My year of discovering myself

First, I want to say that when I started, I had no idea how many I would go to and that it would become my new hobby or maybe addiction.

I had a hard time thinking of a title for this article. I could have titled it a lot of different ways. A few examples would be my year of freedom. My year of getting over my fear of driving on Highways. My journey through live music.

This article has been a year in the making. I have been to 13 concerts and 2 comedy shows this year. I will tell you my experience of each one.

I should start by saying I had never been to a concert or comedy show before. I started with going to see Jeff Dunham on March 19th. I have watched him for a long time. He is incredible live. The thing I loved about the show is how quick he is on the ad libs. An example is that he just started randomly singing a song and stopped and looked it up and played the whole song. I don't have footage and can’t find it online. I will definitely be going to see him again if I get the chance to.

I started my concert experience with the most packed 4 days of the year. I did not do this again all year. My first ever concert was Paramore on May 25th. I love Paramore. Have since their first album. I was an Emo kid and didn’t know it. I learned where not to sit in this particular arena. It was a good concert. They did a lot of their new album which is good, but I would have preferred more of the older songs. I will say when they did the Twilight song the place went crazy. I would go see them again.

My second concert was with Ed Sheeran on May 27th. This was the best performance of the year. From the stage setup to the performance itself. It was definitely the largest concert of the year. There were over 70 thousand people there. I definitely have a video of this one. I went with a friend. We were up high in a big stadium. I could see perfectly. He did the longest on core of all the concerts. He did all my favorite songs. This is competing for the best overall concert of the year.

The last of the weekend was Dead and Company on May 28th. The Paramore concert and this one I went with my niece. This was not a good show. It took us an hour to get in. They were half done with the first set. This was the first and last time I set on the lawn. A lot of weed smoking and overall, just not a good experience.

The next one was Peter Frampton on June 27th. This was an experience I did not think I was going to get. He has a medical condition that affects his hands. He had stopped touring. He decided to come back because he felt good. This was the closest I have been. I received an upgrade to the second row. This one was for my mom. We both loved him growing up. When he makes the guitar talk it's amazing to see that in person. I hope I get to see him again. This concert is also when I started my solo adventure. From here on I am solo at these events.

Next is another Emo group. Fall Out boy on July 26th. This one was different. It was the first time I had 3 openers and one of them I really wanted to see. It started with someone I didn't know but am now a fan. It was Carr. They had a female lead singer that was LGBTQ friendly and had a blow-up doll that was thrown into the crowd. The opener I wanted to see was Bring me the Horizon. They were great. Fall Out Boy did a great job. Just like Paramore I grew up on their music. I am happy I finally got to see them live.

Next up was Pentatonix on August 15th. This wasn’t a concert. This was an out of body experience. It is incredible what they can do. This is in my top 3 for the year. When they started playing Classical music with instruments that was a new experience that I loved.

The next one is different, because I didn't go to see the headliner. I went to see one of the openers. The headliner was Avenged Sevenfold on September 20th. I went to see Falling in Reverse. I am fairly new to Falling in Reverse, but I fell fast for their music. Seeing them do it live is something everyone should experience. Avenged Sevenfold was ok.

This is the newest artist I saw this year. It was Tate Mcrae on September 25th. The opener was good. They only performed for 25 minutes. It took Tate another hour to come out. In the time we were waiting for her to come out they were playing different songs over the speakers. First time the crowd was singing the songs they were playing over the speakers and some of them they lost their minds. That is what it is like being in a room with all teenage girls. She was sick and trying to get her voice right. When she finally came out. She did a great job. This was the first time I had 2000 girls scream at the same time. That was an experience. I will definitely be going to see her again.

October is another stretch where they are close together. It starts with John Mayer on October 25th. I have to compare this one to the Peter Frampton concert. Both were lowkey and incredible. John Mayer was also sick but did an incredible job. Like Peter he also did not have an opener. Top 3 for sure.

Next was a comedy show. Davi Crimmins on October 28th. It was a good show. There were a lot of good costumes. I went dressed as a girl. That took some work. I finally let that part of me out into the world.

Next was Emo night on October 30th. It was Icon for Hire and Concert Castles. It was a fun night. Some guys took me in for the night.

Next is my first HipHop artist. It was Tech N9ne on November 14th. This one surprised me because of how many white people were there. I think I could contribute that to one of the openers. It was Hollywood Undead. The other opener was King Iso. They were a surprise to me. I started listening to him after the concert. Tech N9ne was great. He did a lot of my favorites.

The next was a little different. It was Mia X Ally on November 18th. They are two individual performers that came together to make music. Ally plays the Bagpipes and Mia plays the electric Violin. We were in a small room and the sound was something to experience. I loved this show. Will 100 percent go see them again.

We have come to the last one. This one was the first one out of state. It was Bone thugs N Harmony on December 18th. This was worth going to another state for. They were my first rap group I listened to. After 30 years I finally had an opportunity to see them. The Hotel was great. Will definitely be staying there again.

That was my year. When I started, I had no idea it would be that many. I learned a lot about myself by doing this. The first and most important, because it saved me a lot of money overall, is that I got over my fear of driving to and in Atlanta. I had never driven on 75 before. Now I am comfortable with it.

Second is that I am perfectly ok with going to concerts by myself.

Third, I am comfortable going to Hip-hop shows as a single white guy. It surprised me how many White people were at The Bone thugs N Harmony concert; I almost want to say there were more White people there than Black people.

The last thing is I went out in public as a woman. I know it was Halloween, but everyone was ok with it. Would they have been if it wasn’t Halloween.I am not sure.

Next year is going to be another good year if I can buy all the tickets and hotel rooms. There are more out of state one's next year. I love that I found what makes me Happy.

Update If I can afford everything, I am 21 shows I want to go to in 2024. I will get to see Peter Frampton and Tate Mcrae again.