So to say I was excited for my first Meghan Trainor concert is an understatement. I also had second row so that was like an amazing thing for me. And with second row came a meet and greet with either a professional photo or a selfie. But I’ll talk about that later. My Mom and I get to the venue a few minutes before check in, around 3:30pm or so. Check in started at 3:45 and we went to check in to get our meet and greet/soundcheck wristbands. When we went to check in, the lady said we had to have my Grandmother’s ID or for her to be there to actually get the meet and greet that we actually paid for. I used my Grandma’s credit card to buy these tickets, like I usually do with other concerts and usually with meet and greets, they have no problem with me checking in because sometimes it’s under my Mom’s name or my name but we never got this problem before.

It got me really anxious because my Grandma doesn’t know technology that well and I didn’t know if she was working at the time so I was texting her frantically for her to send a picture ID and a picture of her credit card that we used to purchase the tickets. A few minutes later I received the text and finally we went inside. I never felt so nervous in my life where VIP Nation said we had to have the person’s photo ID to have the tickets in our hands. Usually a credit card works fine but for this situation, it wasn’t. And my Mom has the same last name as my Grandma’s and even she couldn’t get us in! (They should at least warned us ahead of time and my Mom was definitely not happy with it because I was becoming nervous more than I usually do for such a small thing that had a really big value to me.)

But eventually around 4:00pm we were lead to the doors that lead us to seating area of the venue. It wasn’t until 4:30 when they actually seated us behind the pit area (where there were seats and where I would be sitting for the concert.) Soon enough Meghan came on and we can see her Dad by the backstage area as well, from the seats. She was so sweet and lovely, as usual. She sang Just A Friend To You to check her ukulele, microphone and stuff like that. Also one of her team members said during soundcheck, she would answer some of our questions and said not to ask her for a hug or anything cheesy like that since she couldn’t come down to the stage.

But Meghan being who she is, she said she could come down from the stage so that she could be closer to all of us which was pretty much the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen an artist do. She answered pretty much every single person’s question there. And some people just had a soundcheck upgrade and didn’t have meet and greet so it was nice that she was able to be one on one with the people who never really had a chance to meet her. I wasn’t really prepared for my question, so I just asked if she liked my shirt and she said “Of course! Yas queen!” I love when she says that haha. Below is also the front and back design of the tee shirt I made on CustomInk. Definitely recommend using them for any tee shirt designs and even if you need something last minute like I did, they are definitely reliable.

(This is the front of my shirt.) 

(And this is the back side.)

Also these were the pictures of our view during soundcheck and when Meghan came down from the audience to answer fan questions. 🙂

Then afterwards, they led us back outside to the lobby area and we got to buy merch and soon enough they led us towards a downstairs area. I’m not really sure what the downstairs area in Radio City is actually used for but I know they probably have a lot of meet and greets down there and maybe that’s where the stars hang out before the show starts? I have no idea myself but now I kind of want to know what it’s for haha.

We were then lined up for meet and greet and my Mom and I asked if I could have her picture since she really didn’t want to take one but they said that I could take a selfie with her and that my Mom would come in for the second picture so I was able to spend more time with her and it was great. She was sweet as always and I don’t remember exactly what she said to me, but I remember the words of “Hi lovely!” and she gave me a big hug. They also said that no one could hug her because she was starting to come down with a cold and that we could only give her a fist bump or something like that. But of course, Meghan being who she is, she welcomed me with open arms and I couldn’t have been more happier in that moment.

I finally fully showed her my full shirt and said “I made it especially for this day.” and then when she saw the back of it she said “Those are my songs! That’s so cool! I love it!” And I was practically beaming. Then I handed her my phone since I knew I was too excited and slightly shaky to take good photos so she took my phone pointed it towards us. Then she said “Ready to take a 100 selfies?” and I replied with “I’m SO ready!”

And she literally did take a hundred selfies on my phone, I kid you not. Technically she took a 104 but it was just so much fun and she was so sweet. Below are some of my favorite selfies we took:

And here is the professional photo with me, my Mom and Meghan:

Then afterwards,  we said bye and I asked for another hug and she gave me one and gah, I just love her hugs so much. Then we got a goodie bag of stuff filled with a signed photo, a VIP lanyard and a diary/journal with her album cover on it. We were able to leave the venue then and went to go get some food a few blocks away and came in a few moments after doors open.

Our view was absolutely incredible. I love being so close to stage when your practically on it and could basically touch it. It’s literally the best feeling in the world being that close to your idol that’s going to be on stage in a matter in hours.

The concert started exactly at 7:00pm and the first opening act, Common Kings came on and they were great, as usual. I saw them live on Fifth Harmony’s Summer Reflection Tour last August in 2015, so I knew their music and they are so much fun live. They’re like a mix of a lot of raggae and also rap music and they know how to put on a show because they are so much fun.

I really want to know the bass guitar players name because he is my favorite member because he is so awesome. We had a moment during one of their songs where he was bopping to it and he saw that I was bopping as well and we were both bopping together and it was so great. To be that close to the stage and have a connect with the artist was definitely one of the best feelings in the world.

