Badlands OOTD and Concert Experience

My final summer hurrah before heading back to Gettysburg for senior year was a trip into Manhattan with my nuggz Brianna (check out her blog here) to see Halsey play the final stop of her Badlands tour at Madison Square garden.

I wanted an outfit that was going to be cute and comfy, so I chose to wear a rust colored ribbed t-shirt dress and low wedges. I also wanted a bag that wasn’t big and bulky, so I went for my cherry red Michael Kors crossbody bag.

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Dress: Forever 21
Shoes: Payless
Bag: Michael Kors (no longer available)
Sunglasses: Francesca’s (no longer available)

The show itself was phenomenal. It had been over a year since I had last seen Halsey perform, so I was super excited to have the chance to see her play the last show of the Badlands tour. She puts so much passion into each performance – so much so that when the visuals weren’t working three songs in, she restarted the whole show! (I’m not complaining; I got to hear Gasoline live twice in one night) Watching what is quite possibly my favorite album ever come alive before me was a magical thing to witness. I have never screamed lyrics louder or felt more at home at a concert before. She also brought out the Chainsmokers as a special guest to perform their single Closer, which turned the whole arena into a rave for four minutes or so. She also closed the show with Young God, the last song off of her album. It was the perfect closure to the end of the Badlands era. Visiting the Badlands at Madison Square Garden was something that I will never forget.

xo, Angela
Twitter: angelamarieparr
Instagram: angela.parr

Olly Murs at the Palais Theatre

Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing Olly Murs at the Palais Theatre in Melbourne. Being in another country isn’t going to stop me from going to concerts! I’ve been a huge fan of Olly for years, and I’ve seen him twice before. Once was during a two-song set at Z100’s Jingle Ball, when he was a filler artist, and the other was back in March, at his Never Been Better album release party, where he performed an acoustic set. Since Olly hasn’t broken out in the US as much as he has overseas, this was my first chance to see him in his full element: backing band, dancing, chatting with the audience… the works! Needless to say, I was excited.

I went by myself. It wasn’t the first time I’ve gone to a concert solo – cue One Direction throwbacks circa 2012 – and honestly, I don’t mind it. Going to a concert by yourself really lets you immerse yourself in the show. I’d highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t gone to a concert by themselves. I digress. Despite only buying my ticket a few days before the show, I had a great view and was seated in the thirteenth row, as the single seats are often left dispersed throughout the audience (another plus of going to a show by yourself!).

Olly was electric onstage! He was moving and dancing the whole time. His presence was phenomenal. I’m still baffled as to why so many people don’t know him, despite being on his fourth record and being the superstar that he is. He did not stop for the entire ninety minutes onstage. From performing fan favorites like Heart Skips A Beat and Dance With Me Tonight – the latter including a lot of booty shaking! – to newer gems like Did You Miss Me? and Never Been Better, Olly showed a great depth and range in his voice. Several songs sound jazzier when he performs them live, and honestly, I liked them better that way! Nothing beats seeing an artist live. There are just so many more layers to it, and the echo of the crowd screaming the lyrics back is electrifying,

Olly was definitely one of the more memorable concerts I’ve been to recently. I’d give it a full five stars – I was wowed from start to finish! Here’s hoping he’ll be playing in the US again soon. I miss him already.

xo, Angela
Twitter: angelamarieparr
Instagram: angela.parr

Passion Pit at Kings Theatre

Monday night, I had the pleasure of going to see Passion Pit perform at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn. I had won the tickets courtesy of Z100, which made it even better since I probably wouldn’t have bought the tickets myself to be honest. I love Passion Pit – I’d put them in my top 25 – but the tickets were a little expensive and I’m a poor college student after all. I just came home from college, so it was nice to see my BFF Brianna again too! She goes to college in NYC and was up for an adventure in Brooklyn with me.

Holy Child was the opening act. I’d never heard of them before. They classify themselves as “brat pop” and I wasn’t a big fan of them. They had a weird 70s-esque vibe to them and I think the lead singer might have been a little drunk (she feel down at one point and then proceeded to take her shoes off). However, there were these two backup singers that were performing these little dances off to the side, so Brianna and I entertained ourselves by watching them during their set.

