in Dallas on September 26th, a day shy of two weeks away. My impulse gene overcame my being, and the next thing I knew I received a confirmation email for the ticket I just purchased. The single ticket to a Drake concert on a Wednesday night that is two-and-a-half hours away from me, to be exact. I justified it by telling myself it was fate since I only have one class on Wednesdays and would be able to leave for the concert early in the day. I excitedly jump out of bed, slip off of the step stool I use to get down, break my toenail, and bruise my leg trying to get to my calendar to mark my event.
It's now September 25th, and I am about to call my mom to tell her about the endeavor I have planned. I warn her she is going to be mad, but there is nothing she can do about it. Apparently, she has me on speakerphone, so my dad can get mad at me as well. I tell her about the concert and my plans of getting there and back, and she is pretty dumbfounded by the fact that I am going alone, but I am a responsible adult, and she can't do anything about it.
September 26th comes, and I am rushing around to get out of Norman so I can get on the road to Dallas. The trip there was smooth except for the fact that it was a torrential downpour in Oklahoma so I had all of my rain gear on, but when I got to Texas it was sunny and 90 degrees, but that's beside the point. I arrive in Texas and stop at IKEA before the concert since I have some time to kill.
When I leave IKEA to get back on the road to head towards the venue, I am met with the dreaded Dallas traffic, but I was running early so it wasn't all that bad. I prepaid for parking when I bought my ticket, so parking was extremely easy and close to the venue. When I get into the American Airlines Center, I went straight for the march table, obviously, and buy, not one, but TWO shirts because, again, I am a responsible adult. I get to my seat about thirty minutes before the first act, Roy Woods, comes on to perform. My seat was great: an aisle seat and no one next to me...yet.
The crowd, or lack thereof, was concerning, but I figured it would fill up by the time the next act, Migos, went on. Migos comes on about thirty more minutes after Roy Woods' 30-minute set and the crowd is still pretty empty, but I enjoy the music nonetheless. After Migos, there was about an hour wait before Drake came on. Within this hour, the venue started to pack like sardines, and people finally fill the seats next to me. Of course, it's a group of three teenage boys, Juuls in hand, but they were surprisingly very nice. The boy who sat in the seat directly beside me went to go get snacks as soon as they got to their seats (a mood), and when he returned, he offered to share his popcorn with me. I kindly declined because I don't like popcorn, but how sweet is that?
Finally, Drake comes on and everyone is out of their seats. It's hard to tell you're alone when you're dancing and singing to music you've loved for nearly ten years with others who love it as well. From the research I did prior to the concert, Drake had a 44-song setlist. I will say that Drake performed at least this many songs, but he didn't perform the entirety of each song, just a few verses. The concert was very high-energy, and I loved every second of it. It was so amazing to see Drake live after listening to his music since I was literally nine or ten-years-old. I end up leaving the venue at about midnight to head back to Norman, blasting all of my favorite Drake songs and already reminiscing the night. I pull into OU at roughly three in the morning, and I call it a night because I have a class in six hours (responsible adult stuff).
I would do it all over again if I could.
Going to an out-of-state concert alone: Katelyn tested, Katelyn approved.
