Author Spotlight
Larkin Brundige
For most students, summer means a break from constant assignments and academic competition. For music lovers, summer means concerts. Here’s a breakdown of the most popular local concerts that East students attended over the summer:
June 9, sophomore Rachel Condon was flooded with the sounds and pushing of people filling in around her as she made her way into the Midtown Theater to see the Wallows. Rachel and her sister Audrey walked in together early with fast passes in their hands.
During quarantine, the Condon sisters started to listen to the Wallows daily.
“It was our quarantine music taste, it was really full circle to be in a big group of people and listening to the artist,” Rachel said.
At the Midtown Theater, being up close is not an unusual experience as the room can only pack a few hundred people but Rachel didn’t mind.
“The concert was so much better with a smaller group of people in a smaller building because it felt like these people actually cared about the music,” Rachel said.
Senior Abry Steinbrecher experienced a different concert atmosphere at T-Mobile Center, where hundreds of people were crowded into the arena to see the Lumineers.
Riding downtown to the concert, Steinbrecher prepared for the Lumineers concert, prepared for a much more low-key show than she was used to. Instead of jumping up and down in the crowd, people would sway and sing or even sit down.
Steinbrecher described the Lumineers music as very personal and seeing the band in person had felt inspiring to her despite the large crowd.
“Their lyrics relate to everyone in a way…they explained a story of how they wrote one of their songs before singing it, it was interesting to compare the meaning to them versus the meaning of the songs for me,” Steinbrecher said. “It made me feel special being there and hearing the personal events in their lives that formed their songs.”
For Steinbrecher, the Lumineers made her feel understood, so being at the concert she was even more moved than before.
In a contrast of genres, juniors Marin McElhinney, Ella Howard, Maggie Leonard and Autumn Sun spent a night with country artist Kenny Chesney.
Leonard, although not a country fan, went along with the group.
“Even if I didn’t know the songs I was still jumping up and down…he was a great performer,” Leonard said.
Howard, however, was the country-music lover of the group. She knew going to a country concert with two non-country loving friends could be a little dicey.
“I was going to my dream concert with two people who hated country,” Howard said. “Maggie had very strong opinions about it.”
The other half of the group — McElhinney and Sun — were raised like Howard listening to artists like Kenny Chesney every morning on their way to school.
“My mom only played country music on the radio when I was growing up until sixth grade,” Mcelhinney said.
With three country music fans and one making her way to being a fan, the concert was everything and more than they expected — even with a little bit of rain to start the show.
After two summers of restrictions, getting back into everyone’s seat whether at a stadium or a coffee shop, music lovers were reunited once again.
Great job, Larkin!