The opening act I was really excited for was Hailee Steinfeld. I really wanted to meet Hailee but my Mom said it was too time consuming to have both meet and greets and she didn’t want me to use extra money so I didn’t end up getting to meet her :(. But her set was amazing because she sang all of my favorite songs and at one point she even waved at me! (I was really disappointed when I didn’t get a video of her waving at me so that kind of sucked but I still had an awesome time.) I was sooo happy because I love Hailee so much and she is an awesome artist. Below are some of my favorite pictures I took of her that night as well as a video of one of my favorite songs of hers:

Then Meghan came on at exactly 8:31. I don’t remember exactly when Hailee’s set ended because I was so in the moment, I really wasn’t paying attention to the time. Also, before Meghan came on, one of the security guards came up to me and asked me not to record because the people behind me were complaining (but I really doubt they were because why would they only bother me when people in the pit were recording on their phones and cameras as well.) And he said because I was being good about it he let me take a picture of the setlist and I almost thought he was going to give it to me but I guess not :(. But when the concert started, he didn’t bother me again because he realized everyone else was doing it too so I was like… “Um… okay then Mr.”

Meghan’s concert was absolutely incredible. As well as her band, they were so much fun to hear them play her songs live. She had saxophones, trumpets, drums, piano, guitars and even she played ukulele of course. And throughout the concert, Meghan pretty much waved at me six times as she passed by my seat because I was trying to get her to notice me and it really did work. I didn’t get video much of her doing so but there was one time I got it on video where she was waving at me during Lips Are Movin.

Also the concert felt like you were back in like the 50’s/60’s era. It was so much fun and I was dancing and singing so much. Her dresses too were absolutely beautiful, I loved every part of it. Meghan even had a set of stairs on the stage along with a big screen that was on the stairs in the back of them that showed videos and photos as she sang different songs.

My favorite song live probably had to be Me Too, All About That Bass, Kindly Calm Me Down, Dance Like Yo Daddy and my favorite song of Meghan’s of all time, I Love Me, Better and I Won’t Let You Down. During Dance Like Yo Daddy, she brought her Father, Gary Trainor, up on stage to dance with her during the middle of the song (which she has been doing on pretty much every one of her tour stops which is the coolest thing ever. Gary is absolutely adorable.

One of the reasons why I Love Me is one of my favorite songs by Meghan is because it has a lovely message and it always makes me happy and it’s such an awesome song to dance to. During I Won’t Let You Down, Meghan saw me singing to the song and was singing part of it with me and dancing with me and it was such an awesome moment that I will never forget. (It was by my seat, it wasn’t like I was on stage singing it with her… though I wish that did happen but oh well.)

It was near the end of the concert now and one of my other songs that I really like of Meghan’s called Thank You, she invited fans on stage to dance with her on stage since it is the second to last song before the concert ends. I’m still not sure how they pick people to go on stage with Meghan… it’s still a mystery to me and the world may never know… but I kind of wish I got to go on stage with her and my Mom kept telling me to raise my hand to try to get picked but I was trying to tell her they pick people before hand, not when the actual song goes on. I wasn’t getting my hopes up but I was happy for the people that got to dance on stage with her because it was really fun to watch and also dancing to the song live itself was pretty fun too.

NO was the last song on her set and I really didn’t want it to end because the concert had been amazing and I was literally having the time of my life. When it was finally over, there was a blast of confetti and confetti went absolutely everywhere! It was crazy! I got so much of it and confetti blasting is probably one of my favorite parts of the concert besides the first chills of the concert when the lights go off and everybody goes nuts.

Anyways, below are some photos are some photos I took of Meghan. Below is also a link to my youtube channel where you can watch some videos I posted from the concert and other concerts I’ve been too as well. 🙂

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC81jwieb6rNZ7Sv0f3GCDug/videos

–Zoe 🙂

Finally!!! The day has come where Meghan’s sophomore album, Thank You has finally come! I got to listen to the whole thing for the first time to today and I’m pretty impressed. I love the little ukulele tunes and the really catchy ones as well. There was this event I was invited to by Vevo last Friday to see Meghan perform new songs from her album (that haven’t been released yet at the time) on Monday, May 9th. My Mom had let me take a day off of school to go to the city with her to see her. She was an absolute gem in person. We even got to meet her afterwards and see her walk into the recording studio with her parents and crew!

During the event, she played ukulele and sang three songs acoustically, Hopeless Romantic, Just a Friend To You and NO. They were all great and the best part is, you don’t really get to appreciate an artist unless you see them up close and person in an intimate setting. And all the fans were so lovely to talk too, really. One of the nicest fandoms to be honest.

But anyways, back to the album. I have loved the album since the start with the release of a few singles, NO, Watch Me Do, Me Too, Better, Mom etc, etc. Just hearing these new songs, I wasn’t really sure what to expect with this new album. All I knew was that it was going to be really catchy and insanely amazing. What I love the most is when I heard those acoustic songs of Hopeless Romantic and Just a Friend To You and the exactly the same as the studio version. This morning, I checked to see if they sounded the same as I heard them and they were! I was so impressed and so in love with those songs especially since they both relate to me so much at the moment. Even heard a little violin in one of the songs which was a lovely twist to when I heard the studio version. Everything always sounds so better acoustically and in person because you get to appreciate it more and listen to the lyrics.

From really catchy, to acoustic with ukulele with violins, to slow piano songs and back to catchy, this is everything you could ever want in an album. One of my favorite lyrics is “Meghan says… touch your toes… Oh wait, I can’t touch my toes.” during the song, Dance Like Yo Daddy because I can’t touch my toes either so that made me laugh when I was listening to the song.

