I went to my first concert when I was just eleven years old. I remember we weren’t sure if eleven-year-olds could even legally go to concerts (they can, of course).
The outside of Roger’s Arena (Wikimedia Creative Commons, hucul002, 2011)
It was at Roger’s Arena, for a band that has since disappointed me. I went with my mum, because who else do you go with to a concert at eleven years old, and I have distinct memories of walking home from school when she phoned me and told me about the tickets.
After that first show I was hooked, and since then I have taken every opportunity I could to experience music live. As of September last year, I had been to countless free shows and sixteen paid gigs in the past eight years. This all lead up to October 2019 where, partially for my birthday and partially because it just worked out that way, I had tickets to four concerts. At the time it seemed excessive, but I wasn’t gonna pass up a chance to see so many artists I loved. It was my nineteenth birthday, month two of college, and damn it if I wasn’t going to have some fun.
The first was dodie at the Vogue Theatre, which honestly is my favourite venue in the city (if you want to read about someone else’s favourite venues in the city, you can read that here). I had seen dodie once before in Seattle in 2018 with my best friend, but now we got to see her again in our home city. It was an amazing show, a local children’s choir even joined her on stage bringing everyone to tears. The opening act, Adam Melchor, has since become one of my favourite artists.
The second was the Jonas Brothers. A concert I had literally been waiting for since I was eight years old. It was everything I dreamed it would be.
Next was Hozier, the night before my birthday. One of my favourite artists of all time, fantastic musician and lyricist, puts on a damn good show. I have my qualms about the Doug Mitchell, but that was a fun night. I quietly turned nineteen alone in a crowd of people on the bus ride home. I was literally pressed up against the rear door of the bus. How strange to think about now.
All this lead up to the day. October 26, 2019. Almost exactly a year ago. My last concert before everything changed.