One Direction
BB&T Center, Sunrise
June 13, 2013
Better Than: The eardrum reconstructive surgery we will be having next week. Earplugs or not, those tweens have a set of lungs on them.
It's a strange thing to be a 25-year-old woman at a One Direction concert. When asked to cover this show, it was a no brainer. I said yes. Boy bands and I go way back. Way, way back.
You must understand, I grew up in Orlando during the times of Lou Pearlman with his incredible ability to put together a group that placed all the girls' training bras in knots. One year, I saw 'N Sync not once, but twice, because they started and ended their U.S. tour in Central Florida. Why my parents agreed to pay for this, I didn't really understand. Well, that was until last night.
See also
- The Fans of One Direction at BB&T Center
Upon arrival to the stadium at about 7:15 p.m. to see Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, and Louis Tomlinson, we were met with lines that looked like those at a black Friday sale. We had an adorable 8-year-old name Isabella inform us that she had been there since 3 p.m. "Do you have seats?" I asked. She replied, "duh," before schooling us on One Direction fun facts. Why you'd arrive five hours early to a show you already had tickets for was something I couldn't really grasp. "To take in this moment with all my other Directioners," she said. Well, OK then.
If there's a good thing about being one of the only adults in a stadium of about 21,000 people, it is this: No lines for beer! The mothers of Broward were basking in this glory one sip at a time. We are almost positive we saw the Juicy tracksuit wearing parent seated ahead of us have at least 8 beers during a two hour show. No judging...
The crowd was just what you'd expect. Tween superfans, head to toe in One Direction gear, and parents paying for every bit of it. Macklemore and his love of thrift shops would be in disbelief of their $40 custom Fort Lauderdale T-shirts. A memory is a memory, right?
After taking our seats, the lights dimmed and perhaps the largest LED screen we have ever seen appeared. Moments later, here came the boys. And then, the screams began and didn't stop for the next 90 minutes.
For any child of the millennium who attended the shows of Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees and so on, you expect elaborate costumes, back up dancers, little people dropping down on swings, etc. Nope, not with the 1D. They kept it casual with tees reading "MoFo" and what looked like an American Apparel black V-neck. The only costume change happened after an adorable video of them running around in London played. This "costume change" consisted of throwing on another T-shirt. They kept it all about the music and interacting with fans. We liked it, and so did our fellow concertgoers.
After about 10 non-stop songs, guys climbed to the top of a platform and begin to hook themselves into a harness of sorts. And then, a mini-stage went up in the air with the boys upon it. Plopping them right down in the middle of the arena, the girls went wild! The teenager next to me even threw her bra Beatle-mania style. And while sitting in the 300 and 400 sections usually sucks, those ticket holders got a perfect view when the stage arose to their section for them to perform a couple of songs. Classy move, 1D.
Just as we were forgetting our age and loosing the ability to not bust a move, a classic came on. "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus was the 16th song in their set. Then, the questions began to arise in the 13-something community: "Mom, what is this song?"
Before craning the stage back to its original position, they decided on a small Q&A with questions from their Twitter followers. Our favorite was, "What did you have for lunch today?" With the answer of "chicken pasta" from Niall, the girls next to me began to cry. A love for carbs is a love for carbs, we suppose.
To end the night, the boys closed their first North American show with "Kiss You." Well, that was before coming back for an encore that included "Live While We're Young" and "What Makes You Beautiful." We dare anyone, young or old, to say they don't know and didn't sing along to every word of those two jams. God knows we sure did.
Critic's Notebook:
Personal Observation: Upon looking at their Take Me Home tour schedule, we saw that these five guys have pretty much been performing every day since February and will be slowing things down in October. But you wouldn't know it. Every moment of that show was hyped up, interactive with fans, and enjoyable, to say the least.
Teachers, get ready to hear about this first day of school come Fall.
Setlist
1. "Up All Night"
2. "I Would"
3. "Heart Attack"
4. "More than This"
5. "Loved You First"
6. "One Thing"
7. "C"mon, C"mon"
8. "Change My Mind"
9. "One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)"
10. "Last First Kiss"
11. "Moments"
12. "Back for You"
13. "Summer Love"
14. "Over Again"
15. "Little Things"
16. "Teenage Dirtbag" (Wheatus cover)
17. "Rock Me"
18. "She's Not Afraid"
19. "Kiss You"
20. "Live While We're Young"
21. "What Makes You Beautiful"
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