Posted by If you’ve gotten to know me over the past 4 years or so you’ve seen a slight hint of my fangirl. (Slight being the keyword here. You haven’t seen anything yet.) Whether it be with rap artists, or with boy bands (which I’ve been more open about recently). If it wasn’t already clear to those on the outside looking in that when I love something I love hard, & that comes with anything that inspires or moves me in such a way…
One Direction was one of those things that I had grown to love because let’s face it, the boys were talented. Not only that, the group had allowed me to relive my NSYNC days all over again but how I wish they would’ve gone. From the trips between San Diego & Los Angeles to discovering new bands, to overall bonding with my little sister over music; the adventures & memories we’ve have been able to create over the years are remarkable & in reality, helped us tolerate each other that much more.
Whether you take that as an excuse for my love for boybands at my age or not, for me it’s more of an explanation to the madness that runs through me when their songs play. When One Direction began their hiatus (which was only supposed to last one year by the way), it was like NSYNC breaking up all over again. As each member began to work on their own endeavors I kept close tabs on what each member was up to for a while.
As the fangirl in me began to slightly fade as I got heavily wrapped up in other music genres, there was one member I was constantly aware of simply because he was my sister’s favorite. Since the band started, Niall Horan had always been the one for her, & continues to be now that the band is (currently) no more. When Niall released his ‘Flicker’ album we were both familiar with how the rollout would work; a few promo runs, some music videos, & then a tour announcement. As everything panned out as we thought it would, the time came for us to purchase tickets & we began our countdown to August of 2018.
The perfect way to kick off my sisters birthday a week early, especially since we had already created some great memories at The Greek… Sort of. The last time we found ourselves at that venue it was about 100 degrees in the middle of July (I think it was July), & we were trying not to pass out while we waited to meet Shawn Mendes.
As we made our way to the venue from the parking lot we did as we usually do; vlog a bit, take pictures, & prepare to make our way in. As I went through security the lady that was searching through my bag said no cameras were being allowed in for the show that night. After arguing with her for a bit as politely as possible, she explained it was a particular rule for tonight’s show only. So I took my ‘L’ & walked my camera right back to my car. As we entered the venue again with another slight delay (I had to throw away my pepper spray. SMH.), we finally got in, bought merch, took more photos & made our way to our seats.
We found our seats just as opener Maren Morris was finishing her set. The drummer of One Direction had been spotted searching for his seats on the lower level & the excitement from fans along with bitterness towards the ones who didn’t recognize him grew around us; I suddenly remembered how long it had been since I was so annoyed at a show. Luckily the energy died down & changed as the fans around us became overwhelmed with excitement as the stage began to be prepared for Niall.
As the lights went out glimpses of light from cell phones appeared, & the screaming began as Niall hit the stage to open up with his track, “On the Loose.”
He performed his little heart out & seemed genuinely thankful to be performing at the Greek. Even stating it had been a dream for him to perform at the venue since he had found out about music. Explaining to the crowd that because of us fans, he’ll now be able to mark performing at the Greek off his bucket list.
As the show went on, he performed right on through his ‘Flicker’ album. Fans knew every word, of course, moving in unison when he waved, & screaming when he did his little kick. My heart nearly exploded when he began to sing One Direction’s ‘Fools Gold,’ & I didn’t hesitate in joining the crowd in singing along. I truly felt like one of the happiest girls in attendance, I have no doubt others felt the same way. In between his set he spoke of living nearby, first, it was 20 minutes away, then changed to 15. He spoke of the legend Tom Petty, & covered his track “Don’t Back Down” during the show as well.
Although I never actually stopped being a fangirl, it’s been years since I’ve logged into my fangirl Twitter account. To be honest, I think I deactivated it but nonetheless, I had no idea that the fans still put together little projects for each show. That night during Niall’s performance of his track “Firefly”, the crowd turned on their lights & lit up the venue by color & section. The far right had green paper hearts, the middle had white, & the left had orange; visually creating the colors of the Irish flag for our favorite lad. It looked beautiful & Niall thought so too, it was a great moment to witness.
As artists usually do, he interacted with the crowd in between songs & expressed how grateful he was to be performing not one, but two soldout shows at the Greek. “Tonight is very special,” he said during one of those breaks. “I was nervous to come out tonight, it’s such a big deal. Warner Brothers are filming the entire show.” The crowd roared with screams, & suddenly the bitterness of not being able to bring my camera in faded, as that had to be the reason why they were being strict for the night.
Before continuing his set, he introduced the band & let the crowd know where they were from. Most were from England, one from Ireland if I remember correctly (I’m sure a diehard fan will correct me if they’re reading this.) One member to be exact had never been to the U.S. before! “You’re making dreams come true here!” he said to the crowd as we all screamed back at him.
The show came to a close & the lights went out after his last song. We all knew Niall was going to return since he hadn’t performed his hit single “Slow Hands,” yet some people in the crowd began to leave. I never understood why anyone did that… I guess some people like to sit in the parking lot longer than others. *shrugs* Anyway, my sister & I stayed because that’s what true fans do. (Hehe.) As Niall returned to the stage like we knew he would he began to sing One Direction’s “Drag Me Down” & it gave me goosebumps! I can’t put into words how happy I was to hear not one, but TWO One Direction songs that night. It was wonderful to hear those tracks again live.
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As the show ended he thanked the crowd, & we began to exit the venue… Over the years I’ve attended many concerts & one thing that has always stuck with me is how music truly has no age. There was a pretty decent age gap between myself & more than half of the fans at the Greek that night, yet I was there having just as great a time as them with them. Music also brings countless people together, heck, the most important people in my life were brought to me because of our love for music… And despite all the hurt fans have gone through with the breaking up of our favorite boy band, the support fans continue to carry for each member & each other is tremendous. To many more years of enjoying our faves live out their dreams as they inspire us to live out ours! *cheers*
I hope you enjoyed this blog post! I’ve really had a blast tapping into my inner fangirl like the good old days. Feel free to hit me via social media to fangirl some more or ask any questions… Also, you can watch my latest vlog from the show is below! Liking & sharing is much appreciated! 🙂
Irene Guerrero | GigglesIrene.com 