As I count down the days to the Maroon 5 concert in Cleveland, I am getting more and more excited to go!

Because I am now in concert mode, I want to reflect on my first concert experience. Seeing my favorite female artist, Taylor Swift, perform two summers ago was the perfect first concert for me.

I remember being super excited to see her live, because I has been listening to her album 1989 since the first day it was released. Belting every lyric with the music, I was buzzing around my house trying to pick the perfect outfit and doing my makeup in Taylor Swift-like fashion.

Then, my aunt came to pick up me and my sister. We got in the car and began chatting with our cousin about our favorite song from the album and how pumped we were to see our idol live. After we grabbed dinner, we were off to the big event of the night! The opener for the concert was Vance Joy which was perfect because I loved the song “Riptide” so I was already jamming.

Then, the long-awaited time had come. Taylor Swift walked on stage and the entire arena, all 20,500 people, applauded and screamed simultaneously. The show began with one of my favorite songs “Welcome To New York” where Taylor and all her dancers astounded the crowd with their unfathomable talent. The lights, sets, costumes, dancing and singing were such a sight to see and were absolutely amazing. One of my favorite parts of the concert was that we all received bracelets at the door, and during certain parts of each song, these bracelets would all light up in colors so you could see lights flashing to the music. My favorite performances included: “Welcome To New York,” “I Know Places,” “Out of The Woods,” “Clean,” and “Shake it Off.” Between songs, Taylor would talk to the audience and give little inspirational speeches. This made the concert feel much more personal.

The show concluded with “Shake it Off” and I remember being sad it was over, but overjoyed with my experience. I talked about the concert for weeks on end, and I still talk about it today. I am so blessed that I was able to go to my first concert with my aunt, cousin, and sister and I was able to watch one of my favorite artists ever!