A few weekends ago, My roommate Sarah and I fulfilled one of our childhood dreams: to see Demi Lovato perform live. We bought the tickets almost a year in advance and had had count down apps on our phones letting us know down to the minute when the concert day would arrive.
Not In Adult Land Anymore
We bought pink temporary hair dye and Demi’s line of nail polish (the New Black), wore our best rock-n-roll outfits and hit the town to sing all the words to Let It Go, Did You Forget (in a fake crying voice of course), and Sky Scrapper. Yet for some reason, it did not hit us until we arrived that we might be the oldest people there (minus the poor dads who had been brought along because their preteen daughters needed supervision). Yes, the atmosphere was totally different: the vendors walked around selling Gatorade and cotton candy instead of Budlight and Coronas, between performances there was a teenage magician, and the girl sitting next to me habitually cried at the sight of anyone famous.
I know what you’re thinking: this sounds awful. And all the piecing cries of 11 year old girls was, but all was forgiven by the excellent performances by Fifth Harmony, Cher Lloyd, and of course Demi.
Lights, Camera, Action
Fifth Harmony (a runner up girl group from America’s X-Factor) opened the show with a simple but classically choreographed set in which they covered a Destiny’s Child song that no one in the crowd (basically because they were all not born when the song was a hit) knew the words to. They closed with their new single Miss Movin’ On which is basically a girl power ballad that got everyone on their feet; including me because who doesn’t love feminism.
Cher Lloyd (an UK X-Factor runner-up) brought even more sass to the stage with her hits Want You Back, I Wish (one of my favorites), With Ur Love, and Oath. She would also join Demi on the Stage for Really Don’t Care which features Lloyd.
And then it finally happened, through lots of stage smoke and screaming preteens, Demi appeared and killed every song she sang. From her hits such as Heart Attack to Neon Lights, she belted every note and even though you could tell she was a little tired (this was the second to last stop on her tour when ended in Indianapolis), she kept the crowd energized.
Thriving not just Surviving
Demi also took time out of her set to devote to awareness about Self Harm, Eating Disorders, Substance Abuse, Depression, and Mental Health issues. She doesn’t try to hide the fact that she struggled with all of them, nor that she ended up in a rehab clinic for several months to help her with the daily battle of dealing with all of them. Her Bravery in sharing with the world all of her past allows for so many people to acknowledge their problems and also seek help. Lovato also added that though its a daily struggle to be healthy, that shes “pretty F*@king happy now”. She then played an acoustic set of Warrior on piano.
To end the night Demi encored with Sky Scrapper and Give Your Heart A Break. The night was not only fun but inspirational and I was really impressed at how different it was from any other concert I have ever attended. It was positive and geared toward a healthy and proactive lifestyle while still addressing realities of our world. And I think that really resonates with who Demi Lovato is: Pink Hair and smiles with Realities and Scars, thriving not surviving.
Jess The Intern 