Seinabo Sey with James Davis-
Showbox Sodo Lounge, Seattle, WA. June 6th, 2015. Solo again. I have been beyond excited to Seinabo Sey (Sign-a-boo See) for months and months now. She is a big beautiful black woman from Sweden. When I listen to her, I can't help but imagine a powerful queen of a planet or something. She has such an incredibly mature and soaring voice that carries so much power and yet so much delicacy and realness at the same time. I found her from a Buzzfeed article about "50 songs you missed this summer" or something like that. Not to mention her lyrics are raw and emotional and poetic. She wears this long flowing red robe whenever she performs like the true queen that she is. Again, I tried to recruit ONE SOUL to go with me and yet again, everyone was dumb and did not realize what an opportunity they were missing out on. So away I went. Showbox Sodo Lounge. I haven't been to that venue ever. I drove the car down and somehow magically found a FREE parking spot literally on the same block, despite the Mariners game going on only a couple blocks away. I got there a little early because I have a thing about being in the front row if I can help it. So I show up, and see no line at all whatsoever and the show is about to be starting in 30 minutes. I walk around the building a couple times, trying to find a line that I obviously am missing. Eventually, two girls start walking towards me with a similar look of confusion. We pass each other, both on the same train of thought. I then turn around and they turn around and we realize we are both there for the same reason. I tell them that I am there alone and ask if I can join them for the evening. They are very nice and friendly of course. Their names are Rabecca and Tiffany and they have been best friends forever. Soon after, the doors are opened and we walk in, ready to run to the front row to secure my spot right in front of the stage. Lo and behold, this is no typical venue but rather a lounge. Huh. Imagine that, Showbox Sodo Lounge is an actual lounge. Go figure. I don't know why that didn't click in my head before. We walk in and there is just a tiny little stage to side with a long bar. I had a weird reflection moment then. I still feel so young but I guess I am old enough to go to a bar and purchase alcohol. This is what typical young adults do to meet people. I went to a show and I met people. This is how non-Mormons make friends. I can't help but think that would make things so much harder but maybe the aspect of alcohol makes things easier? And you are going to meet so many different kinds of people from all different kinds of places unlike Mormons who meet people in their single wards at BYU and you usually have at least 10 mutual friends. It's just very interesting to me. Anyway. the place slowly slowly slooooowly gathered a couple other random souls but Rabecca and Tiffany and I had already secured the front table closest to the stage. They were super friendly and it turns out that Rabecca is just as big of a music fan as I am! She has a music blog with her cousins called "Bells and Beats". This was my kind of person! We then go on for 20 minutes talking about all the concerts we have been to and who our favorites are, FINALLY someone who will talk about music with me forever! I was feeling pretty good. Soon the opening act made their way to the stage. Their name is James Davis, they are all siblings, two of them identical girls. I had only listened to a couple of their songs a couple hours before but I was pleasantly surprised how good they were. They are very sultry and R&B and one of the sisters had some serious pipes while the other was more subtle and silky. They complimented each other very nicely. My favorite songs by them are "Co-Pilot" and "On Me". After James Davis finished, A couple people started to make their way to the open area in front of the tiny stage, blocking my perfect view of where Seinabo would soon be. Then, before I could do anything else, She entered, red flowing robes and all. I felt butterflies in my stomach. She started with "Pistols at Dawn", immediately striking fear into every heart. That song makes me feel anger towards someone I don't even know. I want to dress up like a cowboy and have a proper shootout in a ghost town. As soon as she finished her vengeful anthem, she immediately smiled the warmest grin and quietly thanked all 30 of us for coming. What a lovely person. Truly one of the sweetest, most gentle humans ever. I was beyond shocked that not all of Seattle was packed in there to witness her feats of vocal strength. Unfortunately, Seinabo has not come out with a full length album yet and I think that is probably why she is not as well-known, despite the remix of her song "Younger" having been listened to over 60 million times on Spotify. I was embarrassed for Seattle and just wanted to explain to her that we were having an off night or something. Now she will never come back. Anyway, I moved to the stage so I could stand in her presence and was just 5 feet away from her. We made eye contact. She finished her set, sang a couple new songs which haven't been released yet. And just like that, she was gone. It's always such a cool feeling for me to go months obsessing over an artist and then get the experience to see them real in the flesh and experience their music along side with them. I said goodbye to Rabecca and Tiffany, not after taking a selfie with them and adding each other on FB. Rabecca and I agreed that if there were any other concerts we were going to and needed somebody to go with, we would call each other. Overall, it was a good night. Seinabo did an amazing job, I just wish more people would have been there so I didn't feel so weird standing alone right in front of her, swaying and dancing. Still totally worth it. I also just hope Seinabo knows that maybe not all of Seattle appreciates her yet, but the ones who do, appreciate deeper than everyone else. Yes it was sad for me to not have moral support from someone I knew but hey! I totally put myself out there! This has definitely been my year of solo adventuring. It's been weird but overall I am getting a lot of unique experiences that I know I'll regret if I don't take them. Like Seinabo said, "You ain't getting any younger younger younger, are ya?"
