Everyone remembers their first concert, right?
It’s the first time you’re surrounded by that many people singing the same songs as you, and the first time the music is so loud that you feel each beat inside your chest.
I mean, it’s great.
And I definitely experienced those things.
But, well, I also experienced a few other things for the first time.
I was like 10, and I was excited and terrified.
I am still pretty claustrophobic and anxious, so the process of getting from the car to my seat at any live event makes me want to die just a little bit.
I don’t think I cried at this concert, but I wouldn’t put it past younger me. So, you know, off to a great start…
Well, I was with my uncle, and we were a little late, which added to my stress (but I was absolutely not thinking about that).
I remember walking into the venue with a brand-new brown Brad Paisley band t-shirt right as Dierks Bentley was playing “What Was I Thinking.”
Now, keep in mind this was in Florida. Tampa to be specific. So, there were drunk people everywhere (and weirder people than normal).
The Taylor Swift concerts I went to after this one were a lot more . . . tame.
Once I was safely in my seat, though, I don’t think I sat down once. I was close to the aisle, so I could dance and jump all I wanted.
It was awesome.
Until I looked over and saw this trail of . . . some sort of liquid run down the slanted aisle. I didn’t think too much of it because we all known people drop water at a concert.
Then, the smell hit most of us.
The sour smell of bile and beer. Luckily no chunks, but yeah, definitely vomit.
It reminded me of kids who vomited next to my table in the lunchroom. I kept waiting for a custodian with that powder to come clean it up.
Nope.
Instead, who came were the paramedics because a girl two rows back had gotten so drunk, she puked and proceeded to pass out.
So, ten-year-old me watched as this girl was loaded onto a wheelchair, head dangling to the side and eyes resembling the Undertaker.
Did I kind of think she was dead? I mean, yeah… kind of.
Was I mildly scarred by seeing what my over-imagining brain decided was a possibly a dead girl? Nah, probably not.
Did I sing so loudly that I had no voice for school the next day? Absolutely, and I felt so freaking cool.
So, yeah, I sometimes think about that girl and hope she’s okay.
And I sometimes think about my uncle profusely apologizing to my mom as she just laughs and says it’s life experience and a story.
Cue the “Alcohol”
