When I think of the concert I’m going to talk to you about, there are three things that come to my mind.
1. Girls screaming all around me.
2. Someone spilling their drink on my T-shirt.
3. A lot of crying happening.
Now, you might think, based on what I just told you, “What a terrible night”. Well, it wasn’t. Yes, by the end of the night I ended up being half deaf, smelling like Pepsi, and with red eyes and wet cheeks. But all of that was part of the fun.
To put some context to this story, you need to know what a big fan I was of Justin Bieber. I knew every song there was to know, and half of his life (although my sources were teen magazines and what I could find on the internet, so I don’t know how true was all the information a read back in the day).
He’d come to Chile once before —2011 I think— and presented at the National Stadium, but since I was only twelve years old in that moment and the money my parents gave me could only buy me one candy per week at the local supermarket, my options of paying a ticket for the concert were none.
I remember crying in front of the TV every time the news mentioned anything from the concert. The tears were half from heart and half to manipulate my parents so they would buy me a ticket. They never gave in, and I didn’t go.
Two years passed, and a lot of things changed in that period of time. I was more aware of how to spend my money, and I had discovered the best way to talk my mom into something I wanted and not being rejected on the first try.
The news was, once more, this big concert that would have Justin Bieber as the protagonist. It took some time and a lot of home chores, I’ll admit, but I finally convinced my mom who convinced my dad to buy me a ticket.
The plan was getting a good seat. Maybe not in the first row, but something reasonable. Sadly, by the time my parents decided to give me the money, all the best seats had sold out. I ended up getting the cheaper seat, with the worst view to the stage, but I didn’t let that embitter my mood. I was going to meet Justin Bieber after all (with a distance of countless meters in between), so it was all worth it.
Sharing that moment with so many people that were as passionate as I was for his songs was the best part of the night. Hearing thousands of voices coming together, singing their lungs out. It felt right.
Even though I don’t like him anymore, I still recognize the value of that concert. It made me feel excited and happy, and nervous and shocked all at the same time. It also showed me I could be part of something, that I could connect with people and people could connect with me, and that it shouldn’t be complicated.
That night will stick with me for years.
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