This past weekend I got the chance of a lifetime (in my humble opinion) to help my sisters with their entertainment media organization - Siege Magazine. I got to be closer to a stage than I've ever been in my entire life! Plus it lit a fire in me I haven't felt in a long time. So, I'm happy to share this post with you as a contributor to Siege Magazine and as a music lover! Presenting.. "On That Note" by Bolts & Arrows.
College. You remember it.
The first taste of freedom mixed with the first stings of responsibility. The ability to stay out as late as you want, while still having to make it to that 7:00am class (freshman mistake, right? Who the hell signs up for a 7:00am class).
But the good always outweighed the bad when it came to some things: miniature college towns stocked with cheap booze and happy hour specials, 'college discounts' to make up for the money you lost on your special order books that met the ever changing curriculum, and - if you're lucky- a free or discounted concert featuring your favorite band, taking place in what is literally walking distance from your dormitory.
Tonight, the students of Georgia State University got to experience one of these positives of college life first hand; getting to see Panic at the Disco and B.O.B. in their very own backyard.
Beneath the faded lights of Georgia State Sports Arena, students pressed their chest up against metal barricade, reaching their arms out to Brendan Urie, the energetic sprightly lead singer of Panic at the Disco, as he returned their love with an energy saved for entertainers - showing them that the hours they had waited in line to see the show was worth it by jetting across the stage vivaciously and even supplying a well landed backflip, backdropped by the pleased outroar or the crowd. Dallon Weekes was apparently equipped to make fans go wild as well, licking his guitar pick before tossing it into the fervent crowd.
Not to be outdone, B.O.B. stormed the stage next, springing into the crowd during the second song on his setlist, wild and ruling in his all white garb - eager to take in the energy of the multitude that had gathered beneath him. His gratuitous fans mouthed his every lyric in perfect synchronicity, even taking the stage to dance with him at one point. At one remarkable moment, TI took the stage to join B.O.B., bringing his hometown crowd to a screeching pitch, leaving it all on the floor. Students seemed more than content, an emotion rarely felt in college life hung throughout the room - satisfaction.
Maybe it was the feeling of optimism that filled the room as throngs of young adults, barely out of teenage hood, danced and sang with no worry to what the 'real world' would one day bring. Maybe it was the light shown behind the men who had already done the unthinkable, dreamed huge dreams and made them be. But, whatever it was, tonight at Pantherpalooza the spirit was high and the night felt ripe for something amazing to start - and B.O.B. and Panic at the Disco did their part to make those dreams, star crossed as they may be, feel like they were possible.
xoxo - Erica
