When you’re someone who thinks of music as a part of life and not just background noise in the car, you see concerts from another perspective. It’s not just a fun night out with friends, it’s an experience that you’ll remember for the rest of your life. It’s a memory that when you look back on; it’ll make your heart heavy in the best way and it’ll make you smile in that embarrassing way where it looks like you’re just staring at the ground smiling at nothing.
You wake up the morning of the concert thinking that the clock isn’t working because every hour seems like another day that passes. You play the music of the band you’re seeing all day, not once getting tired of the songs you’ve heard five times that morning. You get ready hours before the concert thinking that maybe if you pretend it’s sooner rather than later, the time will magically fast forward to the time you’re suppose to go.
It’s finally time for the concert. There’s an odd feeling when you drive up to a concert and see all of the other people making there way to the opening gates. It’s a feeling of unity, even though you’ve never spoken one word to these people.
After you’ve been waiting in the crowd for what seems like hours and you’ve been staring up at the stage where stage crew has been setting up mic stands and instruments, the lights finally dim.
“Holy *insert your favorite curse word here*. They’re real.” I can’t possibly be the only one who has this thought when the artists run onto the stage, or the spotlight hits them when they play the first chord on their guitars. Of course you knew they were real, but there’s a certain feeling you get when you realize they are right in front of you. Right there, breathing the same air.
As the concert goes on you sing back the lyrics until your throat hurts and even then, you continue to scream with your weak and pained voice because in that moment, you don’t care at all. You feel the bass traveling from your feet to your chest. You feel the lyrics in your heart, and then you think about what the song means to you. During a slow song, you look around the crowd to see everyone waving their phones in the air like an ocean of lights. Each one of those lights representing a person's story as to why they love the song so much, and why they’re singing back the lyrics with such passion. The call and response between the artists and audience by oohs and ahhs connects everyone in the venue.
The whole day has gone by so slow up to the point of the concert, and then within a second, it seems as though the concert is over, as if all the time that was slow before has caught up with you and fast forwarded at 4 times the speed. Walking out of the venue comes with a mix of emotions including sadness. The day that you had been looking forward to for so long is over just like that. You’re coming down from an incredible high from the music, like a crash after caffeine or sugar. You feel inspired. Inspired to do anything and everything because seeing the artist smile uncontrollably at the audience singing the lyrics back and cheering warmed your heart so much. You love the songs a whole new way because instead of hearing the lyrics through a music video on TV or through the headphones of your phone, you got to see it live with all the feelings, emotions, and passion.
