#Concert Life

[sobbdeep]

[strawbloodry98]

On the run to see Destroy Boys🔥

[yyoon5]

concert logs!

*Note: I have severe dissociative amnesia which has caused me to lose many years of my life. Some details of concerts from 2023 and before may have details left out for this reason, and I apologize.

Ones I've Attended + Reviews:

BRATS ALA Tour 01/10/2020 My first ever concert that I went to with my mom, where there was another act I can't recall performing first. Many people were shouting and pumping their fists in the air, and I snuck off to join a random crowd of strangers who were dancing. Rei, despite her vocal cord damage, was really good at performing, and I met all of the girls four times throughout the entire concert. I got an autographed poster that I still have to this day and Hinako and Aya recognized me when they saw me! The anime convention itself was really fun and I think I took home a Pokémon poster just because the artist was immaculately talented. I did sadly forget to film it. Overall Rating: 10/10.

BRATS & BANDMAID COVID-19 Digital Concert 2020~2021 There's very limited knowledge of this concert online, and I can't recall the exact date, but a Japanese streaming site was selling live tickets to an online BRATS and BANDMAID concert for an entry fee. This was during the coronavirus pandemic when nobody could go out, especially in our respective nations. The girls would perform their songs and between sets, would read live comments and greet everyone watching. I went for BRATS and was so happy to hear the girls play "Karma" live that I cried. The BANDMAID girls were a joy to meet as well, and their set was super good. It's the only digital concert I've ever attended, but it was nice that both acts gave it their all even though they had no actual "live" audience. Overall Rating: 10/10. DPR 2022 Regime Tour Las Vegas 10/09/2022 I went around my birthday week with my roommate and we traveled out to Vegas for it. We got okay-ish seats though we were quite far back and next to a girl who wouldn't stop screaming in my left ear. I was under the impression it was just Dabin and was shocked when Kream opened up, but I think they all did a great job performing. Nothing was better than Ian's "Seraph" performance with the beautiful black wings and the astronaut Dabin brought out was so cute. "Venus" was also pretty memorable because he was throwing roses at the crowd. Overall Rating: 8/10. OnlyOneOf Grand America Tour L.A 04/30/2023 We got basic tickets because everyone rushed to get V.I.P+, and I didn't like how competitive it was to get tickets considering my roommate had to wait hours only to find out the ticket site required an account. Our seats weren't that great, as we were quite far from the stage, and the boys were visibly tired throughout their performances. A good half of the concert was just videos of the members dancing and goofing around that weren't released to the public yet (see: picture above). We were the last branch of the NA tour, though, and their agency was shit at organizing the entire tour. We were supposed to sing along to blueblueseOul with a whole fanchant that the staff gave us in secret but no one ended up doing it? The venue was luxurious though. Overall Rating: 3/10. eaJ That Feeling When L.A 09/02/2023 There were various other artists performing at TFW that year but I only stayed for eaJ, and filmed the whole set to upload to my concert channel. I only went to impress my father and his girlfriend at the time, but the concert made me a loyal fan instantly. He hurt my eardrums so bad with the extreme high note at the end of "No One's Fault" and "VISIONS", and yes, he is louder than he sounds in the recordings. The audience was quite small and intimate, so he came down to come say hi to us and be in the middle of the crowd for a while. He held everyone's hands including mine (it was magical smh), and afterwards gave autographs and took pictures with some fans. I think it set my concert expectations way too high but it was cool. The 626 Night Market was also fun too, because there were a lot of interesting and at times questionable foods and beverages for sale. I came home with a giant teddy bear glass and I still use it to this day! Overall Rating: 10/10.

Suave Punk Secret Concert 10/14/2024 I'm not sure if I'm allowed to reveal many details about this because it happened in a private location but Justin gave a little concert to some people without telling. I got an autograph and a chance to meet the literal most beautiful person in existence. Some of you may know where it happened, and some people who went may have already told. I'm not telling. 💋 Overall Rating: ohmyfuckinggoditwasenlightening/10.

