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[dev0nhunt]

Niall being my favorite member of 1D, Heartbreak Weather as the official pandemic album, and finally seeing him live

Niall Horan was always my favorite member of One Direction. Having been a fan since 2011 I’d get home from school and immediately spill over the countless Niall fanfics and edits on Tumblr (I was always a sucker for a good Narry edit). Being a Directioner it’s said that your favorite member of the group says a lot about your personality. Are you a quiet and demure Zayn girl? Or are you someone…

[dev0nhunt]

Royel Otis Live at The Fonda

The experience of a Black fan in the indie concert space: The term indie has changed drastically going from a term referring to an artist who wasn’t signed to a major label to an entire sub genre of music. One of the first indie bands I became absolutely obsessed with was the 1975. For me, their lyricism, attitude, and music’s cool. And for me that’s how I differentiate “indie music” from other…

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Still... At Their Very Best Seattle & a Farewell to Peanut

Alas after almost four months of touring North America The 1975 can now take a temporary break until their tour resumes in Europe early next year. “Still… At Their Very Best” was special though as it’s been said by Matty that a hiatus after this tour is imminent. And as much as I love my boys and would cross oceans to see them live I think in a lot of way’s a break’s important for the band. Not…

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When Did We Start Conflating Our Favorite Artists With Humanitarians & Politicians?

“Now I’m aware that you all came here not to hear the songs that you like, but to hear my take on Israel/Palestine. [audience boos] Well from the comments, I thought that’s what you did want. We’ve got to talk about it. People like me NEED to talk about Israel/Palestine. I’m the guy. Brittany Broski, me, all those people are the people that you need – don’t be a fucking idiot.” – Matty Healy at…

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Emo’s in the Desert, the Debate on Recording at Concerts, and Going into Live Music Events Blind

When We Were Young. A festival that many doubted due to not only the magnitude of many of the artists that were set to perform but also the idea that it’s possible to cram all these artists into one day. Now in its second year I had purchased tickets to the second day when they were released once the first day sold out. Going into the festival I was excited to see so many bands I’ve been a fan of…

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The 1975's “Still... At Their Very Best”: Context and Consumption in the Age of Social Media

Although I’ve been familiar with The 1975’s music since 2014 when their debut album was released it wasn’t until fairly recently that I became as big of a fan as I am right now. What drew me closer into the complex web and thicket that is a fandom was actually thanks in part to viral social media clips of their previous tour “At Their Very Best.” While some people looked at these videos of Matty…

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Getting Sauced at the 5SOS Show

A Black Fan’s Experience Seeing Them Live and Being Apart of the 5SOS Family I’ve loved 5 Seconds of Summer for a while. Since I first remember hearing “She Looks So Perfect” in 2014 I’ve been obsessed with those Aussies. Their fourth album Calm which was released in March 2020 (truly the worst possible time in modern world history to release an album) is not only one of my favorite albums of…

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Seeing Beyoncé Live For the First Time: A Reflection

It’s officially been a little over a week after seeing Beyoncé in concert for the very first time and I’m still processing the experience not only physically but also emotionally. If you’ve been on Twitter (I refuse to refer it to as X) you’ve most likely seen clips of Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour filling your feeds. The stunning outfits, Blue Ivy dancing on stage in front of tens of thousands, and…

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I Went To Luke Hemmings ONO and It Was Everything I Needed

When I first saw that Luke Hemmings was having a one night only show at the Fonda in Los Angeles I was ecstatic. His debut solo album When Facing the Things We Turn Away From was one of my favorite albums released in 2021 and I couldn’t wait to hear those songs on that album live.  Purchasing tickets for the show was surprisingly not too difficult. After the first date sold out pretty quickly a…

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I'm In A Palm Springs Mood

It was only about two and a half weeks before Harry Styles’ birthday that it was announced that he’d be having two birthday shows in Palm Springs, one on January 31st and a second on his actual birthday February 1st. As mentioned in the previous post I was already planning on seeing him on January 27th so when I saw the post I was intrigued and told myself that I’d stop at nothing to go see these shows. 

That day I reposted the photo on my Instagram story when a friend that I went to high school with asked me that we should carpool down to Palm Springs for the shows. I enthusiastically agreed and adored the idea of driving down the 99 and the I-5 with a friend to see our lord and savior, Harry Styles. When the presale officially happened I was able to easily purchase two tickets for the January 31st show (thank you Ticketmaster), one for each of us. After purchasing the tickets she asked me if I was down to go with two of her other friends who were also going to the birthday shows. I absolutely loved the idea and every single road trip comedy in existence filled my head. 

A couple days later she purchased two tickets for the February 1st show and was able to get an Airbnb for the four of us. After coming back from LA the morning of the 28th after seeing him the night previously my mind went on overdrive. I had to put together two different outfits and had only three days to do so. 