One Direction with Icona Pop-
Centurylink Field. July 15th, 2015. Rachel, Amanda, Allison, Mckenna, Jessica but also kinda alone. My heart is beating out of my chest just typing about it. Rachel told me a couple of months ago that she was coming up to Seattle to go to the One Direction concert. I didn't even realize that they were coming. I legitimately got depressed over the fact that Zayn left 1D and now there would be no chance of me seeing him in the flesh, or at least sing those glorious high notes (hi "You and I"). I checked out the tickets but it looked like everything around Rachel was sold out. I also didn't know how I felt being so far away from them. So I decided to take the plunge and buy a solo ticket on the floor for $126. I was absolutely ecstatic. But let me also say I love how much I hate to love them. 1D legitimately tortures me. I've actually had deep philosophical thoughts about the movement that is One Direction. Here are 5 (I'm counting Zayn. Never forget.) attractive talented young men who have literally millions of girls obsessed with them, 100% of whom if asked would leave everything behind, disown their families, or cut off a limb just to touch them. Doesn't help that literally every single one of their songs are catchy OH YEAH AND THEY ARE BRITISH. I honestly had a hard time believing they are actually real people. They are so completely marketed and branded, down to the hairs on their head. Every song is centered toward every insecurity that every teenage girl has or young women have faced and maybe still do. They are there to dry your tears with their pop perfection. They know girls and they know what they want. And something about that is so wrong to me. I hate how every single lyric directly addresses things I have felt or wanted from a guy. They are perfectly formulate to be the perfect boyfriends. It's not fair. I feel like I have no choice but to succumb to their romantic promises and enchanting vocals. But then again, they are also younger than me! They are not real people! They are paid to be this way! And yet, they have this scary ability to make you forget and second-guess, like maybe there really is a chance that you could be the one, the future Mrs. Styles. It's weird, creepy and I just hate it. I could go on for hours and if anyone ever does want to seriously dissect this topic with me, I would be so incredibly interested.
Anyway, on to the actual concert. This girl Jessica who I met last summer at a party messaged me after I posted a FB status announcing that I was going to One Direction and asked if she could join. I said yes, She luckily found a ticket in the same section and row as me. So I no longer would be totally alone. My friend Allison was also visiting this week and we magically found her and my sister a ticket for $35 right behind Rachel the day of! So it was a big old party now, even though the party would be in different areas of the party. We arrive to the stadium FINALLY after waiting in traffic for literally an hour, even though we only needed to go about half an hour away. The spirit of 1D was in the air. You could feel the tension. But maybe the hundreds and hundreds of girls completely decked out in 1D merch gave it away. Seriously, I have never seen more girls in my whole life. It made me think back to the time when Jonas Brothers were the big thing and all my high school girlfriends and I went together. Except this was on such a bigger scale. Jessica and I say goodbye to everyone and make our way down to the floor. I was super super disappointed to see that my seat was on the very edge of the furthest section on the floor. We were far. But oh well, I need to remember how blessed I was to be there in the first place. Anyway, I take a picture for these two girls sitting in front of us and eventually strike up a conversation with them both. They are super friendly and nice and our age so it was an immediate bond. We dance to Icona Pop who were really fun and I am slightly obsessed with their synchronized dancing. Definitely need to listen to them more. While we were waiting for the main event, they would play videos on the big screen and I swear whenever a new person came on, all the girls would start screaming and I didn't know who half of them were. It is so strange and really scary to me that there is this whole teenage world that I just have no idea about. I really worry that people are too obsessed with promoting other peoples lives more than their own. There is now this thing called social media stars? What is that? WHY is that? There is simply too much love and infatuation for people who are paid to have these fans and show them how much they love them for really doing nothing. That is another topic I am super interested to talk about more with anyone who has the time. Anyway, we seriously waited 1 hour and 15 minutes, I danced the ENTIRE time and after a million ads for Honda, they FINALLY come on. And boy did they come on. It was actually insane and I have not felt that much anticipation ever, even Beyonce. They weren't there and then all of the sudden they were. There was no way to prepare. They started off with "Clouds" and I just knew it was going to be such a magical night. There they were. Harry, Louis, Niall, Liam. I couldn't help but feel like they were mythical creatures and I had to see them in the flesh to actually believe they were real. From the minute they stepped on stage, to the minute they left. I was dancing and singing. I have not sweated that much in a long time. I actually probably burnt 1000 calories honestly. Highlights for me were ""Story of My Life", "Girl Almighty" and "Act My Age". Who am I kidding, all of it was the highlight. Except for "Little Things". I absolutely despise that song. It is simply too targeted to female insecurities and the biggest lie ever. They sing about loving girls no matter what size they are and that it's ok if they have a little more to love when we all know these boys only date hot skinny Taylor Swifts. But I'll let it go for now. I now understand why they are such a big deal. They are so good to their fans. I also learned how much of a difference being near the stage makes. Those lucky fans in the front rows don't pay hundreds of dollars to just be near them. They pay that money in hopes of getting a chance to be picked out by one of the boys. They are so personable with the audience. I have never seen a show where the performers have interacted so much with the fans. They were taking selfies with their phones, they were reading their signs, people would throw hats on the stage for them to wear. It's just complete insanity. There is nothing like it. They are force to reckon with. I have promised myself that I will see them again and I will spend the money to be close to the stage. I can't wait for the day when I can tell my kids about their mom going to a One Direction concert. I honestly wish I could just be rid of this puppy love feeling I have for them because it actually makes me sick and makes my heart ache. It's weird and I can't explain it but I also can't deny it.
