It was the last weekend of vacation for this 5 Seconds of Summer fan, which meant breaking away from the reality of back-to-school stress by attending their Bristow, VA concert at Jiffy Lube Live.
Opening band, Hey Violet, pumped up and prepped the crowd with several high-energy songs including a cover of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space.” Then, like in every “Rock Out With Your Sock Out” (ROWYSO) show on the tour, the venue went dark and the countdown began. A wave of screams erupted. 5..4..3..2..1…
Michael, Luke and Calum scampered out on stage. Ashton sat behind drums on a mechanical platform that lifted his kit up and down throughout the show. The boys jumped right into the first song, “End Up Here.” After the third song, they stopped and Michael’s voice carried through the speakers inviting us: “Tonight we are going to forget whatever the @#!$’s going on at home.”
They split the crowd and had each section participate in part of the intro to “Permanent Vacation.” 5SOS is known for the way they interact with their fans online and they create an even closer connection onstage.
The songs and cheering continued but the audience went extra crazy when the boys stopped halfway through “Rejects” to pick an audience member who was then lifted onto the stage to play with them. They do this at every concert when “Rejects” is performed. A lucky young fan got up there, but instead of taking up the guitar like most, she went straight for Calum’s bass. She started playing Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and the boys joined in. Everyone was very happy to have two Green Day covers in one night.
After “Rejects,” they jammed through another hour of songs they wrote and composed themselves – some penned before they turned 16.
By the end of the encore, I’d really lost myself in those two and a half hours. It was a sea of sweat, screams and smiles. We’d all rocked out with our socks out, and I got such an ecstatic high that my PCD (post concert depression) still hasn’t hit, and hopefully won’t, before the boys return next summer.
Bella Newman, 13, is an 8th grader at Lucille M. Brown Middle School. She digs good writing, comfy PJs, poetry, passport stamps and playing whatever musical instruments she can get her hands on.
