On July 28, around 70,000 people filled Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO to see the world’s biggest boy band, and I was one of them.

One Direction announced the North American leg of their “On the Road Again Tour” back in October, and my two best friends and I promptly purchased Steal My Girl VIP packages days later. The $350 per person package secured us seats in the second row, closest to the middle of the stage and catwalk. We proceeded to count down 277 days in preparation of the show, and let me tell you, the wait was worth it.

Our road trip from Omaha to Kansas City was filled with a tremendous amount of emotion as we prepared to see Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan from less than ten feet away.

The hype really hit when we entered the city limits and drove past Arrowhead, just tucked behind Kauffman Stadium, on our way to the hotel. The stadiums housing the “On The Road Again” tour are a far cry from Comerica Theatre, which is where I attended my first One Direction concert on their “Up All Night” tour.

Arrowhead Stadium holds 79,451 people at capacity, about 75,000 more than the venues One Direction played in.

When the day of the concert finally arrived, nerves began to set in, as being feet away from your favorite artists is more intimidating than we anticipated.

Our VIP packages included a pre-show party, allowing us to check-in and enter the stadium at 3 p.m, six hours before the boys were scheduled to take the stage. Though a meet-and-greet was not included, the air-conditioned lounge filled with food and water allowed nearly 200 people to relax, hydrate, and prepare for the impending concert.

VIPs were also given a 1D drawstring bag with a complimentary t-shirt and portable phone charger. (The phone charger was even charged, as if they knew how quickly our batteries would drain during the show. Thanks boys.)

Around 5:30 p.m, we made our way to the seats, completely taken aback by just how close we were. All that separated us from the stage was one row, a barricade, and about six feet. It the best possible way, it was terrifying.

A heat index of 106 degrees prevented the stadium from filling up in advance, and it was nowhere near full when the opener, Icona Pop, took the stage at 7 p.m. The girl-power duo rocked the stage with their two flawless dancers and completely smashed their set.

By 9 p.m, the stadium was practically full. It was then that fans stood from their seats in screeching cries. Through the see-through tarps that attempted to cover below the stage walked 1D’s band, heightening everyone’s awareness of what was about to unfold.

Soon, a pair of booties and tight skinny jeans made their way up the ramp backstage, and everyone completely lost it. Harry Styles was heading into position, quickly followed by Liam Payne (whom I totally did not burst into tears upon seeing), and the overhead lights went out before the other two could be spotted.

The intro was numbing, blaring snippits of their songs, screens flashing, lasers going insane. Suddenly the boys were on screen; the official introduction video was playing, the instrumental of “No Control” blasting through the speakers, and then their band was on stage.

Two smoke machines blasted smoke into the air, and seconds later, the door pulled aside. Out walked One Direction to a massive, hyped-up crowd that refused to stop screaming for the next 2 hours and 11 minutes.

Intense was an understatement.

The set list was (nearly) flawless.

The night flowed seamlessly, their 21-song set list and 4-song encore perfectly balancing pace and tempo.

The opening song, “Clouds,” set the intensity for the night, highlighting each member’s vocals, especially Styles’.

Fan favorites were “No Control,” “Stockholm Syndrome,” and “18,” and while they understandably tried to incorporate songs from all four of their albums, there were a few songs that could have been cut.

The tour is said to be set around their latest album FOUR, but only 11 of the 16 songs were play. Though that might seem like a decent percentage, it would have been better to replace “Kiss You” with “Change Your Ticket,” “Diana” with “Illusion,” and for the love of god, One Direction, let “Little Things” die and play “Spaces” or “Fool’s Gold” instead.

Regardless, the songs flowed together well, and in the thrill of the moment, I was less concerned with what song they were playing and more concerned with taking pictures, screaming the lyrics, or trying to get *insert member here* to notice me.

They sound better live than they do on their album.

I’m not one to say that lightly. This is from the girl whose twelve-year-old heart was shattered at the Best of Both Worlds tour in 2008. That is when I found out the Jonas Brothers are absolutely terrible live.

One Direction left me with no such realization. Though I discovered their ability to sing live in 2012 and rediscovered it in 2013 at the two concerts I had previously attended, and didn't expect anything less, I was still stunned by the brilliance of their vocals.

Harry Styles’ voice has simply improved over the years, and no one really knows how. The boy who once struggled with breath control during his “What Makes You Beautiful” solo is now belting out insanely long notes in “Clouds” and has drastically increased his vocal range.

Liam Payne continues to be a vocal powerhouse, hitting every note known to man. His falsetto, however, is arguably the most impressive, as he steals the show with mind-blowing harmonies like he did in “Act My Age.”

The drastic improvement in Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson is something any long-term One Direction fan is incredibly proud of. It’s not that they didn’t have amazing vocals to begin with, but they have both gain so much confidence, and it shows. Their solos echoed soundlessly through the stadium.

Tomlinson slayed “No Control” by completely owning the chorus. Though there were times when his band mates were indeed singing along side him, his vocals sliced through all the others and were the most apparent. His voice was strong, rocky, and raspy. It was nothing short of heaven.

