On August 19th, 2016, I saw Kesha live and it was awesome. I’ve been a die hard fan since 2009 when her first single, Tik Tok, was released and I’ve been waiting so long to go to one of her concerts. Unfortunately, because of her explicit lyrics and persona, her concerts were continuously marked 21 and over, which meant teenage me could never get in. It really upset it. But finally it happened and I’ve never been more happy. When I was trying to decide what to write about this week, I wanted to write about my Kesha concert but I decided my excitement was bigger than that. I’ve been to my fair share of concerts in the past; I’ve been to 27 concerts and seen 78 artists live. With all of the knowledge I’ve gained and things I’ve experienced at concerts, I decided I would write about five of the best artists I’ve seen live. Not all of these artists are necessarily my favorites, but they are picked because they genuinely put on a good show and their vocals live up to their album recordings.

1. Taylor Swift

This may seem biased because Taylor Swift is my favorite musician of all time, but honestly she is probably one of the best artists I’ve seen live. Taylor manages to put on an extravagant show that tells a good story while belting out vocals that exceed her albums. I’ve seen her live five times and been to 3 of her tours; each tour keeps getting better and better. She has bold sets and props, talented dancers, fancy costumes, and a lot of cool lights, fireworks, and explosions. She has stayed true to her promise to never use track live and she still sounds amazing. Though she isn’t the most talented singer in the world, she performs all of her own music perfectly. My favorite tour I’ve seen from her is her latest, The 1989 World Tour.

2. Demi Lovato

If any of you have ever heard Demi Lovato sing, I’m sure it’s not a surprise why she’s on this list. Demi has some of the rawest vocals in the music business right now, belting and hitting notes I could only dream to hit. And the best part? She does it even better live. Demi has the best tour balance I’ve ever seen. She sings all of her emotional, heart wrenching ballads with minimal help, just her and a microphone. But she also manages to incorporate her upbeat hits to keep the crowd hyped. Her concerts are a rollercoaster of emotions (I’ve cried at a couple of them). I’ve seen Demi live five times and my favorite tour so far has been her Neon Lights Tour.

3. Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran is probably the most out of place singer in this list. His live shows are VERY different from the likes of the big stars. When I saw Ed live, he was an opening act for Taylor Swift’s Red Tour and even though he only played for 40 minutes or so, he impressed me enough to make it to this list. Why? Because of his pure talent. Ed goes on stage with a microphone, a loop pedal, and his guitar. That’s it. No dancers, props or gimmicks. Just his voice, his strumming, and his makeshift percussion on the body of his guitar. It’s insane to watch him build one of his songs from the group up onstage with his loop pedal. It’s almost like watching him in the studio and he always puts his whole heart into it.

4. Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande is the same as Demi Lovato, in the fact that they are both powerhouse vocalists. When I went to see her live, I was waiting for every perfect note I heard on her albums to be a lie. But no. She performed every high note and whistle tone to a T and I was in utter shock. Her voice is the main reason to see her live but her tours are also very fun to watch. Her dancers are very talented and the sets transport you to a magical fairy world with sparkles and gold everywhere. I’ve seen Ariana twice, but my personal favorite was her Honeymoon Tour.

5. Dierks Bentley

This last pick is random just because it’s different in genre. While the first four were pop, Dierks is a full fledged country singer. Dierks’ show is very similar to Ed’s, where he stands up there with his guitar and he sings but he also has a band and some visuals behind him. Dierks has some great songs that are catchy and fun to sing and dance to, but they also tell great stories. He performs really well live as well. But the best part about seeing him live is how at home you feel. Dierks tries to incorporate talking sequences between songs to tell the audience personal stories about where he comes from or why he wrote a song and it makes the crowd feel more connected to him. I found myself really enjoying his personality along with the music. When I saw Dierks live, he was an opening act for Luke Bryan’s That’s My Kinda Night Tour.