Although it’s now 2025, I thought it would be fun to recount some of the amazing performances I saw in the past few months. From Taylor Swift to Dan and Phil, I saw a wide variety of shows last year. I’ll be describing my experiences with the venues and the actual quality of the performances, along with a couple other details like merch and openers. These aren’t in a best-to-worst ranking order, but rather in the chronological order that I saw them!
1. Laufey and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
When: June
Where: Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, PA
Upon arriving to the venue downtown, you could already see hundreds of girls sporting their bows and Mary Janes waiting for the doors to open. And it wasn’t just the accessories that ate; everyone was dressed to the nines in their most coquette attire for the jazzy princess herself.
I was super excited because this was also an amazing opportunity to see my home city’s symphony orchestra play with one of my favorite artists. As much as I was excited to hear Laufey’s silky vocals, I was just as eager to hear the wonderful instrumentation that would accompany her.
Some cute details that the venue provided were personalized merch, specialized drinks named after the songs, and a beautiful courtyard in the back which was perfect for pictures! The merch I got reads “Laufey” on the front with a crescent moon and stars, while the back displays the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra logo. As for the drink I got, I don’t remember what the name was exactly, but I want to say it was a “Like the Movies” reference. It was a subtly sweet peach ginger tea that was the perfect refreshment before the show began!
The actual performance was so wonderful. It was unreal seeing Laufey on stage, in front of my eyes. She looked so beautiful and was so charming and humble. It’s refreshing to see an artist like her rising in popularity since pop stars are usually the female singers that get recognized (no hate to Sabrina, Chappell, or anyone in that genre though)! I’m pretty sure I remember almost crying and being overwhelmed with emotion SO many times throughout the whole thing. Overall, I definitely recommend seeing Laufey live, especially with a live orchestra! They did her music justice and made the entire experience an absolute dream.
2. Dayglow
When: October
Where: KEMBA Live! (Indoor Venue) in Columbus OH
This was my second time seeing Dayglow and also my second time going to KEMBA, so I was familiar with how the show would go. When my boyfriend and I initially arrived, we were pretty close to the front of the line. So much so, that when the doors opened we got a spot only two rows back from the stage. It was super exciting, but I was a little nervous because I was scared that all of the merch would be gone after the show and that I’d have to leave the pit to pee and be one of those annoying people who shoulders their way back to the front through everyone (I didn’t end up having to, thank God).
The opener for Dayglow was the band Sunroom. I had heard of them before, but didn’t know any of their songs except for one. They were really great and full of energy, but not really my typical style of music.
The set for Dayglow was relatively simple, but it was spiced up with a lot of lighting effects. I personally preferred the People in Motion tour’s set with the 80s vibe, but both were great in their own ways! As for the actual performance, Sloane and his band killed it. It was awesome getting to hear his new album live and sing and dance along. One criticism I noticed this time and last time for the audience was that no one was all that energized. When Sloane yelled for people to jump they did, but I noticed that a lot of people there seemed to just bob their heads a bit and mouth some of the lyrics. It differs from person to person of course, but I think that Dayglow’s music is perfect for jumping and shouting along to. I think it would be super fun if everyone was on the same wavelength, but I know that can be rare. Maybe I expected it to be different this time because we were in the pit, but who knows.
During the show, my boyfriend held up his Nintendo DS to film the concert. Since we were so close, Sloane noticed and found it hilarious. He even offered to sign it after the show! After the show, we were able to snag some merch and head around to the back of the venue to wait for Sloane. There was a chain-link fence with a couple other fans gathered outside with records and Sharpies. After waiting for about half an hour, we almost left. Shortly after, Sloane came to the fence and we jogged his memory that my boyfriend was the one with the bright blue DS. He gladly signed it and took two pictures of the three of us on my disposable camera. He was such a kind person, even after performing an entire concert and being obviously exhausted. It was honestly such a crazy experience, and I admire his music even more now!
3. Clairo
When: October
Where: KEMBA Live! (Outdoor Venue) in Columbus, OH
This was my first Clairo concert, but at this point I was pretty familiar with KEMBA Live!. This was my first ever time experiencing the outdoor venue, however. I had liked a lot of Clairo’s pretty popular hit songs such as “4EVER”, “Sofia”, and “Bags” before, but her newest album Charm made me explore her music more, and I’m so glad I did. She has such a unique style with constant dreamy vocals and instrumentation.
