My First Solo Gig Experience // Paramore

Monday 19th June. The day I completely stepped out of my comfort zone and went to a gig on my own.

I feel like I've mentioned this loads on my various social media channels, but last week I went to see Paramore perform in London at the Royal Albert Hall. They were absolutely phenomenal, despite having pretty terrible seats, I had such a great time. Paramore is one of those bands that I have loved forever. As a young emo teenager I was absolutely obsessed and I would have posters of them on my walls ripped from the pages of Kerrang magazine. Paramore was such an iconic band for me growing up and are one that have stuck with me even into adulthood. There most recent album 'After Laughter' was a game changer for me. I loved the sound of the album, it was so different to the music that I related to as a teenager that it was nice to be able to relate and associate a different sound as an adult and it's amazing to be able to differentiate between the two. Hayley Williams is such a complete babe and her stage presence is unbelievable, I would happily marry her in a heart beat.

The main thing I want to talk about in this blog post is the fact that I went on my own. Before the tickets went on sale I asked my friends if they would want to go with me and they all declined. So on the day the tickets went on sale I was torn between not bothering and getting a grip and just going by myself. I decided that my desire to see Paramore perform live was much greater than my pride and embarrassment of going to a gig on my own.

When the day finally arrived I was feeling pretty empowered. I managed to make my way to the Albert Hall on my own (I'm not from London, so finding my way around is still an achievement in itself.) I arrived at the venue with my ticket in hand and I was greeted by my first judgement of the evening. The man checking my tickets first comment to me was 'are you here with anyone?' when I replied that I was there on my own he responded with a look of disgust and a ignorant 'you've come to a gig by yourself?' I finally made it in after far more aggressive checks than I was expecting, I got a drink & some merch and made my way to my seat. After a few minutes my seat neighbours arrived in the form of a girl and her boyfriend, the girl sat down next to me and I could instantly see the dirty looks beginning. After plenty of judgemental stares I heard her not so quietly whisper to her boyfriend: 'I can't believe that girl is here on her own, that's so embarrassing.' I won't lie I felt so awkward that I pretended I didn't hear what she had said even though inside I was desperate to fight her. Once the gig had begun I noticed that she was continuously staring at me and laughing at my dancing, I completely brushed this off as I was having such a good time. It wasn't until after the gig that I recalled that the girl in question spent the entire gig sat down with a face like a smacked arse while the rest of us where having a great time. I'm so glad that I paid no mind to this girls judgement because in the end, despite her bitchiness the only persons evening that she ruined was her own. I had an amazing time, it was so amazing to go somewhere and not have to worry about anyone else, whether they were having a nice time or not. It felt empowering to enjoy my own company, which I feel as a society we don't do enough.

The moral that I came away from this experience is, first of all, don't be a dick. Don't judge other people, focus on yourself and don't try and bring others down, it's unnecessary and in the end it's going to be more detrimental to yourself than others. The other message I've taken from this experience is: fuck it. Don't let anything stop you from doing what you want to do, just because people don't have the same tastes as you doesn't mean that you should miss out. As long as whatever it is doesn't hurt anyone, then go for it. Life is far too short to worry about other peoples opinions of you or to let what people think stop you from doing the things you enjoy. 

Now that I've done this I feel so much braver in terms of doing things on my own. I would thoroughly recommend taking time to yourself and doing things you wouldn't normally do. After all, we came into this world on our own and we will leave it on our own, so we might as well also be comfortable in spending time on our own while we are here. 

What bands would you love to see live?

What are your thoughts on spending time on your own?

What's the bravest thing you've done on your own?

Speak Soon

Char xx