As an avid music listener, going to concerts is pretty much where all my paycheck goes, but nothing can match the concert experience in my opinion. The feeling of hearing one of your favorite artists live is truly unmatched, and while Covid resulted in a couple of concert-less years, the past year has definitely had a revival of concerts. I decided to rate all the concerts I’ve been to, letting you guys know of the positives and negatives of my concert experiences in case you end up going to the same concerts later. Keep in mind that as usual, this is my own opinion and artists can vary depending on each concert, so you may not have the same experience as me.

Tyler, the Creator-11/10

As probably expected, this concert was fantastic. I attended the Charleston concert in March, which

was the highlight of my month. It was honestly one of the core memories- as Tyler is my favorite artist and I also love Kali Uchis. To start off with the openers, I honestly didn’t previously listen to Teezo Touchdown much, and only knew a couple of Vince Staple songs, yet I still enjoyed their opening acts. As for Kali Uchis, I was beyond excited to see her live as she is one of my favorite artists, and I always listen to Isolation on repeat. Her performance was incredible- her stage presence was amazing and her voice sounds just as good, if not better, than on Spotify. She played some of my favorites from her, including 10% and fue mejor. When I first heard that Kali was going to be opening for Tyler, I was unbelievably excited, as a lot of times the openers in concerts are artists I don’t listen to much. I know a lot of people had complaints about how long the opening acts lasted, but personally, I enjoyed the performances, and the whole culture of acting a certain way around opening performers is so annoying to me(more on this later…). As for Tyler’s performance, he is SUCH a good stage presence and his songs are so good live. He has the energy and humor that’s perfect for concert performances, and he played some of my absolute favorite songs by himself. I loved how he included some songs from his past albums, and I would say overall his setlist had a diverse amount of songs from his discography. My favorites to see live was Who Dat Boy, 911/Mr. Lonely, and IFHY, but honestly every song was so good. The stage set was super detailed and I loved how he went back and forth between the 2 stages. Along with this, most of Tyler’s songs are good for concerts, and it was really fun to scream and dance to some of my favorite songs ever. My view was also very good, although I was not in pit(my 5’0 foot self would not have survived this). Honestly, my only complaint would be that some of the people next to me did not know the songs super well, and were only singing along to his popular songs, which annoyed me. But the crowd overall was still pretty decent, and people had the right energy even if they did not know all the lyrics to the songs. This was my first time seeing Tyler live, and the next time that he has a concert I will 100% be going, wherever it may be. My overall experience was perfect for a concert, and my post-concert depression was real after this one.

Tame Impala-9/10

As I expected, seeing Tame Impala live was a spiritual experience. The light effects were insane, and I saw him outside which is something new for me concert-wise, but I honestly really enjoyed it. It’s a lot more refreshing, especially with how hot and stuffy indoor concerts sometimes can get. There were also food trucks to fill my pre-concert hunger, and the overall outdoor concert ambiance is definitely different and more lively. Needless to say, Tame Impala’s songs are amazing live, and definitely up to the hype. The crowd was really upbeat, and his songs are perfect to see in concert. Along with this, the colorful lights, fog, lasers, and final confetti made the concert super enjoyable. My only negative remark is that my view wasn’t the best because it was General Admission, and I came pretty late, but that’s honestly my own fault, and I still heard everything perfectly.

Steve Lacy- 6.5/10

This concert comes with mixed feelings to me. Of course, Steve has an awesome voice and his songs sound great live, but the overall experience itself was not great. I absolutely loved Fousheé’s opening act, but the people next to me were beyond rude to her(literally cussing her out), and it really ruined the act for me. I mean, even if you’re not that into the opening act, how hard is it to just be polite? Then, Steve came on and there were some weird occurrences. There were many technical difficulties, and he literally had to switch guitars every song because of it. Steve was not happy with this and seemed to be a little off. He claimed, “I usually have jokes to tell, but I don’t have any this time”, marking his abnormal mood for this particular show. He honestly seemed a bit annoyed and was upset that the crowd was moving up super close to him. He told the crowd “not to every stick a phone in his face”, and claimed that he hated seeing phone screens all over the crowd(was this foreshadowing for the camera smashing incident?). The main problem I had with the show though, was not even the technical difficulties or stage presence, but the crowd. Not to be that person, but I have known Steve since before “Bad Habit” blew up, and it was kind of upsetting that the majority of the concert felt like they were Steve Tiktok fans. I could go on a whole rant about the fans right next to me, but you probably don’t want to hear about that. Let’s just say that I did not hear a pipe out of their mouth the entire concert, and one of the guys was on his PHONE during part of the concert, yet when Bad Habit and Static came on, they were singing their hearts off. I personally cannot stand people who go to concerts only to know 1-2 songs, especially in this case, because I know multiple actual Steve Lacy fans(I’m talking to you Priceless and Radhika) that were unable to go because the tickets sold out so fast. I mean c’mon, even if you did hear about Steve Lacy from TikTok, at least attempt to learn some of his other songs before attending a concert, preventing the whole room from being silent until Bad Habit comes on. I still enjoyed the live concert experience though, and I especially liked Sunshine, Cody Freestyle, and Playground live.

Katy Perry-8/10

As a huge Katy Perry fan as a child, seeing Katy Perry live was beyond exciting for my 8-year-old self. I went on her Prism tour with my mom and my friend, and the experience was super fun. The effects on stage were really impressive, and her stage presence was definitely good. My only complaint would be that her voice was not as good in concert as in her songs, dropping my rating 2 points below a 10. Otherwise, I had a very fun time going, especially since I knew so many of the songs. On top of that, it kind of makes me miss when people didn’t record the whole concert on their phones, and I could just fully embrace the experience. 

Bruno Mars-10/10

I’ve always been such a big Bruno Mars fan, and his songs honestly remind me of my childhood. His music is the perfect type to see live, and I can say with confidence that he did not disappoint. His voice sounds even better in person than in his songs, and honestly, I wish that I had been to this concert later so I would be able to remember it better(I have a horrible memory which is why I’m writing less about the concerts I went to as a child). I don’t remember how the setup was, but I remember seeing him pretty well and noticing how good his voice was. I don’t have any negative remarks, honestly- thanks, Bruno.