#u better b greatful i didnt miss it for the 3rd year in a row

[solcarow]

,

[ificouldflytotheclouds]

And somehow the stars align

So I was just thinking of my top favorite artists of all time: Taylor Swift, One Direction, and 5sos. And they strangely all have similar pathways even though they're on different roads. 

The beginning. 

Out of the three Taylor is the artist I can tell you the least as to how I fell into her music but it I believe it manifested from a friends recommendations. 

One Direction I remember seeing the countdown for WMYB on my sidebar every day I was on youtube, by the time the music video dropped I finally clicked on the videos because I was intrigued by this video trying to encroach on my life. 

5sos was a friend recommendation. 5 Years ago (+1 day) she sent my a link to try hard. I didn’t listen to it at the time because I didn’t want to download anything onto my mom’s computer. A month later she sent me the link to Luke’s cover of please don’t go, it wasn’t till I looked into his other work did I realize he was part of 5sos. Check yes Juliet and drop in the ocean that won me over.

Getting into them

I saw Taylor perform at the mall and after the show we got a signed cd (rip, at the time someone standing near us was like can we meet her after and security was like no, something about being too many ppl, but like…)

For 1d my friend had me watch their video diaries and I fell in love. We saw them at the same mall (and when I say mall I mean the Mall of America, aka the biggest mall in the U. S. A. anyways…) that was crazy busy. We didn’t have tickets but we went to watch anyways, that was fun, and it actually spawned a friendship with someone who went to my school and is now one of my besties now (who was the person who introduced me to 5sos). 

5sos. I remember wanting to go to the Stars, Stripes and Maple Syrup Tour (actually, I completely forgot about this until today, I forgot how whipped I was for them before slsp came out). But we couldn’t go. (rip, wasn’t able to go to wwat for same/similar reasons, but this year finally traveling to Chicago for a show so it kinda makes up for it). Got tickets for Rock Out with Your Socks Out Tour but we ended up selling them to go to a second 1d show. I don’t regret this decision, because 1) that was ones for the books and 2) we knew that this might be the last time we will ever see them (once Zayn left me and my friend were intent on going to more than one show). Back to 5sos, the day of their show we almost ended up getting into their radio show, but we still go to see them walk past. 

The second album ‘Hiatus’

This is where things strangely align

Way back to middle school I wasn’t into music the same way I am now, it was healthier, lol. I still loved Taylor but I didn’t get fearless until Christmas, I fell in love with that album on my grandma’s staircase. I watched all the behind the scenes pictures, but compared to the information that goes out now I knew nothing, I just knew the bigger things (I think this is why I always struggle/feel like I don’t fit in with online Taylor stan culture, bc it wasn’t how I fell for her and her music). We tried to get tickets to the fearless tour but were unsuccessful.

Before I begin with 1d, I also want to remind you that Spotify has not always been around, and even then I didn’t download it till sometime in 2017. I don’t even know when it comes to the tmh era. Back sophomore/junior year when I got into things it would be in waves (it’s starting to go back to that which is healthy). So tmh was when I wasn’t following 1d so much. My friend invited me to see a prescreening of the this is us movie. I /sort of/ forced myself to listen to tmh. TMH era might have been one of their best but there’s a reason why it took me a while to get into this album, it’s just not my fav, I find it the least memorable, even though generally speaking its a better album than uan. (I still love the album don’t get me wrong)

5sos, oh 5sos, just trying to figure yourselves out. I don’t like talking about this much, it’s important to acknowledge but it can also feed negativity. Them as people were getting harder to stand and the fandom was getting to be too much, so I had to say goodbye to social media side. I don’t regret this decision and I really wish I had done this at one point for 1d, but with that, it was a little different (baby gate being announcement was hell). I still loved their music but my friend was pressuring me not to listen to it, so that winter I didn’t buy livesos, but I do remember a year later I listening to the skh ep, and enjoying it (Even though I was iffy about skh at the time). School had started and I was kinda out of the loop so I don’t think I actually knew when sgfg came out (Even though I defs followed a few 5sos ppl still, just not update accounts at the time)

Even though I wasn’t there for sgfg I equate this time period with the self-titled album era - post album release because I was there but I wasn’t. I liked the album but it ended up being the least memorable, similar to take me home. 

3rd album hoopla

For each of them, the hype began months before the album was released, most likely starting with the drop of a single and riding a high from there.

For Taylor it started with her live stream announcing the 3rd album, to mine that released when I was in a cafe in the Northwoods, the album release week was epic, we finally got tickets to see her on tour (for my friends 15th birthday, 15 I still cry I go to listen to this live when I was 15). I EMBODIED THIS ERA. I had my first crush, the world was magical, I was in a world wind.

This was my school friend forcing me to let my fangirl out lol. (For 1d this wasn’t their peak compared to Taylor and 5sos currently, but it was a very important era for me as a fan). It started with me going to the prescreening of this is us, wow I loved them. SNL performances, being excited for the first show, I had all the lyrics printed out so I could sing them...good times. (I feel like 1d’s best era was tmh but I wasn’t there so its not my #1 era as a fan, from there it’s hard to pick bc I didnt get to see them during wwat, I did with FOUR/OTRA, but there was also DRAMA with that era, and then there was MITAM mini era which got us high and dry(ingourtears)).

And now here we are for 5sos’ 3rd album. You can FEEL that this one is different. SGFG was good, heck, that is one of the best albums I have ever heard, and ngl I was low key nervous as to how they were going to out beat it. But that album was rushed, they didn’t get as much time off as it feels, but this album there is SOOO SOOO much love put in this album. And it goes beyond the lyrics. They really pushed themselves, instrumentally, emotionally, vocally, as people. There is growth, expansion. They reinvented themselves, and yet they are just an embodiment of who they always were, the lessons they’ve learned, and just a better more empowered version of themselves. I wish I could remember if it was pre or post want you back but I ended up getting into SGFG (properly) around this time. THe first few songs made it hard to get into the album when I had listened to it in the past. But I was finally able to skip around those (this is one of those times where I probs would've listened to the album earlier if I had spotify at the time) and later fall in love with them. I think that album came in at the right time. I got to go to 5sos3, got tickets for meet you there, youngblood is amazing. Life is great.

Since the 3rd album hoopla for 1d and Taylor

I got to see both of them from row, in the same year,  b stage for 1d and center catwalk for Taylor. Still love them, they’re chill, since 2015 I can say I’ve seen Niall at least once every year, 2 times for OTRA, met him during his golf tournament in ‘16, 2 radio shows in ‘17 on which Liam also played at. I have a Harry concert in a few days, seeing Niall twice this year to continue the tradition, might see Taylor (tixs are sooooo expensive, don’t love her new album that much but this girl loves  Taylor sooo, I’m not going to miss it - I don’t hate it but it’s just not the same as how I feel in love with yb instantly, it doesn’t give me that feel), and I get to see 5sos again in the fall (I want to go to their Chicago radio show so bad bc it’s close to the Chicago Niall show, but not close enough, darn)