If you’ve never been to a Harry Styles show one thing you should know is that everyone gets dressed to the nines. Think of people dressing up for Sunday church or prom your senior year of high school but add way more cowboy hats and flared trousers. I’ve thought long and hard about why this happens or where it even started and one theory comes to mind. I believe this is all based and influenced around Harry's own fashion statements. Fans wanting to interpret their own version of his outfits did so at his concerts and as time passed fans started to make their own statement pieces. Which was a BIG reason why I was so stressed about these two outfits I needed to put together. 

After digging through my closet I found a champagne colored pussy bow blouse which was originally a back up outfit from another Harry concert and found a black denim jacket that I decided to paint. I pondered on what I’d paint on the jacket and decided that it’d say “I’m in a Palm Springs mood” a nod to Harry’s song “Satellite” where he sings “I’m in a LA mood”.

The morning of the first show on the 31st I hopped into the car with my three friends and we started our trek to Palm Springs! Six hours and an In-N-Out stop later we made it to our Airbnb and got ready for the show later that night. I put on the champagne colored pussy bow blouse and tied the bow on tight around my neck 

Driving up to the Acrisure Arena the very first time I marveled at the beauty of the landscape. When I read that the venue was in the desert they were not kidding. Snow capped mountains are visible in the distance and palm trees and brush are everywhere. The scenery surrounding the arena is beautiful and is one of the most gorgeous concert venues I’ve ever been to in person. Acrisure also did a wonderful job decorating with a large “Happy Birthday Harry” sign and painted doors outside the venue. 

Walking inside the doors of the venue, the actual size of it surprised me. Walking through the outer edges of the venue versus actually getting to your seat were two completely different experiences. Walking around the arena you pass by all of the food and drink stalls and even a decently sized bar. When my friend and I got to our seats which were located in the lower bowl we both looked at each other in amazement and marveled at how close we actually were to the stage. The actual intimacy of the venue is in large part because of its capacity. With a venue capacity of only 11,000 it puts it at a stark difference to the Kia Forum which is already an incredibly intimate venue and has a concert capacity of 18,000. After a wonderful opening set by Madi Diaz, Harry took the stage wearing red trousers and a green and yellow top with a bucket of popcorn on it. To no one’s surprise Harry slayed and did an amazing job. After the show my three friends and I drove back to the Airbnb and prepared ourselves mentally and physically for day two of Harry Styles. 

On the morning of February 1st we ate breakfast and drove around town buying last minute accessories for the show later that evening. As routine as it was driving to the venue and paying for parking and going through security there was still a sense of wonder to the whole thing. As you walked around the venue you heard murmurs about an alleged special guest and the setlist for that night. Before Harry actually went on stage the energy was electrifying and incomparable to any other concert I’ve ever been to in my life. The energy from the audience felt physical. It was as if a cloud rested over everyones head that one could just reach out and grasp in their palm. And the entire show felt like that from the moment Harry walked on the stage to the moment he and the band took their bows at the end of the show. 

Driving down to Palm Springs for the shows with friends, two of whom I met the day of the first show is an experience I’ll never forget. It’s one of the big reasons why I love road tripping for concerts with friends. It’s all of the little things that end up sticking with you and implanting in your memories. It’s the conversations you had in the car as you drove to the venue. It’s the speaking to each other in hoarse voices after the show. It’s the food you rush to eat after everything’s over. 

I can’t wait to create more of these memories and see Harry again the next time he tours North America. 

[dev0nhunt]

Reflecting on Harry's Residency Show and a Life Update

And yes, I know I haven’t been active for eight months.

First and foremost I want to explain why I haven’t published a single blog post in over eight months. I wish I had a really badass explanation like I was in a coma because I saved a bus full of school children from starving zoo animals but the explanation is much more boring and lame than that. 

I got busy and forgot about this site. 

In my defense though, I graduated university in December and right after graduation I went on vacation to England for almost a month and since I’ve gotten back I’ve been applying to jobs like crazy. I haven’t been lucky to get an interview yet but that’s a large reason why I started to write on this site again. Even though this isn’t paying me I look at it as a type of job. An outlet of sorts. So let’s talk about a couple things I’ve done since last August: 

I saw Harry Styles thrice within one week! 

