concerts: part 2

Digitour 2015. I went to this event with my friend Mia, and we both had VIP tickets. During VIP, I met chris collins, crawford collins, sam pottorff, alec bailey, twaimz, luke korns, rickey thompson, alex from target, and lastly, danny edge and paul zimmer. i was dm'ing paul zimmer before VIP started, and once paul recognized me, he couldn't stop smiling and hugging me (which made me Weak™). once VIP was over, mia and i rushed to the stage and linked arms with all the other VIP girls before the crazy GA girls ran in to push all the VIP people out of the way. we got into a full on shoving war before the show, but once it started, it all mellowed out. i saw twaimz perform the llama song, watched my friend get twerked on by rickey thompson, and met one of my internet best friends (kat). it was definitely a cringy-yet-memorable day.

me meeting paul :)

Ed Sheeran. i went with one of my best friends, abbi. we spent the night screaming our lungs out and laughing like crazy with each other. the entire show was put on by his guitar, his loop petal, and his voice, yet he still managed to keep the crowd completely on edge. he made the entire room feel like a comfortable family reunion, rather than thousands of strange faces. i don't think i could ever forget the way the arena was lit up by thousands of iphone flashlights during 'photograph', or everyone's hands bouncing up and down during 'bloodstream'.

One Direction. july 15th, 2015 was actually a very strange day; at noon, i was on a charter boat in the san juan islands, and seven hours later, i'd purchased the cheapest seats i could find, picked up my cousin madison at dairy queen, and we were two of the 35,513 bodies in the centurylink stadium in seattle, ready to be absorbed in nothing but pure, genuine one direction for the next couple hours. having been a fan of one direction for a third of my life, 'excited' was a bit of an understatement. so, between the times the boys came out and went away again, it wasn't a surprise that i'd lost my voice and my cheeks were stained with glassy tears. i was so happy, i didn't even care that we were seated in section 128 and louis tomlinson looked like he wasn't bigger than a speck. when i was 10, i watched the 'what makes you beautiful' music video and called dibs on harry, but overtime, it grew to be more than just a liking for some of their songs. i grew up with one direction. there have been times where all i had to do to calm myself down was listen to 'don't forget where you belong', and hearing that live was unforgettable; the stadium was illuminated with purple and white lights and all 35,513 people felt like family when we were screaming the word 'home' over and over again during the bridge. i felt so at home it made my chest hurt. whether it was harry wearing a cheese hat or the amazing fan signs, i couldn't have asked for a better night.

panorama during don't forget where you belong

5 seconds of summer. only nine days later (july 24th), i got to see my favorite band in the heart of seattle. i'm going to be completely honest and admit that i burst into tears on the way to the arena, whimpering "i love them so much" over and over again, trying not to smear my makeup. the arena was dark and red before the show started, and when the lights went out, every bone in my body was trembling with excitement. i was standing twenty feet in front of the four boys who--at the time--i knew better than i knew myself. seeing them in person and hearing their voices in real life instead of my headphones was unreal. i drowned in the guitar and the lights and the swirling audience around me. i turned around during 'wrapped around your finger' and looked at the people around me instead of the stage. we all had one thing in common: these boys meant everything to us. i knew every chord and every lyric by heart and experiencing all of it--from calum's well-known state champs shirt to michael's raspy, angelic voice--put pieces of me together.

:))