Some of my favorite songs are Woman Up, NO, Hopeless Romantic, Just A Friend To You and MOM. Another thing that I love about this album is that she has written a song about her Mom, which most artists don’t tend to do and have much meaning to their music. One of the only other artist that wrote about their Mom is Taylor Swift. But that song could relate to so much meaning who love their Mom’s as much as Meghan sings in the song and its very touching and her Mom is even featured in it! Which I thought was a cute, little twist.

Another song which is I Love Me, is another empowering song for girls because it basically states to love yourself and not care what anyone else things, which is one of the things that Meghan stands for and which is why she’s one of the most important role models for girls and for people in general. If your feeling down about yourself or just need a little upbeat to your day, then I suggest listen to this album because this album makes me happy when I listen to it so maybe it will make other people happy too.

I hate that on iTunes that this album only has three stars because they only base it off of the first singles that are released or the one song that is released when it comes out for pre order because people don’t have the chance to fully listen to the album yet to appreciate it. I know people have their opinions, but I think this album deserves 5 stars. Meghan is such a gem and a genuine person and lovely just meeting her. For those who haven’t listened to it yet, give it a try. You won’t be disappointed. If your reading this Meghan, I love you and hope you celebrate the release of your album for it being number 1 on the charts because it deserves it! Also below, is my picture of Meghan with me and my Mom when I met her at the exclusive Vevo event (that was invites-only). Hope you enjoy Meghan’s album as much as I do! 

–Zoe ❤

Oh my gosh a few days ago, not even, I got an email notification for Carrie Underwood tickets at MSG and I started freaking out because I love Carrie Underwood and she pretty much never comes to New York. Or when she does, I never get to see her. So I basically didn’t do much begging for my Mom to get me tickets because she knows how much I love her and (my Mom does as well) so she said I could get tickets as long as they were seats (because she hates GA.) And the best part is, we have the second best VIP there is besides a meet and greet (I couldn’t get any sadly but oh well :(.) I got the Ultimate VIP where there is a backstage tour (which I’m actually really excited about cause I’ve never done something like that before) and a pre show party and stuff like that. Even though we have upper bowl seats, we’re really close to the stage so I’m really excited for that.

I seriously can’t wait to see Carrie live for the first time in October though. I’m really excited for this concert and she’s singing so many songs from what I’ve seen and she’s singing a lot of my favorite songs as well! And, she killed it on American Idol last night! I was even surprised she was there since she’s touring and stuff like that. But I guess since it was American Idol and that’s how she got her stardum, she pretty much had too. Do any of you guys like Carrie as well? Let me know in the comments below! 🙂

–Zoe 🙂

I’ve been so addicted to Panic! At the Disco lately and I wish I had discovered them sooner. One of their most recent songs, Victorious is what really got me into them. I listen to them on Spotify constantly. If you like Alternative Rock, then this is definitely the band for you. I’m usually the type of person to actually listen to Rock music, but for them, I’ll make an exception. I do love Alternative so I automatically do love them. Brandon Urie, who is the lead singer of the band… god. His vocals are like liquid gold. The range he can go from high to low just amazes me. I definitely do recommend their most recent album, Death Of A Bachelor. My favorite songs in general of theirs has to be Victorious, Golden Days, Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time, The Good, The Bad and The Dirty, Sarah Smiles, Hurricane, House Of Memories (Brandon’s voice damn.) This Is Gospel (Piano Version)… just to name a few. God, they are so good. They are also going on a summer tour this year and I’m going to try to see them in Wantagh, NY at Jones Beach Theater because that concert will be so lit. Also their performance on Ellen got me hooked onto them as well. I’ve heard of them before of course but I just never actually listened to them and I honestly regret it haha. Death Of A Bachelor is definitely one of my favorite albums at the moment. I know I’m probably repeating myself but definitely a recommended album. Even if you don’t like alternative rock, Brandon Urie’s music will just turn you on (not in that way haha) to their music. (And also, they’re really talented) It’s just so hypnotizing. If you like Panic! At the Disco, tell me your favorite songs below! And if you haven’t listened to them yet, here’s your chance to discover an awesome band, enjoy. 😀

–Zoe 🙂

Honestly, I don’t know why people are hating on this song so much (from the reviews I’ve seen on iTunes.) I actually find it quite catchy and as well as a cute song. I haven’t seen the music video yet; but from what I’ve seen, it has that 90’s and Britney Spears vibe to it. It’s not like it’s a bad song… but it could’ve maybe been a little bit better coming from Meghan. I’ve liked Meghan’s first album a lot to be totally honest. Now she’s got a new hair due, new style and a bunch of other new things to really make her second album much different from her first.

I know a lot of stars change from the expectations of their first album to the next and I’m not to judge the album yet because we’ve only got a taste of one song… That’s another thing… Meghan only released one song from this album and the rating on iTunes is 3 out of 5 stars. You can’t just base that off of one song that you hear. For all you know, you may hate or dislike one or two songs and like the rest, it happens. Another thing, I really like the lyrics “My name is… no. My sign is… no. My number is… no. You need to let it go.” I know that’s basically most of the song but it’s quite catchy haha.