The first show that I saw was on January 27th which was originally scheduled to be on November 6th but was postponed because of illness. This show is extremely special to me because it included numerous firsts. One of them being it was my first time not only driving down to Los Angeles by myself (I’ve been numerous times with family) but also my first time attending a show at the Kia Forum. Since I do live smack dab in the middle of California I tend to drive up to Northern California for concerts because it’s much closer and an easier drive. The day of the show everything seemed to go perfectly. I got into LA around 3pm and waited in my hotel until an hour before the show was due to start at 8. Walking up to the legendary and historic Kia Forum was in one way romantic but also made me feel apprehensive and anxious. I do believe there’s always a lot of anxiety in seeing your favorite artists in concert. There’s the idea of whether your fave is going up to live up to expectations but I think it’s much deeper than that. For example, for a lot of people including myself it feels like our favorite artist knows more things about you than any other person in your life. And yes I know I speak at length about the dangers of parasocial relationships with celebrities but it’s in a lot ways inescapable especially in the age of social media. We turn to our favorite artist in our darkest days and our brightest. We turn to them when we’re driving in our cars and when we’re walking our dogs. So because of all of this it makes seeing these figures in concert a spiritual experience. 

At that point I hadn’t been to any of his residency shows in LA so I really didn’t know what to expect. After buying some merch and taking it back to my car I walked through security and up to the Forum employee so she could scan my ticket on my phone. But the worst thing that could happen happened.  I clicked on my phone to open Ticketmaster and my phone was completely frozen. Frozen on a wallpaper of Harry Styles lifting his arm up and looking out in the distance. It was as if Harry himself was looking at the crowd of people walking into the venue telling me “You could be them too if only your phone was working.” I stood at the edge of the walkway holding down the power button and volume button trying to restart my phone to no avail. At this point the show was going to start in half an hour and I was stuck outside the arena. Fans walked past me wondering why there was someone sweating profusely while white knuckling his cell phone and cursing underneath his breath. I explained my predicament to a Forum employee on the verge of tears who told me that someone at the box office could help me with what was going on. I walked back past security and over to the box office where a group of a dozen or so girls waited to see if the box office was going to release any more tickets for that night's show. After explaining what was going to the box office employee I hand over my cell phone to him and after doing a hard reset of my phone (something I wasn’t familiar with at that point) my phone goes black for a couple seconds and my Harry Styles wallpaper once again lights up the screen. Harry once again is looking out at the distance this time telling me "Get your ass inside the venue the show's about to start." I finally take a deep breath for the first time in ten minutes. I'm relieved. After going through security for a second time and finally being able to scan my ticket, I walked around the outside of the Forum snapping pictures and admiring other people’s outfits. When I finally walked inside the Kia Forum my first thought was “Wow, it’s smaller and more intimate than I thought.” Wet Leg, a band that I was a fan of and extremely excited to see open for Harry did exceptionally well. Their entire set was killer and the band was able to connect with the audience in a way that many openers fail to do so. After Wet Leg performed there occurred the moment in time in-between the opener and the main act where the entire audience is on the edge of their seats (literally and figuratively). An edging of sorts that finally gets released when the performer gets on stage and the first note of their opening song plays. 

Harry hidden in a box gets wheeled underneath the stage,

Closerr

The arena goes dark and the video montage plays, 

Closerrrrr

Harry rises from the middle of the stage and the first note of "Daydreaming" plays, 

Release 

The show to no one’s surprise was amazing. Hearing songs like “Daylight” and “Satellite” live for the first time was magical. It was also seeing him again at a smaller venue than the last time that I saw him that made me appreciate the intimacy of his shows in the States. Where he’s performed stadiums around the world with quadruple the capacity of the Kia Forum it’s made me admire Harry's versatility as a performer so much more. I imagine there are performers that go off and start to perform at stadiums and forget how to capture the attention of a smaller audience. But Harry isn’t one of those performers. And I truly believe that shows just how amazingly talented of a performer he is.  

After the show, I walked back to my car to wait an hour stuck in the parking lot. As I waited in my car and put on a podcast as background noise I grew excited because I was about to see Harry again in four days in Palm Springs. It was time to get ready for his birthday show…

[dev0nhunt]

Does it ever happen to you? You’re laughing and enjoying your day and suddenly you see something or hear something and all of a sudden all of the things that have been hidden in the depth of your nightmares comes in front of your eyes and becomes vivid. In just a little moment, all of that happiness and all of those smile turns to emptiness and sorrow. You’re present but you’re looking for your own existence inside of your memories, Trying to solve the riddle, get off this mess but you’re struck reverse gear. All you think is how did it all go so wrong. You just want to know the reason that led you to this horrific phase of your life. The phase of denial and regret. You try your best but you just can’t forget her, You hate it, you hate your life but you cannot do anything. “la vie est la cauchemar” Life is a nightmare.

Sehal Hussain “la vie est la cauchemar"  (via wnq-writers)

[dev0nhunt]

I usually lose motivation with the harsh things around me. But whenever I see your face,I remember all the beautiful things that can still happen to me.

Smiling // Conee Berdera (via wnq-writers)