Back in April of this year, I bought tickets to see Cigarettes After Sex in Austin. I planned to go with my friends, and I honestly couldn’t wait for the day. Leading up to the date, I was nervous to drive the two hours to Austin, but I had the excitement of the concert to calm my nerves. With a stressful week behind me, I was also ready to have some fun with my friends.
The drive was relatively relaxed until I got closer to Austin. When I was about 30 minutes away, I saw only dense traffic in all of the numerous highway lanes. I was frankly overwhelmed, but I kept on reminding myself to stay calm. I wouldn’t consider myself a bad driver, but I easily get nervous with anything unexpected. Therefore, I stayed focused and thanks to the One Direction songs I was playing, I survived several lane changes across the busy highway.
When I finally made it to my friend’s apartment, I was elated. After greeting my friend, I rewarded myself with a long nap. The excitement for the concert finally felt warranted, and I couldn’t wait to get ready! A few hours before the concert, my friends and I were all ready to sing and have a great time. We had to do quite a bit of rerouting with the Uber driver, but we eventually found our way to the line for the concert.
Our first sign that something was wrong was that doors weren’t opened even though it was past the time for when we were told the doors would open. At the time, my friends and I weren’t really concerned, and we happily waited in line with the hundreds of other fans. Thirty minutes passed and then an hour, and we hadn’t heard anything from Moody Center or the band themselves. I was hot, sweaty, and had been standing in line for a concert that was supposed to have started already. It wasn’t until an hour and a half of waiting in line that I saw Moody Center announce that the concert had been postponed.
In shock, I looked up from my phone and saw the news ripple through the crowd. At this point, everyone who was going to the concert was waiting in line, and now we all had to leave. Not only was there no explanation as to why the concert was postponed, but there was also no date for the rescheduled concert. In that moment, I thought about my drive to Austin and everything that I sacrificed in order to have a night that was supposed to be the highlight of my month. I was sad and frustrated with the way things turned out, but I couldn’t do anything but follow the crowd of fans as we all left our spots in line.
A day later, the band announced the rescheduled date for the concert, and I realized I wouldn’t be able to attend this new date. I had already accepted that I wouldn’t be able to see Cigarettes After Sex at this tour, but the confirmation of it was disheartening to say the least. My only comfort was that I would be able to get a refund, and that was enough for me to be a little happy with the unexpected events (refund = free money in my eyes).
While I didn’t get to see Cigarettes After Sex live, and I won’t be able to see them at their rescheduled date, my trip to Austin was still a great learning experience. I gained confidence in my driving, and I got to see a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. While I won’t be planning any crazy road trips in the future, I’m still proud of myself for committing to such a drive and getting back to College Station in one piece!