SOMEWHERE IN NEVERLAND

“Chocolate”

This past semester I went to my 21st concert (my concert going experiences became of age long before I did), but I also went to probably the best show out of the other 20. I had wanted to see The 1975 since I heard their song “Chocolate” at the age of 13 and it finally happened when December 1st rolled around. Maybe it’s my favorite because I was able to let loose after a long and stressful semester, both personally and academically, or maybe it’s my favorite because I got to see a band that I had admired for seven years live for the first time; regardless, the show was fantastic.

I had thought for the longest time that only attending 21 shows over the course of my 20 years of life was a sad accomplishment for someone studying music but the more I talk to people (especially other music majors), the more I realize how blessed I have been to have attended all of these shows—some of which have been big name artists that were probably a bit of a financial burden on my parents (buying Harry Styles tickets for myself for this upcoming fall is a first hand account on how expensive those two trips to see One Direction were).

One of my friends that also attended The 1975 show shared with me that this had been his first concert, at the age of 19. Until after this show, I never realized how truly unconventional my concert going experiences had been—my first concert was at the age of five, and no, it wasn’t The Wiggles (it was Warrant, Great White, and Skid Row…all of which I still have to hear on the radio in the car with my dad to this day).

Despite my concert going experiences being unconventional (to my friends especially), I’m thankful that my parents gave me the opportunity to have those unconventional experiences because I think those are what helped mold me into wanting to study Recording Arts in the first place, and I genuinely don’t know where I’d be or what I would be doing without that.

Editor’s Pick: “Chocolate” by The 1975