On Monday, Nov 8th, my life reached its highest point. It's all down hill from here to be honest.
I WENT TO THE HARRY STYLES CONCERT!
When I first decided to come to Lewis & Clark, the first thing I did was look up any dates for Love on Tour in Portland. Originally, I read Harry was supposed to be in Portland on August 18th - MY BIRTHDAY! Sounds great, right? NO. Before I knew I'd be able to get the vaccine back home on time, I expected to be quarantining, starting August 15th. Meaning I would be in the same city as my favorite artist and performer, on my birthday, quarantining.
But thankfully, things just work out somehow. Harry's shows were rescheduled due to COVID to brand new dates, and I even managed to get the vaccine on time. First thing I purchased in the US (besides groceries), was the Harry Styles ticket all the way back in September. Of course, it's Harry Styles, so they were all sold out, and I had to risk it, buying the cheapest resale tickets I could find (thank you SeatGeek <3). I was shaking in my bed contemplating is it worth it in my bed for almost two hours. I risked it spending half the money I came with, because in the end, mr. Styles is always worth it. The stress really kicked in when I couldn't accept the ticket transfer because the Ticketmaster website was blocked for our dorm wifi, and I was convinced I screwed up and would never see that money again. Protip: just use your data and you will be able to enter the website. I had the luck of the tickets tranferring right away.
Then came a two month wait period. I used it to get the perfect outfit, find people on campus to ride with (shoutout to Audrey!), and learn the songs (I'm lying, I knew them all). I was completely ready for my nosebleed section 310, row A., seat 3.
To begin, here's my look:
The high heels were the biggest mistake of my life, but I will get to it. The cherry necklace is there of course because *Cherry*, and the rest is just the vibe. Huge thank you to the friend who did my make up, it is perfection. When we got there, we got some overpriced merch of course (I have to spend my paycheck somewhere), and one of them included a 32 oz, TPWK bottle:
Coming on time for the Jenny Lewis performance, I settled into my seat with my merch resting behind me on the seat. I got a little cold and tried to cover up with my coat, pulling it out from my seat, which in turn whipped out my bottle and LAUNCHED IT INTO THE SECTION BELOW ME. Horrified I jumped up to see where it went, and saw I had hit a girl in the head (I am so sorry). Giving me a 'The hell?' look she just placed the bottle on the floor and went on and about with her life, which is fair. But I was not letting this bottle go. So I set out on a mission to get it back. First I walked for a while looking for someone to help, and finally an employee told me section 209 was below mine. So, logically, I went to the 200 floor, carrying my high heels and running barefoot. I made it to 207, before realizing the next one was 210 - what?! Again, I searched for an employee, who told me the entrance to 209 is on the 100 level, so I continued running barefoot through an arena, missing people and counting down minutes until 9pm, reasuring myself I will make it. The second I found it, Jenny Lewis was done and songs started playing. Olivia by One Direction was blasting through the speakers, so of course I had to dance and search at the same time.
For the life of me, the girl I saw was nowhere to be found, so I started approaching random people asking 'Hey, did I drop something on you?'. Let's not even talk about the looks I was getting... 8:50 rolled around when I FINALLY FOUND IT! With God on my side, I made it just a few minutes before the concert actually began.
The best concert ever is what followed. Though I was not sitting with anyone I knew, I danced and sang with the girls on each side from me, but honestly mostly by myself. I felt like it was a VIP experience of playing music in my room when nobody is watching. Nothing is going to come close to this, unless I go to another Harry concert. Somebody got engaged at the concert! And Harry dedicated Fine Line to them, and the moment was so perfect that I couldn't even be jealous. Also, he told a girl to NOT give a second chance because he was controlling, so we all screamed BYE, BYE! Here are some pictures to give you a bit of the experience:
Nosebleed or not, this was the best experience I got from any concert ever. Afterwards, I ran through pouring rain barefoot trying to catch the train. Hence, please never wear heels to a concert, it is so NOT worth it.
I am thankful for this night, and the fact my dreams are coming true, I was reminded of that the moment I saw this man on stage, and it is a beautiful feeling, I promise.
