Recently my lovely friend Sam uploaded a video where he discussed a lot of his past concert experiences, spoke about his fondest memories and the best shows he has been to and heaps more. If you follow me on literally any social media you will know how much I love live music, I even did a post on it a while ago and I thought I would go into depth about the gigs I've been to, artists I want to see live and a bit more!
(PS. sorry for stealing some of your questions Sam, they were just rather good starting points)
MY FIRST GIG: So, the first concert that I went to was in 2013, it was Lawson's Brighton tour date and I went with a heap of friends, we got the bus into the city after school and grabbed a Nandos (which was also my first time having a Nandos) and jumped in the queue. It was such a fun night, I remember being so happy and my heart beating so fast when the music came on which is the feeling of adrenaline that I gave come to love and look forward to with every gig I attend.
MY FAVOURITE GIG: I've been thinking about the answer to this for a while but it was probably All Time Low in February 2016. I turned to my friend midway through class and was like 'I want to go to All Time Low tonight' and five minutes later she told me she had found someone who was selling a ticket and so I left class, called my dad and told him what I was doing and got on a train to the gig. Two of my internet friends, Em and Imogen, were already attending the show and met me at the venue and let me queue with them which was also something that was super lovely. All Time Low had been a band that I have loved for years and so to finally hear Therapy live was emotional to say the least, I even managed to get a pretty good spot in the standing area considering that I got there as late as I did. The fact that Good Charlotte were an opening act almost definitely also plays a part in why it was one of my favourites, the pits for them were insane.
An honourable mention has to go to As It Is at the Camden Underworld in 2016 too, that was such a good show (so was State Champs at the Underworld).
WHAT ARTIST WOULD YOU SEE DEAD OR ALIVE? I'm going to cheat and split dead and live into two sections because there's a lot of artists and bands I want to see, or didn't get the chance to see while they were alive.
Dead: I would go for Amy Winehouse, her voice reminds me of my childhood, singing in the car with my mum, and dancing round one of my friends kitchens while her mum cooked us dinner back in primary school. I would also give up anything to have seen Nirvana live, they were the soundtrack to my angsty teen years and my step dad always tells me stories of when he went to see them live as a teenager.
Alive: Taylor Swift has been one of the artists that I've dreamed of seeing live since I was about ten years old, her concerts are more like productions and I can never get over how incredible they are. Also Jaden Smith, BROCKHAMPTON, SZA, Matt Corby, and The Neighbourhood.
BEST CONCERT ATMOSPHERE: Every single time I have seen Tonight Alive live they have created such a safe place within the crowd, their fans are some of the kindest in the pop punk scene and I live for Jenna's speeches on equality and the world. The last time I saw them I was working the gig as a photographer which was insane and really added to the atmosphere in my opinion.
DREAM FESTIVAL: I've been lusting over the idea of going to Firefly festival in America for the longest time, my friend and I used to sit in our computer classes freaking out over the lineup and the aesthetic of the festival. That would for sure be my dream festival.
DREAM FESTIVAL LINEUP: SZA, BROCKHAMPTON, Rex Orange County, Yellow Days, Frank Ocean, Childish Gambino, The 1975, The Japanese House, Speak Low If You Speak Love, Mahalia, Vampire Weekend, Halsey, Catfish and the Bottlemen, The Wombats, The Kooks, Neck Deep, Coldplay are to name a few...
NICEST ARTIST YOU'VE MET: I'm not the kind of person to but meet and greet for gigs but do tend to hang around the venue until my last train home and I've met a heap of bands this way. I think the nicest bands I've met are State Champs (my friends and I had such long conversations with them and nothing was rushed which was lovely), Mayday Parade who are just such down to earth lovely guys who have gone above and beyond for me, and With Confidence who are always wonderfully kind to my friend Katie and I no matter what time of day or where we bump into them.
LIVE IN THE MOMENT OR TAKE PHOTOS?: As an aspiring freelance gig photographer this one is hard, I tend to always try my hardest to live in the moment when it isn't a gig that I am working and then focus on photos and such when I am there to take the photos. Though I will often find myself stood in the crowd at gigs thinking about what shots I could be getting while in the middle of a pit or singing along, it's strange but I guess that's just part of music photography.
TIPS FOR GIGS: If you're going to an O2 show then the best piece of advice I can give you is to get a pay as you go O2 sim card, even if you aren't on O2 usually. This is because anyone on O2 gets priority access to the gig. I can't tell you how many times a friend being on O2 has got us 10 times closer to the front than we would have been has we joined the queue normally.
Also make sure to stay hydrated and eat a meal before the gig, you don't want to be passing out from the heat and lack of energy halfway through the show.
More than anything, have fun. Sing along to all the songs, dance your ass off, mosh, cry, do whatever you want as this is your concert experience!
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