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Vivian Barber (12) and Amy Screechfield (11) attend a Pitbull concert, and Charisma Le (12) and Chelsea Wee (12) attend a Keshi concert. Photo credits:Vivian Barber and Chelsea Wee.
As the loud screams boomed throughout Oakland Arena, Charisma Le, among many others, anticipated the South Korean boy group SEVENTEEN to emerge onto the stage. From seeing your favorite artist for the first time live to meeting new people, a concert is an experience of a lifetime.
Charisma Le, a senior at Encinal, is one of the many students on campus that enjoy going to concerts. Starting off hot, having gone to a total of 7 concerts within the past 8 months, from KCON SF (STAYC and To1), TWICE, Keshi, Niki, CIX, and SEVENTEEN, she offers a piece of advice to first time concert goers. “Go with people that you’re friends with,” said Le.
For many, going with the best people is not a component that is overlooked as it offers a bonding experience in itself.
“It’s just fun, it’s a good time,” said Le. “My brother and I went together, and it was our first concert together.”
Concerts not only bond you with the people you attend with, but by the end of the night, it has brought a community of fans even closer together than ever before. Along with Charisma, other students have a similar take on the concert scene.
“They allow you to meet people with shared interests and get out of your comfort zone,” said Junior Z’haria Anderson. “It’s kind of like you're in a new world for a night which is fun.”
Anderson had gone to see Joji, a Japanese singer, popularly known for his hit song, ‘Slow Dancing in the Dark’ in San Francisco during September. The junior had a great time with her friends and saw some people from Encinal as well.
Junior Amy Screechfield had also attended a Pitbull concert recently.
“He had such a good stage presence, I especially liked the background dancers and that he introduced each song,” said Screechfield.
Although concerts are typically a great time, there's always a little bit of bad to the good.
This is especially the case when concert tickets can be hard to come by.
“I hate buying tickets, it’s like hell on Earth,” said Le.
Concert tickets, specifically those headlined by high demand artists are hard to grab, not including the competition to get the best seats for the clearest view.
General admission is a common seating style arranged on a first come, first served basis. With that, it can result in long periods of waiting in line but that doesn’t always guarantee a good spot in the crowds.
“I wouldn't say I've had a really bad experience with the concerts I've been to,” said Le. “Maybe CIX only because it was general admission so it was hard to see over people’s heads.”
However, a particular artist among the many who made Le’s ticketing experience worth it was SEVENTEEN, who is known for their elaborate live performances.
The thirteen member group hit the stage in the Bay Area, at their Oakland leg of their world tour, Be The Sun on August 14, 2022. Long awaited, Charisma got to see one of her favorite artists live with her best friend before kicking off her senior year.
“SEVENTEEN are really good performers and it was really cool to see them in person. They’re also really entertaining during the mentions.”
Judy Zhen contributed to this article