With the Flicker World Tour coming to end, you will most likely see Stan Twitter beginning to have a full, eight-course breakdown.
On September 23rd, Niall Horan's first official world tour will have finished, and many fans will be having mental breakdowns once he walks off stage - even minutes after he walks off stage, as my friend Kait so helpfully commented. We will have traveled thousands of miles, state after state, and city after city to see our best friend perform his album and favorite covers. We will have been to 36 North American tour stops and 54 hours, 3,240 minutes of his concerts. We will have sang our hearts out, lost our voices, and choked on our own tears. We will have met our best friends we've known for months, hugged really tight, and held hands as we sang our favorite lyrics together.
Going to concerts, Niall Horan's concerts especially, are so intoxicating that you want to go to more and more. His concerts are a place of pure happiness, and as he so lovingly repeated that his concerts are our "safe place." We are home. We are safe. We are happy. We are loved.
With all of this in mind, Post-Concert Depression (PCD) is honestly the worst feeling in the entire world. It genuinely makes you want to hit your head against a brick wall and then crawl into your bed and sleep for seven years. We cry, laugh, and cry again. We aren't even able to listen to the album afterward. And if anyone does, they are braver than a U.S. Marine.
We sit in silence on car drives home and hope that one of us won't start sobbing because it only becomes a ripple effect. We get into our beds at five in the morning and lay there, hoping that we will dream about the concert and be back in our happiest place once again.
Sadly enough, we aren't able to do that. So, I am going to give my best four ways to handle your PCD. Here's to hoping you make it through.
1. Don't listen to the album.
Eric Nopanen
For the love of God, please do not listen to the album. Wait at least a week, possibly two. Don't even dare to play the song that means the most to you either. On my way home from Chicago in July, my favorite song started playing while I was driving, and I physically screamed and started sobbing behind the wheel.
I heavily suggest not doing that.
2. Cry as much as you can.
Crying after a concert is quite natural - so I think. We are coming off an adrenaline high of seeing our best friend on stage and hearing him perform our favorite songs; the songs that have saved our lives and made us the happiest we have ever been. By crying your eyes out, you're going to be less inclined to do it once you're home. Instead, you'll be exhausted and want to sleep. Get to bed, have a thorough sob, and go to sleep for about a year.
3. Facetime your friends at midnight and cry together.
Honestly, your friends are your best bet when it comes to handling PCD without having a breakdown every five seconds. Our friends are our supporters, and even stronger support when they're handling PCD with you. It's impossible to not cry about your concerts, and it's even harder to not be able to talk to anyone that understands why you're hysterically sobbing at 1 a.m. Facetime is going to be your best friend. Honestly, having a three-hour facetime call with your friend that you have only known for a bit longer than four months but is already closer to you than most of your irl (in real life) friends; that you can literally talk about how much you want to be back at your concert and be with your best friend again is so incredibly healing. We love that.
4. Go to another concert.
Worst piece of advice I could give you, but I am also going to nine of Niall Horan's concerts on the Flicker World Tour. Give in to temptation and add another tour date. Happiness now, depression later!