Horan’s solos won the most screams, as every time he took over the vocals, fans went insane. Most notably, he claimed a vast majority of former band member Zayn Malik’s solos, and despite any concern that he wouldn’t be able to match Malik’s vocal range and ability, he completely owned his adopted parts.

Their on-stage presence matched their vocal talent.

There’s no doubt that Payne and Styles were born for the spotlight. Both lads knew how to take control of the crowd and interact with fans without a trace of awkwardness.

Payne was consistently reading signs, and even read my friend Monica’s out to the whole stadium.

Styles had fans moaning in between songs, seeing which side of the stadium was louder.

He instructed fans on how he wanted us to stomp our feet and clap our hands during “Through The Dark.” Quickly laughing at fans’ eagerness to do what he said, he began yelling “hands up” and “hands down” as though he were playing Simon Says.

At one point, Styles hassled a girl’s dad who claimed he was a Raider’s fan. A Packers fan himself, he was not impressed, and screamed, “I support the Raiders SAID NO ONE EVER!”

Though Horan and Tomlinson didn’t interact with the crowd nearly as much, they interacted with their band mates, which might have pleased the fans even more.

At the start of the show, a fan threw a roll of toilet paper on stage with Barack Obama’s face on it. Tomlinson pointed it out to Horan, who the fan-written note claimed it was for, and Payne proceeded to pick it up.

“How far can you throw that one, Payno? Have you got a big arm on ‘ya?” Tomlinson asked, prompting Payne to throw it into the crowd. Never one to let down, he did, and the boys watched fans scramble to catch it.

Factoring in the heat, the on stage water fights were a definite highlight of the night, as Payne and Tomlinson consistently dumped bottles of water on each other.

Tomlinson did try to splash Horan once, but he turned around towards him completely ticked off and pointed to the electric guitar in his hands. Apparently getting electrocuted was not on Niall’s to-do list.

The water fight eventually turned into a Powerade fight, and the most famous image from the show is of Tomlinson and Payne dumping three bottles of Powerade on themselves.

Tomlinson and Payne also pulled a monkey piñata from the crowd with rival Naughty Boy’s face on it.

Tomlinson and Naughty Boy got into a few Twitter fights after Malik’s departure, and Tomlinson proceeded to jump on top of and destroy the piñata with fans cheering him on.

Finally, all four boys were extremely responsive to fan signs, acknowledging as many as they could. The little girl right in front of me was celebrating her birthday, and each member wished her happy birthday multiple times.

My friends and I had a “You made us best friends” sign, to which Liam winked, Niall smiled, and Harry blew kisses.

Louis saw my friend Rachel’s sign that said *heart* Louis and pounded his chest and pointed at her.

All in all, you could tell they loved performing and being on stage, though some were more comfortable speaking to the crowd as a whole and others were more comfortable acknowledging fans one-on-one or interacting with the other members of the band.

In all honesty, you couldn’t tell he was gone.

When Zayn Malik withdrew from the band in March, fans were concerned about the future of the band and how their performances would go. Personally, I only thought about his absence during the concert once, and it was to acknowledge the fact that I hadn’t realized he was missing. The other lads picked up his solos flawlessly as though they’d been their own all along.

While some fans might claim that the high notes and harmonies just aren’t the same, I disagree. Horan and Payne particularly pulled through with the vocals, and in my professional 1D opinion, I think Liam did just as good of a job on the “You & I” high note as Zayn ever did.

My dream came true.

The only true goal I held for the night was to get Liam Payne’s attention, and right off the bat I succeeded. As they walked on stage and broke into their first song, I held a sign high above my head, forgoing videotaping because I was shaking too much.

My sign must have been the very first thing he saw, because without a second’s hesitation, he pointed directly at me and all I could do was scream and stumble backwards. Thankfully, because I did not record it, I found a fan on YouTube who captured the moment.

Upon regaining my composure, I jumped up and down, screaming the lyrics and continuing to wave my sign in the air.

Payne has said in multiple interviews that he continuously finds himself returning to certain parts of the crowd during concerts, and I truly believe that I witnessed such an occurrence. He sang the rest of “Clouds” in front of my section, pointing, waving, winking and smiling at me throughout the song (and other people as well), and for the rest of the night, he spent the majority of his time on the main stage in front of my section.

The One Disappointment

The only true downfall of the show was that it fell three days before the band surprised dropped the first single from their fifth album.

On July 31, at 12:12 a.m. CT, Liam Payne tweeted the iTunes link for "Drag Me Down," completely catching One Direction fans off guard.

Though the band has continuously talked about recording and finishing their fifth album, which will be their first release as a four piece, fans were led to believe that the first single wouldn't be released until September.

After Payne tweeted the link, the other boys did as well, and in less than an hour "Drag Me Down" was number one on iTunes. It broke the record for the fastest single to hit number one, and it has yet to drop below the first spot, doing so with zero promo or preorders.

To further their fans' surprise, the boys played the new single at their show in Indianapolis later that night, thanking everyone for the overwhelming response.