I think she’s saying no to a guy that probably came up to her and telling him how original he is by saying these lines “You’re beautiful” just to hook up with her. But she won’t take it and says no. It’s a whole story line behind it along with the lines that she’s independent, wants to have fun and doesn’t need a guy who is probably a jerk to ruin her night. It is a little creative and catchy in my opinion. Though the song might not have the best ratings, it’s still the number one song and music video which I never get while these things happen. A song can have the worst comments and reviews but still manage to make it to the top ten on iTunes.

Also, I think NO has a good message for girls to be a little confident in guys being jerk offs and to not let that bother them. At least that’s what I’m thinking the song is about. What do you guys think about the song? (I’ve already learned most of the lyrics already… whoops.) Below is the music video if you haven’t had the chance to watch it yet. 🙂 (Also seeing clips from the music video… it really doesn’t give the song any justice like at all… I’m sorry Meghan but you could’ve gone better with that one.)

–Zoe 🙂 (P.S…. I actually really love her new hair. It suits her better. 🙂 )

I am sooooo excited and happy Ariana is releasing new music! 😀 I’m also talking about Ariana’s new music because today one year ago, I saw Ariana live for the second time. From Yours Truly to My Everything and now Dangerous Woman, it’s a brand new era of music for Ariana. For those who don’t know, I’ve been an Arianator since 2008 when I saw her in a broadway show called 13 (she was incredible in it btw.) Dangerous Woman is going to rock the charts, I have a feeling. Also a lot of the negative comments about Ariana have been going away for a while (though I still see a few pop up), I think everyone is finally putting that B.S. behind because of new music coming out. Ariana’s new album, Dangerous Woman, is going to be fire. It’s already so different from her previous albums and I feel like a lot of people are going to be going the Ariana fandom soon enough. Dangerous Woman also slays… that’s pretty much all I have to say about that song.

Her vocals are just… god. Did you guys see that SNL performance? She absolutely killed it. (If not, I’ll leave the video down below.) I also finally had the chance to hear Be Alright just now and that’s also another song that I like along with Dangerous Woman. Be Alright has more of a dance vibe while Dangerous Woman has more of an edge to it. I’m trying to find the right words for that song but I’m just not really sure how to put it or explain it. Though I really did like Ariana’s previous album name, Moonlight (especially since her snapchat is moonlightbae), but it’s her decision and I honestly feel like she made the right one.

Also, what I love about Dangerous Woman is that she used the electronic voice with a piano in her song which is also really cool. She has a thing for that sort of stuff with the mimu gloves or whatever they were called when she used them on the Honeymoon Tour and they changed her voice every time she did a hand motion. (I don’t know how else to describe it if you don’t know what I’m talking about, sorry haha.) She seems to have a true talent for that as well.

I don’t even know if Focus is going to be on the album because I think it would’ve showed up on the track names unlike a song title I just happen to see called Let Me Love You (feat. Lil Wayne). Though I’m not really into rap music (besides Jack and Jack though… they’re incredible but getting to the point), I will be very interested into hearing what that song sounds like. Will it sound a little more on edge with slaying vocals like Dangerous Woman? Or be a slowish but really catchy song like Be Alright? Or just maybe have it’s own sound? Tell me in the comments below what you think of Ariana’s new music and weather your a fan or not. Also if you’ve seen Ariana live, leave that in the comments below! Arianators unite! 🙂

P.S.: Isn’t she just killing that outfit in that SNL thumbnail though? 😉

–Zoe ❤

The funny thing about this concert was that I wasn’t originally going to be able to go to this show. But just my luck, they changed the date from a Thursday, to a Sunday and I was so happy because I had a better chance of going. Also, even more luck… I actually won tickets to the show from Live Nation! I never really won a contest before so if I ever win something, I always freak out because I think it’s the coolest thing. So once I knew I was going and had the tickets, I immediately had gotten a meet and greet. I had met Ricky before but I had always, always, always wanted to meet Trevor so now was finally my chance. The meet and greet was a little pricy (at $87 dollars) but you do get a free signed poster, meet Ricky and Trevor and pretty much get early access to the show.

This was also the day after my R5 concert so I was a little exhausted. My Aunt and I waited three hours in line and it was around 6:30 until they let us in. They let my Aunt in even though she didn’t have a meet and greet which was good. We went down a staircase and into this big area. There was also another room with an open entrance and an exit where we would be meeting Ricky and Trevor.

I was soooo excited to finally meet Trevor (since I had met Ricky before at Stream Con) and I’ve been watching Trevor’s videos since his first years on youtube so I was really excited and also a little nervous as well. It was my turn to finally meet them and I handed the person who was taking photos of us my phone so he could take the photo. I hugged Ricky and said “Hi Ricky! I’ve met you at Stream Con before.” I said and he smiled and said “Yeah! A lot of people from here have met me there as well.” He said then I hugged Trevor and I don’t remember what he said but it felt so nice to hug him. We took the picture and just as I leaving, Trevor shouted “I love you!” and then I looked over my shoulder and shouted back “Love you too!” It was great oh my gosh I love him so much. (Trevor: left, Ricky: right.)

