Concert Survival 101

Concert Story Time: All Time Low Made Me Cry

On November 22nd 2015 me, my little sister, uncle, and aunt bought some last second tickets to see All Time Low in New Jersey. I had just seen the boys two days before, but when I found out that they were playing Put Up Or Shut Up in full I just had to go. 

When we first got to the venue STD was playing and the building was PACKED. I'm 99% sure that the show was over sold and the venue was over its capacity. I made my way through the crowd and found a spot for me in the back. I knew that eventually I would get to the front with a little shoving and pushing. 

About an hour of waiting the lights came down and All Time Low took the stage. The crowd that night was extremely rowdy and wild. I was shoved from the very front of the crowd to the back in seconds. During Weightless a circle pit opened up and guys randomly started hopping on each others backs. It was insane and I loved every second of it. During the break between FH songs and PUOSU songs I actually ran into a singer from this local band I know. He remembered me and we took selfies which was pretty rad. 

Half way through the show ATL started playing Put Up or Shut Up songs. They opened with Coffee Shop Soundtrack which was freaking amazing live. Running From Lions is one of my ultimate favorite songs and hearing it live was a dream come true. When I was crowd surfing during Break Out Break Out I got to the front and asked Alex for his guitar pick. He handed it to me mid air and I somehow held on to it. Then after I was walking back into the crowd Jack pointed at me and we did a little dance together. It was pretty cool and I was SO happy that I finally got my hands on Alex's pick. 

After the PUOSU section they began to play Future Hearts songs. They got to the song and Alex gave a lovely speech. The night of the 20th(which was the day I met them for the second time) their friend Gavi passed away. They boys were clearly not themselves of the next few days and if you were at the Philly show you would of noticed. ATL had worked on a lot of songs with him and he was even roommates with Alex. Loosing him hit the band pretty hard which caused them to cancel the taping of Full Frontal(which i was supposed to go to) and all meet and greets. Gavi also toured with Lindsey Stirling which was a huge loss for her and her fans. I knew about him through twitter and I was heart broken when he passed. Alex dedicated Cinderblock Garden to Gavi because he worked on the song with them and contributed a lot of his creativity to it. When Alex was giving his speech everyone in the back and middle of the crowd began to sit down. We all sat in silence until the song began. We all began to sing and cry together. It was probably one of the saddest but best moments from a concert I've been able to experience. Usually I don't agree when band members say "everyone in this room is family. We all have each other backs" because I have met some very rude people at shows. But that night we were all in this together. Every time I fell in the pit someone picked me up. When I was sobbing during Therapy and Missing you I was given hugs from strangers. During SSG a stranger let me sit on their shoulders so I could have a better view. That night the entire crowd became a family. We screamed, cried, and sang our hearts out. I felt the unconditional love that we all have for All Time Low and the overwhelming amount of appreciation that they have for us. 

If you have a cool or interesting concert story comment!!