By Josie Barker
When I found out I had secured tickets to one of my all-time favorite bands, 5 Seconds of Summer, I was beyond stoked. I thought eventually my pure excitement would wear off, and I would ultimately revert to my normal status, unphased by boyband propaganda. Boy was I wrong. Every single day waiting for that concert was like waiting for my wedding night. Day and night I was on pins and needles, itching for the most memorable evening at Shoreline Amphitheater.
Months of waiting turned into weeks, days, and finally hours, and I can say with certainty that my friends were absolutely sick of hearing me boast about my upcoming Friday night plans. I mean, how could life get any better than a concert date with my best friend Naomi Volinsky and her two lovely sisters? Answer: it couldn’t. School that day was unbearable. I couldn’t concentrate on a single subject, instead I kept dwelling on what to wear, and what my hairstyle would look like, heck, I couldn’t even sit still I was so antsy. Glued to my sixth period chair I stalked the clock, observing every minute go by, every minute wasted that I could be hanging out with my dear friend and getting ready together. I even asked the office if I could have a two minute head start to the parking lot in order to beat the traffic. They obviously said no. But, I wasn’t going to let that disapproval get me down.The second that dang bell rang, I sprinted out the door, down to the hallway, to my car. Unfortunately, I parked in the furthest spot possible, all the way across campus, and had to pick up my brother to boot, so that was a huge setback.
After spending a couple of hours at Naomi’s house pampering ourselves, we eventually set out for the venue. Dressed all sparkly with our faces permanently fixed in a wide grin, the four of us stationed ourselves in the merch line. We arrived at the theater around 5:30 pm. The first opening act didn’t even come out til 7:00 pm. With my newly purchased insanely overpriced hoodie I made my way to the stands, ecstatic to actually have seats for a change instead of standing on the lawn. From where I was sitting, I couldn’t see the bottom stage very well so when four dudes came out it felt only reasonable to scream and shout from the top of my lungs. Naomi and I thought that quadruplet were our guys, but in reality, it was the second opener, The Band Camino, and Naomi looked really silly saying “I think I see Michael” referring to some scruffy blonde bassist standing on stage (for reference, the real Michael has long red hair and plays guitar). No wonder no one else was cheering. 5 Seconds of Summer didn’t come out until closer to 9:00 pm, and let me just say, that was the best entrance known to man. Holy moly I have never screamed so loud. Every song they played sounded like a Siren’s song blasting in my ears. I could barely hear by the end of the show, and I genuinely thought I was staring into a kaleidoscope or something with all the weird flashing colors I had endured. I went through so many various emotions throughout the whole night: happiness, sorrow, peace, and a sudden urge to improve as a person for some reason. “Ghost of You” made me burst out into the saltiest, and streamiest of tears, and as I wept for the entirety of the song, Naomi and I embraced, recognizing this melody as the most powerful tune of all time.
To top it off, I made so many friends that night. 5 Seconds of Summer concerts really do house so many different demographics of people. The people directly behind us were here for their fourth 5SOS show in one week while the people diagonally only knew “Youngblood”. The couple adjacent to us emotionally prepared themselves for “Ghost of You” while the funky lady on the right who asked me to try on her chunky purple shoes yearned for “Blender.”
I truly don’t think I’ve seen a people so unified as I did that night. Seriously no protest or superbowl could ever compare to the 14,000 people bounded together to share the most phenomenal moments of their lives. I love you 5 Seconds of Summer, I hope one day you will respond to my Instagram messages and send Naomi and I free tickets. Thank you.