Then afterwards we went back upstairs and towards the stage area. My Aunt got to sit while I was basically front row in general admission but all the way to the left but didn’t mind since I had a clear view of the stage. We waited for an hour or so and they were letting more people in to the venue by this point since meet and greet was almost over. I was just lucky I managed to grab a good spot. What I kind of hated though were these slightly obnoxious girls behind me. Not like they were rude or mean or anything like that. It was just that they were singing obnoxiously during the concert and I tried to blocking them out while I was recording but still got their horrible singing voices in the background but that was the only minor thing about this concert, to be honest.

Anyways, it wasn’t until around 8:00 or so  when the lights went out and Trevor came onto the stage. What I loved most about this concert was that they switched every few songs or so and you didn’t know what to expect, so that was the cool and great part about that. He opened up with Let’s Roll and was in the same outfit as his music video for that song and so were his two back up dancers, which I thought was pretty cool. Then, he sang one of my favorite songs called Got Me Feelin’ Like. It was so awesome and so much fun to watch live and in person, seeing Trevor do his thing. He and Ricky have really improved since the last time I’ve seen them at Digifest in 2015.

Then Trevor sang 2 other songs including Now or Never and Slay. Then, it was Ricky’s turn. Ricky came out in a masquerade kind of outfit with a gold mask with a white suit and white pants. His opening song was Lottery from his new album, Gold. Ricky has definitely grown more confident since I had last seen him and it was very cool to watch and watch him have fun on stage. He wasn’t the best dancer, but he was having fun and performing which is really all that matters. Then he sang other songs from Gold including Don’t Wanna Fall In Love and Home Sweet Home. Home Sweet Home is definitely one of my favorite songs of Ricky’s because it’s so sweet and the music video for the song is just perfect and has that homey vibe, hence the song title. Next Ricky sang a more upbeat song called Beat which is also one of my favorites and it was so fun to dance too.

After Beat, Ricky brought up once of his best friends, Shelby Waddell to sing a song called Got Your Back and it was literally the cutest thing ever. You could really see their chemistry on stage and everyone including me loved Shelby and I just thought it was so cute that they did a song together. After that, Trevor then came back on stage. He was wearing this orange prison suit jumper that had fringe on his arms, bringing out a really cool 80’s vibe when I first saw it anyways. It was interesting and different, which was one of the reasons why I loved the outfit so much. His two back up dancers were also dressed as a prison guard with a police uniforms on and then he started singing Alive, his original song from his Alive EP.

It was during Cold Soul (the song afterwards) where one of the dancers dressed up in the same uniform as Trevor (just without the fringe) so there seemed to be a theme going on throughout Trevor’s performances. Then Trevor sang another one of my favorite old songs of his called Echo. It was so adorable because he was having trouble putting a jacket he had to wear during a song that was placed at the end of the stage. And I remember him saying during the concert that he always forgets to wears during that song which I thought was adorable haha. Also, he killed his dance moves because they were just awesome.

What was really the best was that Trevor sang us a new song that he said was being released in the summer called Get Me Through the Night and I have a feeling it was going to be one of my new favorite songs of his because it was totally his song and he owned it so hard oh my gosh. It was also very catchy and enjoyable. Once Trevor was done, Ricky, Trevor and Shelby came out for a 15 minute or so Q+A from where they got questions from twitter. (Ricky would tweet out a hashtag with the city that they were in a few hours before the show and ask for people to tweet questions so they’ll answer them during the show)

That consisted of Trevor and Ricky having a dance off to Fifth Harmony’s new song Work At Home, to a bunch of other silly little things. After that was done, Ricky went back on stage for his set and all the lights were out and Ricky came on stage with a gold jacket, with the hems of it glowing with yellow lights, sunglasses, a tie that would light up by the sound of his voice (which I thought was pretty cool) and little strobe lights on the bottom of his sneakers for his song called Problematic. It was basically a little light show in the dark while Ricky sang which made it have a cool effect to the performance. When he took off his jacket, he was wearing a black short sleeved tee shirt and started to sing another song called Fight and Battle.

I loved their choices in songs and I was actually pretty happy that they didn’t sing any covers and just sang their own songs so it was basically their show if you get what I mean. My favorite part of Ricky’s set was when he sang one of his first songs called Ordinary. He looked so happy and the whole crowd was singing the song, it was great. Then Ricky’s final song was Gold and I just love that song so much, it was amazing.

Then, the last part of the show was Ricky and Trevor singing a song that they did together called Steal the Show. It was honestly one of the best part of the show to be honest. It was so awesome seeing Trevor and Ricky performing together and I really hope they have more songs and tours together in the future. Overall, the concert was really a lot of fun and my Aunt enjoyed it as well. I was so happy I won tickets to the concert and they changed the date from Thursday to Sunday or else I wouldn’t have been able to go. I loved Ricky and Trevor’s outfits as well, including how they changed Trevor to Ricky to Trevor to Ricky and so on and so forth. It was honestly a fun show and though they ended their tour tonight (3/12/16), if they ever go on tour again, you should definitely go to one of their shows. Below, are my videos from the show including two of my favorite songs Trevor and Ricky’s sets.

–Zoe 🙂 ❤

This is the day my friend (Alanna) and I have been waiting for soooo long. We had bought the tickets in June of last year. What we were really happy about is that we got meet and greets for R5 and their brother, Ryland (who is a DJ and the opening act for R5) only two or so months before. R5 thankfully had released more meet and greets for each of their shows for the rest of the tour which we were so thankful for. R5 meet and greets are really impossible to get unless your fast as lighting. (Side note: R5’s meet and greet was $149 but on Ticketmaster with a ticket, it was $200 plus dollars so we did save on some money. Ryland’s meet and greet was only $75.)