Coco & Clair Clair Girls Tour Hollywood 10/20/2024 Went just for the hell of it, and also because the concert was on my birthday! Tickets were pricy but I went with my roommate and sat at the bar seat that came with an unexpected poster and a good view of the stage. The venue was very pretty and looked more like a musical theatre set-up than anything because literal art was all over the walls. Sadboi opened up and while I wasn't into her music, she did bring the hype. There was one DJ before her and another after who brought the club energy before the actual performance, and the DJ sets had everyone jumping and moving. Clair Clair screams a lot, I learned that night. Both girls were super pretty and performed very well, even coming back at the end to perform an encore for us. Overall Rating: 9/10.

Artists I Want to Go See:

Shygirl I love Shygirl. That's it, that's the reason. THORNAPPLE THORNAPPLE's concerts look so breathtaking and Yoon Sunghyun, in addition to being musically beautiful, is such a talented performer. I really want to see Dongkyun play guitar live too and take pictures of the members up close, and also want to see how they play as three members now. Honestly, I'd kill to see any of MPMG's acts live, or to go to a festival with various MPMG acts performing. Suave Punk I already went to his "mini" concert but... since I literally met him via private connections a little while ago, he told me to come see him and one of our mutuals play live, so I'm kind of obligated to go see him when he tours again. I also promised I would anyway...🤭 Halsey I've been a fan of her since her debut year literally because my mom exposed me to her music by accident via the car radio. It's been my dream to see her perform live at Webster Hall ever since hearing the tapes of the songs sung there on Spotify, so hopefully one day that will happen.

[theadamantium]

Harri's Concert Photography // Bones UK // Budweiser Stage, Toronto // August 2024

www.adamrharrison.com

[citronellaww]

Peter Doherty at the Royal Albert Hall - a coronary experience.

"...because the poet said a word."

When I came back from the (utterly maddening and brilliant and “I still smile like a madwoman whenever I daydream about that night”) Libertines concert in Prague last year, I made this note to myself: “This is what poetry means to me: I sail to the unknown, writing”.

Months of writing (and daydreaming) later, the sea called for me again — and so, in an endless pursuit of the unknown, I sailed to Albion. (Editor's note number one: I had to fly, because sailing when your country's land doesn't reach the sea - yes, William Shakespeare, I am sure you and your mystic Bohemia are flabbergasted now - is a tad bit complicated, but I watched the ships underneath the plane's wings and I shed a tear as we crossed the Channel, and I listened to Carl Barât and the Jackals as we were landing and I really recommend that sort of combination, because it made me feel colours, instead of being scared of landing).

Being a PhD student in American and British literature (…), people naturally thought I made this trip to see the Coronation. And I let them think that, because to me it was a sort of "coronary" experience, seeing Peter Doherty perform at the Royal Albert Hall. (Editor's note number two: "coronary", as the arteries which protect and nurture the heart; and "coronary" as Peter's music which protects and nurtures the poet that lives in my head).

There were things that happened in between, before and after the concert (in terms of my time in Albion), but Peter’s concert was the place where written words transcended the letters they were once formed from, dreams turned into reality, sound mixed with poetry, and the unknown left me struggling to catch the railing. Frankly (Mr. Shankly), when I arrived in London and climbed the seemingly never-fucking-ending vortex of stairs at Finsbury Park, dragging my luggage behind me (kudos to the guy who suggested I take the lift, then watched me struggle upstairs, his old green Reebok shoes an imprint on my mind), I never even guessed what I would be a part of days later at Peter's concert.

