Nothing beats the adrenaline rush you get when your fave releases new music, puts out tour dates, and starts a new era of songs and touring that is bound to boost your mood for several months at a time. The stress of getting concert tickets to the excitement of planning the perfect concert day or road trip with your friends is the epitome of mine and a lot of other people's happiness.
It might sound silly to some people, but being a so called "fangirl" gives me a space where I can feel a certain way without judgement from people who don't really get it. Whether I feel elated with joy or extremely down, I have people around me that boost my mood almost instantly no matter what. I have found friends through being a fan of several people that I wouldn't have found otherwise.
Having a common connection through being a fan of a certain band's or artist's music creates an almost automatic friendship that ends up being easy to develop and blossom.
I do have a problem with the word "fangirl" because often it implies a limited group of screaming 12 year old girls. While there is nothing wrong with that and I applaud people who wholeheartedly represent this group, there is so so much more diversity throughout fandoms that I don't think people fully realize. Obviously it depends on the fandom, but overall I find it simply awe-inspiring the amount of different people with different personalities and interests that come together over music.
Not to sound cheesy or like some kind of hippie, but music is really a peace maker and the key to love and change. Throughout time, it has been used to shed light on social issues and can be a way to protest or it can just be a way for people to relate to others on multiple levels. This is the reason why I love concerts so much because the positive energy and adrenaline is really nothing like you will ever experience anywhere else.
There is this connection that ties us all together, and in that space and moment in time, you are allowed to forget about all the bad in the world and just fully immerse yourself in genuine happiness.
Really everyone has a "fangirl" inside of them. If you don't, then I don't know what you're doing with your life. We all love something so much that we feel our heart just can't take it. It doesn't have to be music but really anything. I feel people just go throughout life without fully becoming this person because of judgement from others. A lot of times there's this overall energy from people who don't get this type of "obsession" and shame people for liking certain people. It causes some people not to be proud of what they like, which is truly saddening because everyone should like who or what they like without feeling a need to hide it. However, within a fandom, the love and acceptance you will get from the majority of the people within this space is too much to deny or hide from.
Traveling as a fan of someone is something that anyone should do at least once in their lifetime.
It's one thing to just go to a concert in your hometown, but to plan a trip and to travel far away to see one of your faves is sooo worth the time and money it requires. I know a lot of people can't do this due to financial limits or whatever else, but I'm telling you that saving up and spending your hard earned money on an experience that you'll never forget is beautiful and magical and all those things in between.
The first time I did this, I traveled to Kansas City and Houston to see the band 5 Seconds of Summer in 2016. I'm originally from St. Louis, so I went to their concert there and immediately the next day my friend and I got up and drove the four hours to Kansas City to do it all over again. And within the following weeks, we drove over 12 hours to Houston, Texas to see the same band on their last tour stop in the U.S.
I originally never planned on doing this. I thought I'd go to the concert where I'm from and that would be it. However, it all changed when my friend invited me to go to Kansas City with her to see the next concert on 5 Seconds of Summer's tour. I thought it was totally crazy, but of course I said yes. I wasn't going to pass up seeing one of my favorites bands another time, especially cause it involved a mini road trip. We got a hotel and everything and waited outside the venue for hours making posters and listening to music. Again it might seem crazy, I guess it is a little. After the concert, there was a bunch of us waiting outside for even the slightest possibility of seeing the band members. Both Calum and Ashton, two members of 5sos, walked past us and thanked us for coming to the show and all. And even though it was a small interaction, it meant so much to me and many others who waited and waited. All of this made the drive, the waiting, and the money worth it because I was making memories that I will remember for a long time.
We got to go to the beach, eat Tex-Mex food, and go to this really fun museum. The following day we got up early, got our little Starbucks, and got ready to go to the venue and wait outside again for hours in the almost one hundred degree weather. Yet, we wouldn't have gotten to do that unless it was for this band that we both love. And I honestly think it made us closer friends through that experience.
Like I said before, nothing beats the feeling of when the lights go down at a concert and everyone is immediately transformed into a better version of themselves because of the happiness we all share together.
I am grateful that I got to experience this again when I went to see Ariana Grande and Little Mix in Kansas City with my same friend in 2017. By this time I feel like we were pros at this. And we had just as much fun as we did the first time.
Even just getting to go to a concert where you live, even by yourself, has to be done. This past year I went to the Harry Styles concert in Chicago by myself, and I was honestly a little embarassed to go by myself. But I really put myself out there and I met some awesome people that I've become friends with. I literally would have never met them if I didn't end up talking to them. And I'm planning to go to New York City this summer to see Harry Styles again possibly with some of the same people I met at the first concert, and I think that's amazing. It brings me so much joy that I get to plan a trip to one of my favorite places this summer to see my favorite person.
I'm not gonna say I'm rich or anything because I'm definitely not. I work to be able to go on these trips, and who are you to say I shouldn't spend my money on such silly things?! They aren't silly to me, and I'd rather pay for these memories and experiences then some kind of materialistic item that won't last long.
I also got to go see the band Walk The Moon in January when they came to Chicago, and I went by myself again cause I thought why not? I love this band, I should go get to see them without any judgement. And let me tell you their concert was an experience. Honestly, one of the best I've ever been to. The amount of genuine happiness radiating in that room was an all together unique thing that I haven't quite gotten from any other concert. I also met some of my future roommates at that concert that actually live in the same building I do now that I wouldn't have met otherwise.
I have learned dedication, loyalty, and respect for all through my experience being a full fledged fan of various people. The connection between an artist and their fans is such an important thing. For a lot of people it is more than just the music, it's a lifestyle that can create an escape from the "real world".
So I guess I'm saying that if you embrace your "fangirl" and immerse yourself into the music the people you love make, you will find more of yourself. At least for me I get something out of traveling and going to concerts that I don't feel anywhere else. I don't think anyone will know how much pure joy traveling and going to concerts gives me. It's kind of my drug and I'm addicted to it.