So it’s the day of the concert and check in is supposed to be from 3:30 to 4:15pm. We get to the Beacon there around 2 or so because we had left at 1. We didn’t know how much traffic there was going to be and we were lucky not to get into any. So we get there and wait in line for an hour and half. (Also for two lines for meet and greet and soundcheck and a separate line for just soundcheck. But if you had Ryland’s, you could stay on either.) So eventually about thirty minutes or so about waiting in line, they give out wristbands. R5 had a pink meet and greet experience wristband and Ryland’s was blue. They were colored coded by the different places you were in line and if you just had soundcheck, you had a yellow wristband.

It was 3:40 or so when they let us into the venue. I’ve been to the beacon theatre many times before but this was my first time doing a meet and greet there. For those who haven’t been there, there is a huge lobby with concession stands around it with merch stands and things like that. Then there is a big staircase that leads up to the upper balcony. So they lead us up to the upper balcony and we wait on the stairs until we can see it moving around 4:00 or so.

When it was my friend and I’s turn, we were freaking out slightly but so excited to meet them again and we weren’t expecting them to remember us or anything like. Alanna and I hugged Rydel and Ellington since they were the first to greet us and then I hugged Ross, Riker and Rocky. They asked how I was and thanked us for coming to the show. The first thing we were going to tell them was that we met them on Kelly and Michael and Rydel said “Yeah! That was definitely a fun day.” And they obviously didn’t remember us which is okay because they meet thousands of fans everyday, its hard for just a few fans to stand out and be remembered.

We did a regular pose first and we were going to do the hand heart one but then decided not to do it (even though I kind of wanted too) and the next pose, was to do a pretend selfie. Oh yeah! A girl behind us while waiting in line took a video of us meeting them so we also have that. So Alanna asked for one of them to take the selfie since they’re much taller than us and Ellington took her phone and said “Not actually taking a selfie.” And took like a bunch and of course Riker didn’t know that it was a selfie and was looking into the actually camera instead of the phone (oh Riker…). 

Then right after the meet and greet, we went back downstairs and into soundcheck. You can basically sit anywhere in soundcheck (which I love) so we chose second row center. But for Ryland’s soundcheck, we were up against the stage but the staff didn’t want anybody standing when R5 came on so we all had to sit back down. (I was also in Ryland’s snapchat 3 times it’s was so cool.) Then we can see R5 coming in from the back of the theater and they climb on the stage. Ross had trouble getting onto the stage and it was the cutest thing. (I also recorded all of soundcheck but I have to figure out how to upload it onto youtube because it’s apparently to long to upload for my account.)

The only one that showed up late was Ellington we were all like “Where’s Ellington?!” But until Ellington came, Ross sang a cover of Can’t Say I’m In Love and god his vocals are so perfect for that song, he was killing it. Then Ellington finally came a little bit after that and they started singing Summer Nights from Grease. Rydel was doing the high pitched voice background and it was so cute, I loved it. They also sang their own song called What You’re Missing and I’ve actually grown to a liking of that song (because I didn’t like it at first) and I still wish they had put it on their set but sadly they didn’t.

After soundcheck, a lady was saying into a microphone instructions on where to go to Ryland’s meet and greet but we also had to get our R5 VIP merch. They cut off our R5 meet and greet wristbands and we told the lady in charge that we had Ryland’s meet and greet and she was all panicked and said “Why didn’t you tell me before? I made an announcement about it!” We apologized and said we couldn’t hear it and she rushed us back upstairs to where Ryland’s meet and greet was.

What was a little disappointing was that we couldn’t do the backstage tour and check out his DJ equipment which was part of the meet and greet… but I guess that so many people got the meet and greet more than most cities, they couldn’t allow forty plus people on stage. We were like the second to last people to meet Ryland because there were two other girls that were late as well. Mark, (their Dad and tour manager) gave us our tee shirts.

Ryland was so chill and asked us for our names (but we met him individually) and got to take a selfie with him as well as a regular picture. We were hanging out for a while after that, not really sure what to do but then we asked Mark if we can have some pizza (since there was some left) and he said “Of course you can!” Then Ryland asked everyone if we can get into a group shot but there was so many people the photographer couldn’t fit everyone in (mind this that we are in a middle of a decent sized hallway so he doesn’t have much distance to take the photo.) So he takes a video on Ryland’s snapchat which is pretty cool to me. The photographer also takes the photo but not everyone is in it but Alanna and I were in it which was the good part. 

After the pictures, Ryland did a little q and a with everyone as much as he could and then it was time to leave and we still had our pizza with us. (Also with Ryland’s meet and greet you get a tee shirt that you order with the meet and greet.) Then we went and got R5 merch since we still had time before the concert actually started. The prices were pretty decent, $30 dollars for a tee shirt and $60 for a sweater and they also sold their DVD and CD signed and not signed and a little things as well. I ended up with three tee shirts, a hoodie and a wristband.

