If you’ve seen me in the hallway, you’ve probably noticed I always have my headphones in. Most people who know me know I love music of all kinds, from country to Broadway to rap. Music is something that has always been close to my heart, from singing the Dixie Chicks in the car with my dad to screaming front row at the Vance Joy concert with my best friends.

I went to my first concert when I was 15, which consisted of Katy Perry bursting out of the top of a birthday cake and raining the crowd with confetti. Riley from freshman year thought no other concert experience would top that one. As it turns out, I was wrong.

Since seeing Katy Perry at the Sprint Center in 2014, I’ve had several other concert experiences that absolutely blew me away. On February 17, 2015, I arrived at the Midland Theatre an hour and a half before the doors opened and sat on the sidewalk so I could stand in the front row at Vance Joy. It worked, and I swear he looked right at me and smiled as he told me that he could set my world on fire during his song, “Best That I Can.” That winter, I went to Pentatonix at Silverstein Eye Centers Arena for the 2015 Jingle Jam. I never thought I’d see a five person acapella group perform a Michael Jackson evolution piece, but Pentatonix delivered. I’d been listening to Pentatonix since I was in middle school, and being able to finally validate their voices sound the same in person made me the ultimate fan.

The last two concerts that I attended were both in the summer of 2017. Though I would never turn down any concert, I have a special list of concerts I must attend before I die, a concert bucket list, per say. The 1975, an English rock band from Manchester, had been my favorite band for almost a year by the time I went to their concert. The perfectly illuminated stage, the smoke, and the saxophone soloist during “UGH!” made it one of the best nights of my life. From the moment Matty Healy asked the crowd how we were doing to the encore performance of my favorite song, “If I Believe You,” I did not stop dancing and screaming. On the night before the first day of school, I went to Coldplay at the Sprint Center. The entire venue was lit up with glowing wristbands and lasers and Chris Martin’s voice brought me to tears.

Though I feel like nothing will ever top the concerts I’ve already been to, I have a few more concerts I’m planning on attending this year. I’m likely making another appearance when Vance Joy returns in April and I’m trying to talk my mother into letting me tag along to Justin Timberlake in December. If you’ve never been to a concert before, I highly recommend branching out and going to one. Concerts and music have the ability to connect and move people in ways that nothing else can. If you haven’t experienced it yet, do yourself a favor and make your own concert bucket list. You won’t regret it.