Ryn Weaver with Sam Dew-
Neumos, Seattle, WA. July 17th, 2015. With Ashlyn but really that means by myself. I found Ryn on another one of those Buzzfeed articles last year. "Octahate" is one of the most perfect songs I've ever heard. It simply packages every unhappy ending I've had with guys and so poetically justifies that of a one-sided and toxic relationship. Since then, I have found every single song she has released since then has been pure indie pop perfection. She finally released a full album last month and it is nearly perfect.The album is all about a messy breakup she had, letting go of it and not only moving on, but going above and beyond! Exploring! Venturing out on her own! Something I really relate to or at least have been trying to learn for myself this year. So obviously I jumped at the chance to go see her. Unfortunately, I bought a ticket for my friend Allison because she is the only other Ryn fan I know and she conveniently would be visiting the same time. She then had to leave unexpectedly a couple days earlier and so here I was again, going to a show by myself. The day of, I begged Ashlyn to come with me which in the long run was a dumb idea. Ashlyn hates live music. Or at least she hates the shows where you have to touch people and be close to the stage and sweat and stand. We also don't care for the same music. It's hard for our relationship. So I dragged her along to Neumos a little before 8 when the show was supposed to start, which was conveniently a block away from dad's work. Or at least I dropped her off at dad's work and I went early so I could try to get a good seat. What I didn't realize was that the doors OPENED at 8 and Ryn actually wouldn't be on until 10:15. Ashlyn was going to kill me. Oh well. I ended up in the front row hehe again because I don't settle for less. Finally Ashlyn decided to join me and was hating life the whole time. Sam Dew came on. He was a short guy with some sweet dance moves. Really feeling the music. He has a serious Frank Ocean vibe and really loved him. He has an incredible incredible voice. But all of his songs sounded the same to me. But a really good song! Ryn came on and just exploded. She is quite the performer. She does not hold back at all and will slither across the floor and jerk her body violently. She was sweating almost immediately but so were all of us. Best songs were for sure I just wanted her attention so bad. But for some strange reason she weirdly favorited the left side of the stage. She didn't come over to my side once. It might have something to do with the fact that I had some old grandpa standing next to me with ear plugs in. He was just there for a couple pictures and then ditched. So obviously everyone swarmed and I still was stuck to the side. Not fair. I bought a shirt before the show and apparently if you bought any of her merchandise, you could stay after for a meet and greet which is absolutely brilliant! So after the show I waited in line with a bunch of little immature teenagers who were swearing more more than a Kanye West concert. I was so nervous to talk to her for some weird reason but when my turn finally came, I told her how much her album helped me find myself after a really rough relationship and she just gushed and hugged me. Such a kind human. We took some selfies which I instantly regret. Do not even try to ask me why I tried kissing her on the cheek for one of the pictures, I have never felt more immature honestly. Selfies are just stupid and I hate them. I should have had someone take it for us but oh well. I got her to sign my shirt and I told her how much I love her and that's what's important. This concert made me think about how much more fun concerts are when you have people to go with and how much I wish I had friends who loved live music as much as me. I try not to let that stop me from having the best time but it is hard when you have no one to talk to in between sets and when you can sing the songs together. But it's ok. My husband will love them just as much as I do and we will go to all the shows together. I still had a wonderful time at all of these shows and I'm grateful for the opportunities.
This concludes the second segment of live in concert.
