I have been listening to Halsey's music for several years now. I remember the first song I heard from her was "New Americana." Her vibe and talent bring such electricity to her listeners. She has quite the following, with nearly 8.2 million Instagram followers and 9.7 million followers on Twitter, she has become a music icon for my generation. Mostly writing about love and heartbreak, she brings a new voice to those who are not brave enough to speak for themselves. Her music has gotten me through some breakups and bad days, but the night I attended her concert was unlike any other time I had ever listened to her before.
A few months ago I got a text from one of my best friends, Julia. She told me that Halsey had released her summer tour dates and would be coming to our local concert venue, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, or SPAC for all you locals. I was so excited to hear that one of my favorite music icons was coming to my town. Once the presale tickets had been released I went online and found two pit seats for my friend and I. Being a less than financially secure college student, I often debate spending money on some things, but I do have my priorities. So if spending $200 to see one of my favorite artists live was the cost, I was all ready.
As the months until the concert turned into a mere few days, I did what any other teenage girl did to prepare: shop. I found a really cute outfit to wear and figured out exactly what I wanted to look like the day of the concert. The morning of the concert I woke up and could not wait to start getting ready. I did my makeup and hair, even adding some glitter, and left with my friends for the concert.
When we arrived at the venue we headed down to the pit where we would be standing at the concert and I was overwhelmed with excitement. Her opener came out and got the crowd going a little bit before the initial performance. When it was time for Halsey to perform, the whole crowd knew it. There was a large white curtain and a faint shadow behind it, and she began.
She opened with one of her popular songs, "Eyes Closed." The opening song sent electricity throughout the crowd when she began singing and the curtain dropped. She came out wearing a white veil, white crop top and skirt set. I think that was her way of sticking it to G-Eazy, who she had recently cut ties with earlier this week. She also had her signature blue hair.
Playing several of her popular songs from a couple albums such as "Gasoline" and "Alone," she had the whole crowd at her fingertips. During one portion of the show, she came out onto the runway part of the stage to play her song, "Don't Play." At this point, I was within about 10 feet of her. Before the show, the runway had been filled with some water so when she started dancing and singing the chorus she would kick water out to the crowd, which was so unique and awesome to practically be kicked in the face by her. She was totally killing it and the crowd was loving every second of it.
I think my favorite part of the show was when she sat down on the stairs on stage and started singing "Closer." This song has so many memories attached to it for me, I listened to it all freshman year of college. By bringing down the pace of the concert for a few minutes she made a crowd of thousands feel like it was just the two of us in the room together. To me, "Closer" reminds me of being and feeling young again and although that song was only released a few years ago, it is still one of my favorite works to listen to.
The concert ended with her playing "Bad At Love" and confetti falling from above us. She had an incredible set list that night and after talking with several other concertgoers who had attended some of her previous shows, it seemed that she played a larger variety of songs from her albums at that show.
By the end of the show I had lost my voice, captured so many amazing pictures and videos, and created a memory I will tell everyone about for weeks and months to come. I want to attend another Halsey concert eventually and maybe even meet her someday. She has such an amazing talent and I am so fortunate to have had this experience with her.
