I ventured further south, into New Orleans, Louisiana to cross off the item on the top of my bucket list - to go to my first concert. Even better... I got to see my favorite band at my first concert. Who honestly has the ability to say that?
All Time Low, if you don't happen to know who they are, are a four-man pop-punk outfit from Baltimore, Maryland. They have been together for over ten years, and in those years, they have managed to gain fans from all over the globe, including me.
Before I begin my post (which, I shall warn you now, will likely include a bit of overexcited rambling), I'm going to give you some recommendations so you can listen and have some sort of understanding of who I'm talking about.
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"Six Feet Under the Stars" (one of my absolute favorite songs by the band):
"The Reckless and the Brave" (the band's opening number):
"Therapy" (a slower track that is played acoustically onstage):
"Dear Maria, Count Me In" (the band's closing number):
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My friend Kristine and I journeyed for three hours to New Orleans, the sweet symphony of electric guitars, drums, and Alex Gaskarth's voice filling our ears. When we arrived, we had to take a small walk to the venue, which was an adventure in itself because I had never seen New Orleans before that night. Streets were lined with small pubs and cafes everywhere I looked in this particular part of the Big Easy, and people of all sorts were strolling what I'd heard was dangerous territory as if it were nothing. It was both disconcerting and intriguing, to say the least.
However, actually stepping foot into the House of Blues was such the most surreal of experiences; I almost feel as if I dreamed it all. Then I feel friction blisters on my sore feet and recall the thud of the bass drum as it reached the deepest corners of my heart... And then I know that I seriously went to my first concert.
The opening act for All Time Low was another, newer pop-punk band called The Wonder Years. I hadn't much listened to their music before, despite the claims I'd heard that they were fantastic. Watching them perform was eye-opening because it was then that I realized that I should definitely give them more of a chance than I have. Their energy onstage was something I had never physically seen in people before, and it was merely because they were there, performing for us... It still warms my heart when I think about it.
There was also something that the lead singer, Dan Campbell said about "finding the fire in our hearts" when he was introducing a song called "Chasers" that really stuck with me. Passion in what one does for a living is something I've striven for practically my entire life, and seeing that people are actually able to break into the public eye through song because they have that much drive is such an inspiration to me.
Now, excuse my loss of control when I say this...
THEN ALL TIME LOW CAME ONSTAGE. OH, MY GOSH.
I have been waiting to see this band for over three years, and I can now say that it was well worth the wait. Being able to experience something like this when a band is in its prime - wen its members have had so many opportunities to experiment with their sound and broaden their musical horizons - is definitely recommended, in my opinion. From the moment the lights flashed on, and I saw the faces of the men that I've admired for years in person, I was enraptured.
Seriously, though, my heart skipped a good... five beats. It's a wonder that I'm not dead.
The set itself was filled with a delicious combination of laughing, screaming, swearing, and reveling in the sheer magic that is a concert. From the first riffs of "The Reckless and the Brave" to the echoing final notes of "Dear Maria", the energy in the large room filled with a few hundred teenagers was palpable. We moved and screamed every lyric as one being, rather than several who just happened to be in one place at the same time, and it was one of the most mystifying and incredible experiences I've had thus far.
I felt a kinship with the crowd as Alex stopped singing to hear us by ourselves... We poured every part of our souls into those songs as the band did when they were written and are now performed. We were united by the efforts of four men who started out in the cutthroat music industry with little else but a van, their dreams, and each other...
...And that is what gets me. Watching these people do what they are doing onstage and truly love every moment of what they are doing is literally the most fulfilling experience in the world to me. In that moment, I honestly lost every worry I had and gave them away to the music because the band was feeling fulfilled as they performed. It is because they are fulfilled in their music-making that I walked out of that venue sweating and breathless in the best way possible.
I want to live at a concert, or at least take an extended vacation for a while and go on tour with a band. Can this be a thing that happens after I graduate?
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After the show, Kristine and I waited by The Wonder Years' equipment bus and ran into an ex-boyfriend of hers and his friend. The friend was quite possibly the biggest fan of The Wonder Years that I had ever met, and he seemed extremely disappointed that he hadn't managed to catch anything that the band threw into the crowd after their set.
I feel as if I did a good deed when I gave him one of the guitar picks used onstage that Kristine had snagged for me. I felt as if someone else could appreciate it more than I could, considering that I didn't very much listen to them. He sort of just looked at me for a long moment... Then he told me that he loved me and that he would buy me an entire pizza. Seriously, just for giving him a guitar pick.
Later on, after about an hour of waiting for All Time Low to come out, Kristine and I were about to leave when one of the roadies told the remains of the crowd that Rian Dawson, their drummer, was about to come out. When I actually saw him, I was... honestly, there are no words for how ecstatic I was. After he encouraged a guy who'd become a drummer because of Rian, and he was about to pass me up, I managed to squeak out in my fit of awe, "Rian! Could you please sign my phone case?"
He flashed a wide smile at me as if he were more than happy to oblige. Now that I look back on it, though, I probably should have gotten something that the ink of a Sharpie would have lasted so much longer on. Nevertheless, I now have Rian Dawson's signature on my favorite Game Boy phone case. My life is now complete, although it shall be even more complete when I meet the other three members of the band.
Whew. I apologize for the length of this post, but I feel as if there was so much to say that I couldn't just type a couple of paragraphs and call it a night. If you read all of this, I applaud you. I leave you with this note as I bid farewell to the world for the night.
- Sara
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