Now, when it comes to the art of 'concert reportage', I believe in authenticity, so I wrote the following paragraphs while lunching in Camden the day after the concert. Beware, my writing was influenced by my overwhelming excitement, shock (to the system), but also by exhaustion (blame the stairs at Finsbury Park and the fact that night buses from Bounds Green -one zero fucking seven, I am looking at you- live a life of their own, certainly undisturbed by my need to get from point A to point B and not to be stranded at a bus stop in the middle of the night, accompanied by a lonely fox staring at my cigarette like if it was food and the Full Moon), as well as circa million other emotions, piling atop the words like rain on the ground in Camden that day of "coronation"... :

I never thought that I'd experience the whole Royal Albert Hall singing ‘Tell the King’ and ‘The Man Who Would Be King’ a day before the coronation (editor's note number three: a beloved moment I couldn’t help but describe to everyone as I came home, especially those who asked me ‘but did you see the coronation’). Never thought I'd be dancing to (my favourite) 'Ballad of Grimaldi' and have my little nerd moment over hearing Peter talk about the meaning behind 'St. Jude' (editor’s note number four: it's one of my favourite songs exactly because of the part “St. Jude may hear my pleas / See me on my bended knees”), then sing along to 'I Get Along' (editor’s note number five: I have the refrain pinned on the wall at uni), as well as other scarcely or only once before performed songs played on Peter's acoustic, let alone watch people invade the stage while he's playing 'Time for Heroes' (but ‘did you see the ((stylish)) kids in the riots?’ I guess I fucking did!)… Guys from the row behind me jumping over my head to join others, then coming back and telling us about it. One of their friends went to the loos right before the stage invasion and thus missed the whole thing, so of course they all gathered to tease him with that "we've just been a part of something legendary and you've missed the whole thing" conversation.

I cannot say that I wasn't shocked; in the end, these were the wildest (?) "dreams" coming true, and the weirdest coincidences, as only that morning I said to my friend "I’m sad I never got to experience those wild years of stage invasions" (was the God of music listening? Whoever s/he is). To be absolutely honest, the experience was so overwhelming I think that I am only now coming back to reality, though I will not lie, it is a complex process. (Editor’s note number ?six?: The gin and tonic I consumed afterwards might have been at fault, too.)

The hours prior I was reading nature poets in Kensington's bookshops (I’m a romantic and ecocritic, shoot me), then walking around sunny Hyde Park, picking fallen blossom out of my hair, randomly bumping into old classmates (hi Magda!), this peaceful prelude to clear my head for the evening… then suddenly I’m crying to Hak Baker's support set (editor’s note number ??: his speech about mental health already had me tearing up, it turned to full on weeping as he talked about his mom), then I’m overwhelmed again, with joy too, seeing/hearing Peter – and shocked (to the core) but laughing (uncontrollably) as people sweep across the hall like a tsunami, jumping over a meter (or so) high barriers, knocking security guys down - because the poet said a word. You wouldn't be able to make any of that up, ever. And obviously, I was already more than happy (and quite emotional) that I came to London, but the following day, walking around Camden, the words of this random person I talked to after the concert suddenly hit me: "welcome to London". What a great city baptism. Now, writer's endnote: I do not think that we appreciate artists like Peter enough. For what they do for us in these moments, for how they can change our lives – with words, with music, and the magic that binds it all. What I've found since I started listening to Peter (& Carl, the Libertines and then the other dozen bands that came out of it all - bless 'em) is renewed passion for what I love, be it my poetry, writing, literature, art OR sailing (ok, flying) to Albion in pursuit of my dreams (and in pursuit of the never-fucking-ending vortex of stairs at Finsbury Park). And this, this is enough - truly, it is.

Thank you, Peter, the Albion is still on course. (But hey, where are we sailing next?)

-Karla

P.S. I apologize for the number of editor’s notes, I know it fucks up the (good) flow of the text and, as an editor and writer myself, I would give Karla here an earful about how she is supposed to control her "editor persona". Now, to prove how truly sorry she is, here are some more notes:

*Everything here (including the poem) is written by me. An edited version of this post should (soon) be also on my IG, along with videos.

*The phrase ‘because the poet said a word’ was my own invention (my friend Linda will testify to that); however, the good scholar that I am, I researched it yesterday to see if, maybe, it has been already used somewhere else, and while it seems it is original, I found connections to Emily Dickinson (such as her “This was a Poet—It is That” or “Shall I Take Thee”). This connection is purely unintentional, coincidental, but warms my heart nonetheless, especially when I know that Peter likes Emily’s poetry (and I do, too), and I wanted to point that out in case you people are poetry nerds like me, or would like some poetry recommendations.