We finally get to our seats and they were soooo great. We had isle seats, row 10, orchestra 2 and they were awesome! It was more to the side but it was still a good view of the whole band. It was exactly at 7 o’clock when Ryland came on stage. He literally took the house down. The music was blasting from the DJ booth, playing songs and remixs of Hello by Adele and Hotline Bling by Drake. He also played a lot of popular songs that pretty much everyone knew since they were on the radio 24/7.

The lights made you feel like you were in a night club and it felt like an actual party. Nobody stopped dancing and for Hello, everyone had their phone flashlights out, waving them back and forth and it looked absolutely beautiful. One of the coolest parts was when Ryland stood up from his DJ booth and jumped off it and started dancing. Also, Ryland did play both of his two original songs, Fall Back In Love and Take Me There.

Next up was Max Schiender. I haven’t really heard his music before but I knew him from a couple of movies such as Rags and other things I’ve seen him in. What I was really impressed about Max was his dancing. Even while dancing like a maniac, he wasn’t even out of breath, it was quiet amazing.

Max also definitely has a higher range for a male and sang these unbelievable high notes. He also had these pretty sick rainbow lights that shined down. I don’t remember if he sang his new songs or songs from his current album or both.

After that, we waited not too long before We Are Family started playing around the theatre and you knew that’s when R5 was about to come on. When they finally did come on stage, the crowd eruppted with screams and it was one of the loudest screams you’ll ever hear in your life. They opened up the show with Heart Made Up On You from their Heart Made Up On You EP along with All Night.

One of my favorite songs of the night definitely had to be Cali Girls. It was so much fun and such a popular R5 song. They even surprised us by singing I Want U Bad which hasn’t been part of their setlist for a while so I was happy they sang it. My all time favorite R5 songs are I Know You Got Away, Easy Love and Wild Hearts. I didn’t know what order they were going to be in but having them almost back to back was incredible.

They were so energetic on stage and the whole crowd was singing along, it was great. One of my favorite parts was when their sister, Rydel, sang her song Lightening Strikes because we got the best video of her. Then after Lightening Strikes was Wild Hearts and F.E.E.L G.O.O.D and one of their other popular songs (I Can’t) Forget About You. One of my favorite songs that night definitely had to be Always and Did You Have Your Fun? Always was an old song that Riker had wrote and he sang it on stage with Ross and Rocky while Ross was playing the guitar, Rocky on bass and Riker on the piano. I love Riker’s voice so to hear it in a whole song was amazing. The best though, was when Riker licked his bass during Did You Have Your Fun? and I got it on video and just gah. Why does he have to kill me?

For the encore, in the beginning of Loud, Ross sang it acoustically before the chorus came in and let’s just say it was very loud haha. The next sang they sang was a cover of All These Things I’ve Done by The Killers. I listened to the original, but I really did like R5’s version better because Ross’s voice really fit with the song. Then the last song they sang was Smile and I was definitely smiling throughout the whole song. At the end of the concert, I could barely hear and couldn’t feel a thing it was great.

Overall, the concert was great and I didn’t stop dancing one single moment. If you want to go to a concert where it feels like you’re at one big party with a lot of fun, then definitely go to an R5 concert. Their tour is sadly ending in a few weeks and they said they wouldn’t be touring for a while, so see them while you can! Definitely can’t wait for their next tour 🙂 <3. Below are my videos from the concert such as Cali Girls, Lightening Strikes (Ft. Ellington’s Drum solo) and Did You Have Your Fun? 🙂

–Zoe 🙂

Finally, I am fully up to date on most of the events I’ve been too in 2015 and now updating you guys on the events I’ve been too so far at the beginning of 2016. For those who don’t know, Gavin Becker is a 17 year old singer-songwriter from Pennsylvania who started uploading covers on youtube. He’s been touring a little bit lately and has opened for Jack and Jack. He’s also been at some cities for Digifest and Digitour and had a few solo shows of his own as well. This was one of his first headlining shows in New York City.

There were three type’s of VIP’s, Platinum, Gold and Silver. Platinum got to have a two hour backstage hang out, soundcheck and a pizza party with Gavin (which was 80 dollars). Gold had the same thing expect for an hour and a half. Silver was only a meet and greet but still got to spend some time with him. I got Platinum which was $80 and it was pretty worth it if you ask me. Most meet and greets are even more than that and you only get five seconds with some artists. We got to be two hours with him!

So VIP started around 11ish and I had gotten there just before that time. Gavin was so sweet and took pictures with fans who were waiting in line before we were let in.  He was so sweet and awkward it was adorable. My Dad was waiting in line with me so he took the picture for me. His younger sister, Lily was outside as well and talking to fans. Her and Gavin took a Polaroid picture together in front of a metal wall in between the Studio and Marlin room, it was adorable.

Then we were let inside and we handed the people at the door our tickets and they gave us VIP laminates saying “Gavin Becker Platinum.” (This concert was at the Studio at Webster Hall by the way.) It was one of the tiniest venues I’ve ever been in but it was comfortable and cosy. The atmosphere was friendly and there were girls with there Moms and some girls alone, like me. Gavin talked to every one of us for a long time and took selfies and regular pictures with everyone. (And obviously the first thing I did was buy merch. I bought a tee shirt and a hoodie and only had five dollars left… whoops.)

