Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely love going to concerts. In an earlier article, I wrote about why I love going to concerts so much. I love the atmosphere, the people you meet, and the memories you make from going to concerts. We’re only three months into 2017 and I’ve already attended one show, will be attending one on March 29th, one on April 5th, and have tickets purchased for two more shows this summer, and that’s all I have so far, granted that none of the other bands that I’m into have announced any tours yet. Because what my best friend and I like to call “concert season” has started for the both of us, I felt that it was appropriate to take a trip down memory lane and talk about my top 5 favorite concerts that I’ve been to, in no particular order.

1. All Time Low: The Future Hearts Tour

I’m like an open book when it comes to bands, so almost everyone knows that All Time Low is hands down my favorite band ever. But, this particular show, on May 14th, 2015 will be the most memorable time that I’ve gone to see them until the day that I die. On this day, I got the chance to meet them because of my friend Sam, who won a contest to attend their acoustic show and a meet & greet. I got to thank my heroes for being my inspiration throughout the years and thank them for helping me shape who I am and who I’m bound to be. This concert will also forever be in my top five because it allowed me to reconnect with my best friend on a level that I had never thought possible. I asked her to attend the concert with a week’s notice because I had an extra ticket, but I never thought it would bring us where we are today, and I’m forever grateful that I asked her to attend.

2. Fall Out Boy: Wintour is Coming

This was the first time that I ever got to travel outside of Missouri to attend a show and I was beyond excited. One of the things that I bond with my mom over is Fall Out Boy because she loves them almost just as much as I do. When Fall Out Boy announced this tour, I noticed that there wasn’t a St. Louis, MO stop, but I saw the next closest city, which was Chicago, IL. I finally convinced her to let me buy tickets and go see them for their hometown show on March 12th, 2016, and she agreed. Most people that I know would never want to attend a concert with a parent, but every time Fall Out Boy comes to town or anywhere relatively close, there is nobody else that I’d rather go see them with than my mom!

3. Twenty-One Pilots: Emotional Roadshow

I’d just gotten into twenty-one pilots about six months before I saw them on August 2nd, 2016, and I thought that it would be a cool experience to see them live. Let me tell you that cool is such an understatement. Seeing twenty-one pilots live is something that everyone should get the chance to witness, no matter if you’re into them or not. They are very active with the crowd, particularly the people who are closest to the barricade. During the concert, you’ll get to hold Tyler up as he runs on top of the crowd in a giant hamster ball, and you’ll get to support both Josh and Tyler by holding up platforms during part of the song Trees. Tyler is known for climbing on various platforms throughout the stage floor and also running through the venue and popping up in different places once or twice during the concert itself. It truly is a very interactive experience and there honestly is not a bad seat in the venue or arena during a Twenty-One Pilots show, which is why it’ll remain in my top five forever.

4. Boys Like Girls: The 10 Year Anniversary Tour

Everyone loves when a good throwback song is played during a concert, right? That’s exactly what it felt like when my best friend and I attended this concert on August 13th, 2016. This tour was in honor of their self-titled album, Boys Like Girls, which dropped on August 22nd, 2006. We discovered Boys Like Girls back in 2009 during the end of seventh grade and the summer before our eighth-grade year, but unfortunately were not able to ever see them live, so when we heard that they were doing a throwback tour in honor of that album, we knew that we had to go. Singing along to all their songs and watching the band interact with the crowd that night reminded me why I fell in love with them in the first place, and it brought me back to the innocent days of being thirteen; I could forget everything for a while and remember the good times with my A1 since day 1!

5. Bon Jovi: This House is Not For Sale Tour

Although I personally did not grow up listening to Bon Jovi, my mom was super into him when she was my age, kind of like how I am now with All Time Low and Twenty-One pilots. I know some of their more popular songs like “Livin’ On A Prayer” and “Wanted (Dead or Alive,” but my mom knows almost every song that they have ever written, so when I found out that they were coming to St. Louis earlier this year on February 19th 2017, I knew that I wanted to get tickets for her to see him; she hadn’t seen him since she was my age. Being at that concert and watching my mom get as excited as I do when I attend a concert was a pretty great feeling. And I was glad that I could make her happy and get tickets to see her favorite musical artist. Granted that I was 99% sure that I was one of the youngest people there that night, it was an amazing thing to bond with my mom over and nice to see her be so happy to see him live again.

I’ve been to a ton of other concerts since seeing these artists, but these are my top five concerts that I’ve seen, in no order. I truly recommend seeing all five of these bands at least once, because nothing beats seeing them live on stage and singing along to all your favorite songs with thousands of other people. Who knows, maybe my top five will change since these are in no particular order, but these are the most memorable and most important concerts that I’ve attended, and they’ll always be near and dear to my heart because of the extra special memories I’ve made.