Jumat, 13 Mei 2011

Birthday Giveaway - Winning Entry

The driving force behind my love for Neon Trees has a lot to do with my first concert. It was a special moment for me, not because I was seeing my favorite band live for the first time, but because the concert itself completely changed my life. Cliche, but it's true.

Around the time of the concert, I wouldn't have pinned myself as emotionally stable. I was unable to be in the marching band (a huge part of my life) for the first time in four years, there was drama in my sorority and fraternity that I wanted nothing to do with (but was a part of anyways), my adviser told me that due to a class scheduling error I'll be graduating in three years, not two as intended (with only 60 credits left), and I was unable to contact my parents for a week to tell them about this. I started becoming rather antisocial and doing a bunch of reckless things like staying out way too late, spending too much money shopping, and going to Islands of Adventure after class on a Monday.

A few friends and I were walking out of Marvel towards Toon Lagoon when we saw one of the huge posters for Mardi Gras concerts. There were several on there that I wanted to go to, but the only one I made it to was March 18, Neon Trees. I had only heard two of their songs, but I figured a free concert would be an awesome time to check them out.

I manage to make it to the concert without having any mental breakdowns in the weeks prior. I was pretty excited at this point; I was relatively close to the stage, and no tall people were blocking my view. My friend kept describing the concert she went to to me over Facebook and repeatedly telling me how amazing they are live. I thought it was going to be like The Killers concert I went to a year before. I was way off.

Neon Trees made their way onto the stage one at a time. Tyler went up their last, and that was when everyone started going ballistic. He started hyping everyone up, and then they played the first downbeat. My first thought was that I didn't know this song. My second thought was I didn't really care because it was awesome. This was the kind of music I didn't know I was looking for in the first place. Elaine's drums were the pounding force behind my heartbeat, Branden and Chris's bass and guitar melodies were making me dance (awkwardly, but that's my style), and Tyler got me screaming on pitch to whatever he was singing at the time. It was fun, I was wild, and it was the first time in a while I haven't been able to stop smiling and laughing.

A two-and-a-half hour concert undid years of pent-up emotions, fears, and doubts that kept me from being the crazy, carefree person I knew so long ago. I didn't care that I didn't know how to dance or I didn't know what I was singing half the time; I was having so much fun! Neon Trees isn't the kind of band that shows up, asks the audience how they're doing, plays a few songs, and leaves; they wanted to make sure we left inspired, ready to take on whatever life throws in our face, and know we're not alone.

I talk about Neon Trees a lot to people, and they just think it's a band I'm crazy about because they have good music. They're not just a band; they're THE band that motivated me to not quit on myself when everyone else has and to not let others fall in the same trap.

That's what happened at my first Neon Trees concert. That's the reason why I love Neon Trees.


Author - Wendi 

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