Written by Liz Vanlaningham

I promised Paige that I would write up a little somethin’ for her blog, so here I am.

I figured that I couldn’t write about anything easier than something that is so dear to me. I want to share with you guys why concerts make me so happy. I feel like I go to quite a bit of concerts. I think I’ve been to more than 50, easily. Throughout high school, my two best friends and I were known as the girls that always went to shows. Like we’ve been to a lot! And the reason I keep going to concert after concert is so simple.

Concerts are my happy place. That is easy to understand, and I’m sure everyone reading this feels the same way. Being at a concert is like being at home, or with my closest friends. It just feels…right.  You could be at a small show with less than 500 people or you could be in a sold out arena, and you’re immediately surrounded by people who are, in at least one way, just like you. At a concert, you’re all there because you enjoy the band/artist. Their music has obviously had an impact on you in some way that made you want to see them live. This is exactly why everyone else is there too. For a night, you and a bunch of new homies are in the same room just loving and appreciating that artist, and THAT is cool.

When I first started going to concerts, I was just a small little 12 year old. I was nervous, and scared of literally every single person that surrounded me. I never understood how people could scream all of the words as loud as they can, out of tune, jump around and dance, and not have a care in the world about what other people think of them. That was never me. Today, I am that person. I scream the words and dance around like a maniac and I seriously do not care at all what people think of me when they look at me. If I’m dancing like that, or screaming every word, you KNOW that song means something to me. When the band/artist look down in the crowd, I’m sure they’d much rather see a hype crowd, than people just standing around looking as though they aren’t enjoying themselves. That’s what I think about now at concerts. I want to be in the crowd and show that band/artist what their music does for me, and if that means I look like an idiot to some people, SO BE IT.

I am no longer holding back from showing appreciation for something I love. Music, and concerts specifically, are what I love and it is how I make myself happy. So I’m going to go to 50 more concerts, and love every second of it. But let’s be real, I’ll go to a lot more than 50 more concerts in my life. For a New Years Resolution, my mom told me that I should stop going to so many concerts and save that money instead. I just looked at her, laughed, and said, “Sorry mom, I’m learning how to TREAT YO SELF.”

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