A little background, when Gavin was doing a YouNow one night (basically a livestream) he didn’t know how to pronounce my twitter username, which is @alrenjaurnandez for those who don’t know ;). So when I met him, I told him this: “You know Fifth Harmony right?” I asked and he nodded. “So it’s my favorite members of the band, Lauren and Ally. It’s basically both of their names combined.” Then he said “You know, you should put that as your pinned tweet so people don’t ask you that question all the time.” And of course I did as I was told and to this day it is still my pinned tweet haha.

Then Gavin’s Mom, Kari, wanted a picture to take a picture of all of us and said “I want to take a picture of all you girls!” And then she took a picture after a while, it was still pretty chill and we were watching Gavin soundcheck. He sang his original song Bedhead and a cover of Cake By the Ocean by DNCE. His Mom also went around to everyone and talked to them as well. When she came over to me, she said “Have you met Gavin before?” and I replied “No actually. I was going to meet him at Digifest but I was over by the Main Stage while he was performing at another stage and couldn’t get to him on time. It was a mob scene there.” “Yeah, it was pretty crazy. Hey, you heard about this thing about Gavin inviting some girls on stage during the set?”

When she had said that, my eyes lit up and I nodded my head. Gavin had tweeted about and posted it on snapchat a few days before the concert. “Yeah I’ve heard about that!” “Well, during Gavin’s set, you’ll see me and I’ll tell you to come to me so you can come on stage with him.” I thanked her so much for the lovely opportunity and gah I was just so in shock I didn’t think that would actually happen. I don’t remember much after that but I also remember taking another picture with Gavin at some point. 🙂 

Then they told us to move towards the stage so that they could let more people in. It was until 2:30 when the concert finally started. Also, before the concert, Gavin came on stage quickly and told everyone that if they buy merch to go to his Mom so that they might have a chance to go on stage with him. So then everybody ran and it was hilarious. Then Nick Cincoctta (who is a rapper), the opening act for Gavin, finally came on stage. I have to say I was pretty impressed with Nick. His show was full of energy and never stopped even for a single second. He was sweating like crazy and was very energtic. He bought guests on stage who were rappers too and rapped with him.

Also, there were two amps on the stage and whenever they would put their foot on the amp, Nick’s knee would come right in my face and a girl behind me kept poking his knee (cause he had ripped jeans) just to touch him. He had sang all original songs and I have to say he was really talented. At the end of Nick’s set, some people came on stage and started throwing wristbands into the crowd and handed out Nick’s CD. I managed to grab both was really cool.

After Nick came on Artie Babz. I never heard of him before but he did but he did do a few covers and sang a new song as well. My favorite cover that Artie sang was One Call Away by Charlie Puth.

It wasn’t until 3:00ish until Gavin came on stage. The crowd went crazy and he had the biggest smile on his face, it was the cutest thing ever. Gavin sang a lot of covers that he loved as well as what other people had known so the crowd would enjoy it as well. We were all singing a loud quiet loudly which made me happy because Gavin was happy.

A few more covers into the show and then I couldn’t really hear what Gavin was saying since the fans were screaming so loudly behind me but on the left side of the stage, I see Gavin’s Mom pointing at me and some other girls in the crowd and then I point at myself to make sure she is looking at me and she nods. My eyes widened as I realize it’s that time of the show where Gavin is inviting fans on stage to sing to. I start freaking out and was so excited and nervous as I walk my way through the crowd towards Kari’s side (that’s his Mom’s name.) I ask where do I put my stuff (since I have so much with me) and I put it on the stairs by the side of the stage. I almost trip on all the wires that were connected to the microphones and guitars because there were so many and I really didn’t want to trip so I had to lean on the guitarist to keep my balance (it was a little embarrassing but I didn’t want to be to embarrassed.)

I then had my phone out and Gavin started to play one of my favorite songs of his called Falling Slowly and I was so happy that I got it on tape. My legs were shaking from my nerves since I was standing on stage with five other girls and in front of 200 or so people in the crowd but it was so worth it and I was so happy I didn’t make a fool of myself. Then he started singing the song and it was literally the coolest thing to ever happen to me. He even did the cutest thing by singing instead of “Falling slowly for you girl.” He sang, “Falling slowly for you girls” since there was more than one, making everyone laugh.

Then after the song was over, he hugged us all at the end and then I went back to my spot that some girls around me before had saved for me. I was just happy they didn’t take my spot. After that, Gavin sang covers of Sorry and Love Yourself by Justin Bieber as well as his original Bedhead and Until You Were Gone. Even more covers like Cake By the Ocean, Pompeii and Four Five Seconds. He even teased us with a brand new song called Last December, it was fantastic.

One of the last songs Gavin sang, was a song of his called Scars. Before the concert, a girl handed out paper hearts that said “I for sure believe in you.”

He was smiling during the whole song and everyone was singing along. Then he collected all of the hearts and little paper things people were holding up during the concert. Overall, it was an amazing experience and I’ll only probably get VIP for Gavin because it’s so much fun and you get to hang out with him for such a long time. Even though its $80, it is so worth it. Below, is my video of me on stage and Gavin singing Falling Slowly to me and four or five other girls (I’m not really sure I remember how many girls were on stage with me haha.) Also you should definitely look up Gavin on youtube and tell me what you think! I also uploaded most of his concert videos on my youtube channel (Zoe D) so you can check those out as well.

–Zoe 🙂