*Addition to editor’s note number two: “coronary” and “coronation” both stem from the original Latin term “corona”; “coronary”, in particular, was derived from the medieval term "curuner" which was used for the person who had the (local) responsibility of protecting the crown. Ever thought of yer own heart as the “crown”? (I do have my “Karla the Linguist” moments.)

*Editor’s note number x (missing from the text): An hour before the gig I went for a tea into one of the bars at the Royal Albert Hall (it really was a tea!), and the girls behind the bar told me how it was ‘a quiet and slow day’ and I sat there, the room empty, and watched the staff around exchange jokes. I thought of that moment later as I watched the security/staff struggling to, somehow, control the masses.

*Anyone who wants to point out to me that ol’ Will Shakespeare thought that ‘Bohemia’ was reaching the Adriatic Sea at that time should understand that I am well aware of this possibility but, as a wannabe scholar, I feel inclined to test the limits of good ol’ William.

*Special thank you to everyone who made my stay in London an absolute dream come true (especially everyone at Muswell Hill and Rosebery Road where I was staying, local foxes and buses included), and to Linda for listening to my continuous storytelling these past few weeks (and being the first person to read this...what would my writing be, if I didn't have my people to share it with?).

[r2chel-2]

Beartooth

[wstands4wale]

got to see one of my favorite rappers of all time , and to top it off I got a rose and some money he threw in the crowd .

- this solo stuff is getting better and better , super proud of myself .

[meganlynnhostetler]

𝕮𝖚𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖔𝖗𝖉, 𝕴’𝖒 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖎𝖓𝖌

📸 Instagram: @meganlynnhostetler

[hsonlyangelxo]

So real

[freetheshit-outofyou]

We saw Brad Paisley last night, his politics aside he put on one hell of a show. I am always skeptical of acts who don't have opener and come out hammering away at their hits. Often times this means they are just going to hammer through the set and leave. Brad knocked out 3 songs before he said much of anything, he was just warming up the masses. Great show, by a good showmen. Brad was in mid song when he took out a pen, signed the guitar he was playing and gave it to a kid in the crowd, that's to damned cool.

[m0rb1dch1ld]

Ngl I cried once this was over. I wore false eyelashes that night and had to reapply them.

Rest in peace Paul Reubens.

[jerzwriter]

I am being attacked! 😂😂😂😂

[metalnomads]

Hi everyone!

My first blog post on here. I‘m not entirely sure if anyone is interested in my ramblings, but hey – maybe it will find the right people! I guess a short introduction is in order: I’m a 27yo metalhead hailing from Germany and a devoted concert goer. Not every band can play in my hometown all the time, and seeing my favourite bands only once per tour just doesn’t cut it anyways – so I tend to travel around a bit to get my fix of live music. And I do it solo for the most part, because otherwise I’d have to miss out on so many great shows if I always waited around for someone to accompany me. Here on this blog I just want to share these experiences with all the other unhinged live enthusiasts – and hopefully convince others to join in on the madness! Because doing things solo (especially as a woman) doesn't have to be as daunting as some think it to be and nothing beats the feeling of hearing your favourite song played live, for the first time. Or the fiftieth.  

-S- 

PS: I’m running this blog with a good friend of mine from France/Brasil, T. We actually met at a show abroad and bonded over our mutual obsession for the greatest band in the world, Gojira, and live metal music in general. While I am the main writer on here, both of us are sharing pics and clips over on insta (@metalnomads). Feel free to have a look! 

[satansfavoritestripper]

One time i was watching an old nobody band play at a tiny 50+ person venue, and the lead singer complained about a specific audience member in the front row not emoting enough until the audience member passed out and lemme tell you there was A Shift in the bar vibe after that

[torturedpoetsapartmentcomplex]

You are not!! less of a fan!!!! if you cannot go!!! see your fave play live!!! for any reason!!!! don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!!

[r2chel-2]

Trivium