As 2017 quickly approaches I’ve started to see my friends post their #yearinreview2016 videos on Facebook or post their #2016bestnine collages on Instagram. I haven’t made my own versions of these, but I did start to think about this past year. I didn’t think I had a specific favorite memory of 2016, but when I looked at my Instagram profile today, I realized I did. Although this year was an exciting one- the end of senior year, graduating, traveling, starting college at UMich- my most fun and exciting memory is from the Bastille concert I went to in September. The concert is captured in photographs on my Instagram profile in three pictures, all of which capture the brief five minutes that the lead singer spent walking through the crowd near my seat, featuring my uncontrollable hysteria.
Chill on the Hill is an annual “alt-rock” music festival held in Sterling Heights by radio station 89x. When I first learned that Bastille, my favorite band, was going to headline the show only three weeks after releasing their latest album, Wild World, I knew I had to go. So I bought three tickets, told my friends they were coming with me, and started counting down the days.
As more information was released about the bands that were also performing I was pretty confused. Pierce the Veil? The Used? Good Charlotte? I had heard of these bands but had never listened to them. Bastille stood out in stark contrast to almost every other band on the lineup.
When we arrived at the venue it was immediately obvious that someone had made a mistake in booking Bastille for this festival. From the music to the people in the crowd, it was definitely not their usual scene. But that didn’t bother us. The small Bastille crowd, pouring rain, and freezing temperatures (it was crazy cold for September) made it easy to sneak a seat in the front row. It was a perfect view, and the general admission pit in front of us was almost entirely empty.
We remained seated while The Used performed, all the while trying to figure out a way into the pit, which had plenty of room for three more people. When we saw security aggressively remove several barricade jumpers, we decided it was best to be happy with the upgrade we already managed to get. And I was later so thankful that we did.
Bastille finally took the stage with the venue at approximately only 50% capacity. I didn’t mind, of course. I had a great view, room to dance, and was completely absorbed by their performance. When they started to play Flaws, a popular song from their first album, I forgot about the ritual that coincides with the song. At almost every Bastille concert, the lead singer, Dan Smith, walks into the crowd while singing Flaws. It couldn’t even process what was happening until my friend was shoving me towards the aisle. Had we been in the pit there would have been no way for me to reach him in the crowd. The usual gigantic mob that swarms around him while he makes his way through the venue did not appear, and I was able to stand right next to him. He stopped in the aisle and sang, allowing my friend to take several pictures of him, me with him and the background, and my favorite, a video of my reaction afterward. As he proceeded to walk back to the stage I went from hysterically screaming to hysterically sobbing in a matter of seconds. It was one of the funniest, most embarrassing, and most emotional moments of my life, and it took me several songs to recover.
I ended up with an insane cold the next day, a result of 3+ hours in the cold, rainy weather, but it was worth it. It was definitely one of my favorite moments of 2016, and I can’t wait until next year when I’ll be able to see them again.
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