By the time Passion Pit hit the stage, I was ready for a show and they did not disappoint! They kicked it off with two of their most popular songs: Little Secrets and Lifted Up (1985). Those are some of my favorites, so it was a great start to the show. It was high energy the whole time and they had some amazing lights and lasers going on. Even though I didn’t know the words to some of their newer songs, I found myself jamming and dancing the whole time, save for a brief interlude when I sat down because I couldn’t feel my feet anymore. They closed their main set with Take A Walk, which is probably Passion Pit’s most well-known song. The entire audience was electric during that song! It was an amazing moment. For their encore, they performed Cuddle Fuddle live for the first time and then closed with Sleepyhead. I didn’t want the show to end. I was smiling the entire time.

Overall I would give the show 4 out of 5 stars. The opening act really set the show off to a weird tone and some of the sound got a little distorted through the speakers, but I am so glad that I had the chance to see them! It was a great way to start my summer.

xo, Angela
Twitter: @angelamarieparr
Instagram: angela.parr

An Open Letter to Taylor Swift

Well hello there Taylor.

I have gone through my phases of you. I remember the initial “oh, I don’t like country but this girl is kinda cool” phase in middle school, when my friends would play the Taylor Swift album at lunch every single day. I remember the “OH MY GOD I LOVE HER SO MUCH” phase of the Fearless era, when I would literally blast your album on my iPod every second that I could and belt out every song in the shower. I remember the disappointment of how much I didn’t like Speak Now, when I just dismissed the album and went about with life with you just floating in the background. I remember the “I can’t stand her” feeling of Red, where I refused to listen to your singles when they’d come on the radio because I had some irrational reason for not wanting to like you as a pop star.

And now we’ve reached the 1989 phase. I like you Taylor, I really do. You’ve evolved into someone that I think if we had met at school or in a coffee shop or something, we would have chatted and become friends. Thinking about it, my phases of liking your music are like the phases of a friendship: meeting, infatuation, lulling, fighting, and coming back together again. In some way, we do have a friendship that is tangible and real. That is what makes the kind of artist I want to support. They’re rare in this world. You’re one of a few.

What I like about you is that you’re real. You don’t hide the fact that you’re famous, but you don’t really accentuate it either. Yeah, there are days when I’m like “oh, she won another award… that’s nothing new.” But then there are those days when I’m like “damn, she must have some immense talent to keep coming up with new material to win all these awards.” And again, that’s like a friendship. You have those days when you get jealous of all that your friend has accomplished and then those other days when you are the proud momma bear for all that they’ve done and you know they will do in the future.

That’s what I’d like to be for you. I may not be constantly tweeting you, or posting to you on tumblr, or going to your shows, but I’ll be here, quietly supporting you. Friends are there to love you and lift you up when times get tough. I know this time will be rough on your family – my grandma had cancer too – but you will make it through this. You all will. I will keep you all in my prayers. Cancer is a hard battle, but she can beat this. Stay strong, stay confident, stay you.

xo, Angela

Olly Murs Album Release Party

On Tuesday I had the pleasure of attending Olly Murs’ album release party in NYC. I’ve been a massive fan of his for ages, but it had never worked out for me to see him live (save for two songs he played at Z100’s Jingle Ball a few years back) so it was an understatement to say I was excited! My best friend Brie and I arrived at the secret venue around 3:30, with check in to begin two hours later. To our surprise, we were the first people there. Typically at general admission events people begin lining up hours in advance, so we were expecting a bit of a crowd. A few people got there right after we did, so we spent time chatting with them as it began to rain.

Around 5:45, we were checked in and given wristbands and told that the doors would be opening around 6:00. Once inside, we went straight to the stage. It was a very small venue, and as we were the first people in we were front and center! We could literally touch his setlist, and it was fun to see what songs Olly was going to play. I could feel butterflies in my stomach as the anticipation built.

Olly Murs // 10 March 2015

When he came out, it was electrifying. He has an incredible presence onstage! He was dancing and joking around with the crowd. I even had a little conversation with him while he was onstage, and I simply love when artists do that. He played five songs acoustically, including the singles off his new album Never Been Better: Seasons and Wrapped Up.

After his set was over, we were separated into groups by wristband color to meet Olly. As we had red wristbands, we were in the first group. When it was my turn to meet him, I gave him a big hug and told him how I had waited four years for this moment. He was so sweet and told me that we had to make it a “proper good” hug to make up for the wait. We took a few photos on my phone and I gave him a card that I had written for him. When leaving, I got a signed copy of Never Been Better as well.

Olly Murs is genuinely one of the nicest musicians I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. If you haven’t, go check out his new album Never Been Better, out on iTunes now!

xo, Angela