thatconcertgirl

It was December 1st, 2013 and I had just found a post online- The 1975 was going to be playing a 3 song acoustic set for a local radio station. “No problem” I thought. I had gone to plenty of radio shows without tickets anyway. But this one was different, it was going to be at a club downtown…it wasn’t as easy to just sneak in with out being a winner. Monday passed, then Tuesday, and Wednesday, and then Thursday. The show was Saturday night, and I was beginning to lose hope. There was no chance that I would be able to get into this one.

But Friday came, and Friday morning I got one of the most frantic phone calls I had ever recieved.

It was my friend Mackenna. “I WON I WON I WON” was all that I heard, and what I knew was that I had class. With that I apologized and hung up. That’s when I received the text: “I WON, WE’RE GOING TO SEE THE 1975 TOMORROW OH MY GOD”. That was when it hit me, I was going to see them, I was going to meet Matty, George, Adam, and Ross.

Next thing I knew it was Saturday night. We got there an hour early and my three friends and I were beyond ecstatic. An hour and a half later, as the bands was running late, we were given X’s on our hands and invited into the venue. I quickly settled on standing near the steps by the side stage, in the front row.

Another hour passed and it was time. Adam and Matty came out to perform. First Matty performed with his guitar, and then another song on his keyboard. Before the final song (which was obviously to be the single Chocolate), he took a short break to answer questions and talk to us in the audience. “Why is your band called the 1975??” someone shouted. It was when he began to answer that he then changed his mind– “I’m going to let someone else answer that one” he quietly said as he pointed his finger to a short girl raising her hand about halfway to the back of the room. She correctly answered, to which he laughed and thanked her. Next, George came out to make a surprise appearance and say hello, and from there, a question about Matty’s tattoos was asked. In response to this, he pulled up his shirt to display his chest as he explained two of his tattoos in detail. The room cheered and whistled and I couldn’t help but laugh at the gleeful squeals.

After a few more questions, it was time for the final song. However, it was when he plugged in his guitar that issues began. The batteries were dead, and so the over 200 of us in the room now sat as he mumbled while trying to fix his guitar. A few minutes later he performed Chocolate and it was incredible. The entire room sang along, it was acoustic, and it was four minutes that I will never forget.

Immediately following the performance, the rest of the band entered the room and a line was formed for the meet-and-greet section of the night. My friends and I waited in a line for about 20 minutes until it was finally our turn to meet the band. This was happening. We decided to split up into two groups of two for our picture, and my friend Mackenna and I went first.

I shyly walked up to each of them and said hello as I hugged them. Next I congratulated Matty and Adam on how amazing their performance was. Unfortunately, as Matty was thanking me and we were beginning to talk, the radio station rushed in, called out “Picture now!”, I saw a flash, and it was over. I turned back as I was being ushered away asking for a selfie, and that was when Matty told me to go back behind the venue after the meet and greet- that they would be there and that I could get it then. I couldn’t believe what had just happened and I rushed behind the venue to the masses of hundreds of girls already waiting there. “Would this really work?” I thought, as I sat down on the curb and waited.

Do you want to hear about what happened next that night? Let me know!