By Carissa Mathena
The prospect of meeting what would soon be your best friend(s) at a show is a little unbelievable until it happens to you. It could be while waiting in line; it could be when you’re standing right next to each other inside the venue; it could be after when you both are hoping to meet the band by their tour bus. But any way you meet them, the magic of it is still the same.
My story starts on a hot day in Saint Louis, Missouri. I was with my friend, getting mentally and physically prepared to queue all day to see Catfish and the Bottlemen that night. It was around 9am when we made our way into line. We set up our chairs and began to wait out the day. Then I heard a compliment from beside me about my sunglasses. That comment changed the course of my life. It sounds like one of the most cliché things you’ll ever hear, but it’s the truth. After that, my friend and I got to know the four girls next to us who endured the heat, the boredom, and one of the most amazing live shows I’ve ever seen with us. After the show, we exchanged numbers and the rest is history. Alison, one of the girls in the group, is now my best friend. Even though we live 9 hours apart, we share a bond formed through that show and countless others that will forever tie me to her. She is one of the best people to ever exist and I am so thankful for the day that I met her.
Many fans also meet people who enjoy the same bands as them by interaction through social media accounts. You can virtually talk to these people and maybe even eventually meet up at a show, and then your friendship is set in stone. I’ve had multiple experiences like this as well. Lacy, Becca, Anna, and Taylor are some friends who I knew through a group chat made for talking about concerts. We have all now met, and to this day we text each other every day about the most random things. Lacy and I now see each other even when there is not a concert. She has also become one of my best friends, and I have concerts to thank for her friendship also.
My friend Anna Haas, mentioned above, had this to say when I asked her the story of her meeting her best friend at a show. “Technically, my friend Becca and I met online through our love for Catfish and the Bottlemen. Unbeknownst to us at the time, we had recently gone to the same Catfish concert and were really close to each other in the pit. After talking, we also found out we lived in neighboring states. We met in person for the first time at a COIN show a few months later for the briefest of moments. Because she and her friend were driving in from out of state, we arrived at different times - Becca and her friend and my friend and I weren’t even next to each other during the show. We met up afterwards and chatted to Chase together. We’ve been best friends almost from the start, bonding so easily and naturally - we just clicked. Almost two years later, we’re still best friends and talk literally every day. Concerts are still where we hang out, though. Living hours apart makes frequent hangouts tough, so we meet up at shows and make amazing musical memories together.” Sometimes the people that change your life online become someone you will have in your life forever.
A couple of smaller instances my friends mentioned to me were quite hilarious. Grace Watts told me that “once a random girl told me she liked my outfit at a Catfish and the Bottlemen show and now she’s my best friend.” Taylor Hudgins told me a story that was similar. She said that “one time my zipper was down at a show and a girl told me, so we’re friends now. It can really be like that.”
The moral can be broken down to one sentence: You can make some of the best friends at and through shows. So don’t be afraid to talk to that one person queuing next to you, or standing next to you. Tell that boy he has a nice shirt on, or that girl her earrings are cute. The smallest interaction can make a huge change in your life.