Ever since Zoe London created the Concert tag, I've wanted to do it. But as I've only been to a handful of gigs, I wouldn't have been able to do it properly! So instead of that, I thought I'd write about a few of my favourite gig experiences instead.
The first one I'm going to talk about is Of Mice & Men. This was in my hometown in 2012 and it was the first proper gig I ever went to. I had seen live bands before in the same place, but they always took part during Rebellion (which was a rock night in a club, but under 18's could go). I'd always end up finding something else to do and just listen to the bands instead of actually watching them. My friend won two tickets to go see them, so we bought an extra two so our whole friend group could go too. We got their early and we managed to get right to the front.
The support acts were Crossfaith and Bury Tomorrow, I had only ever heard of Bury Tomorrow at the time, but both bands were really, really good. Then the moment we had all been waiting for had come. Of Mice & Men came on. Of Mice & Men had become my favourite band around this time and when I found out they were coming to Wrexham I was ecstatic, nobody ever comes here! The whole night was insane, I loved every minute of it. After the show ended we even managed to meet some of the band members too! I'm gutted that nobody comes here anymore! Small, intimate venues are so much better than huge arenas.
The next one that sticks out in my mind is All Time Low back in February 2015, these were on a co-headline tour with You Me At Six. This night was one of those nights where afterwards I was like 'did that honestly just happen?' I was on the guest list, so I was almost at the front of the arena, which I loved because I didn't have to rely on the big screens to see what was happening on stage.
All Time Low are one of my favourite bands and I've always wanted to see them live and I finally did! I'm a huge fan of You Me At Six too, so I was really excited to see them too. Unfortunately we couldn't get any backstage passes or anything so we didn't get to meet any of the band members. But being in the guest area was so weird, because half of Bring Me The Horizon were sitting a few rows behind us. I really should have said hi or something or asked for a picture because I keep kicking myself now! And my favourite photographer Adam Elmakias walked past me so many times. It was the weirdest experience ever to see the people I look up to as an actual human being just doing their thing.
The last one is Jeremy Loops in January of this year. This was such a last minute decision, my friend and I booked the tickets a week before without a way of getting there and back. We managed to pull it off though! We met some cool South Africans in the crowd though which made the gig 10 times better, we were playing the game head's up for a solid hour before Jeremy came on stage. It was so energetic and so, so fun. I was almost at the front at this one too, I thought that there wasn't that many people there, but I saw a photo afterwards and the place was packed! I got a shoutout because of my blue hair too, it was great. I met Jeremy afterwards and he was so lovely. I really want to see him again he put on such a good performance!
I really need to up my gig game, live music is one of my favourite things in the world so you think I would go to hundreds, wouldn't you? I maybe go to one or two a year if I'm lucky. Next year I'm going to make it an aim to get to as many gigs as I can. Now that I can drive I won't have to worry about the transport either!