Even though my roommate and I both purchased the early access tickets, we still ended up being pretty far back from the stage. I thought it would be alright because I could see the opener, Alice Phoebe Lou, fairly well. Speaking of Alice, she was phenomenal! I hadn’t really listened to her music before, but I’m now a pretty casual fan of her music. Her voice is beautiful and I think she was a magnificent choice to open for Clairo. I think she’s somewhat of a little edgier version of Clairo, which I enjoyed a lot. The difference between Alice Phoebe Lou’s band and Clairo’s band though, was that Alice’s was set a lot farther front than Clairo’s. When it came time for Clairo to come on, I could barely see her or any of the musicians because they were so far back on the stage. She sounded wonderful, but I wish I could’ve seen her better. This problem was partially due to the stage set up, but the people around me were also to blame.
I was sort of unpleasantly surprised, but I thought that a lot of people at Clairo’s concert were pretty obnoxious. This isn’t to say everyone, but some people were a little oblivious and not mindful of their surroundings. This happened to include the people in front of me who had squeezed through to stand in the small space I had left in between me and the original people in front of me. One of the people’s puffer jacket was rubbing against me the entire time and they were constantly stepping back, which made the experience so much more annoying. This isn’t Clairo’s fault at all though, just an unfortunate experience that happened at her concert.
As for the merch line, most people had subconsciously agreed to grab merch after the show so they could save their spots before. One of my friends was able to sneak in and my roommate and I gave her our merch order and agreed to immediately Venmo her after the show, thankfully.
Overall, the content of the concert was amazing and I love my cute little Charm T-shirt. It’s unfortunate that some of the people there dampened my experience, but it was still a good time!
4. DAN AND pHIL – tERRIBLE iNFLUENCE toUR
When: October
Where: Civic Theatre in Akron, OH
I’m a long-time Dan and Phil member, so when they announced their tour, I jumped at the chance to be able to see them live.
This show was a little farther away, so we ended up getting there shortly before the doors opened. I certainly did not expect such a long line outside the theatre. It moved very fast, however, and we made it inside in no time. I wanted to get merch since we had a whole hour before the show started, but they only had one table set up on the ground floor, right at the entrance. Since we were pretty much at the back of the line, the merch line was already insanely long. We decided to try and wait anyways, but had to leave the line because the show was about to start. We talked to so many nice people, and even a couple who handed us free bead bracelets, also known as candy!
They had a really cool QR code feature on the main TV of the set before the show where you could send in your deepest darkest anonymous confessions for a later segment.
When they initially came out on stage, I was in shock to see the two guys that had been just two little figures on a screen for so many years of my life. I was almost brought to tears by how overwhelming it was and how warm their welcomes were. The energy in the room was so positive and it was a feeling that I hope to experience again at some point.
They had so many segments throughout the show, including a five-minute review of Dan and Phil’s history with each other as well as on YouTube. It was a great preview for my boyfriend, who I had dragged along to see the show with me. There was SO much audience participation, with us calling out words or picking a winner for them. That is definitely one of the aspects that made the show so fun.
After the show, there was still a line for merch but it definitely wasn’t as bad. They also had plenty of stock left too, which was surprising.
Every day of my life, I regret not spending the extra money to do the meet-and-greet, or at the very least, attend the pre-show. I regret it even more when I get TikToks on my For You Page of people at the tour getting pictures and hugs from them. All I know is, if they tour again, I will be doing whatever it takes to meet them.
5. Taylor Swift
When: November
Where: Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN
I was so excited to see Taylor Swift because I had attempted to get tickets for her Pittsburgh concert awhile ago, and was unable to secure them with all the craze. This opportunity was also really cool because it was her second-to-last American show, which felt more special.
The city was definitely embracing the fact that Taylor was there because the street signs were decorated with Taylor song titles and album colors. One example I remember was a lavender sign that read “Enchanted Lane” for Speak Now. There was also a huge projection of her on one of the skyscrapers. The restaurant we ate at for dinner actually had an entire menu with names changed to reference Taylor Swift. All of these changes made just for Taylor made the entire event and atmosphere all the more exciting.
Seeing the huge age range of toddlers to middle-age women and their husbands dressed to the nines was so beautiful. There were sparkles everywhere and more bracelets than I’ve ever seen lined up on people’s wrists, ready for trading.
We didn’t even attempt getting merch when we got there because Gracie Abrams was already in the middle of “Risk” by the time we made it up the escalator. From what I saw, Gracie did an amazing job! I’m not a huge fan of her, but I know some of her hits. It was so cool to hear a lot of the stadium singing along when she wasn’t that well known a few months ago!
As for the main event, Taylor and her dancers blew me away. To be able to perform for three hours straight with all of those costume changes is an impressive feat. The set changes and the transitions from era to era were so visually pleasing and immersive. I know a lot of them are longer to give Taylor time to change, but there was truly never a dull moment. The audience matched her energy and were so hyped the entire time. One thing that irked me though was that a lot of people got up during the folklore era to use the restroom. I understand having to pee, but that is literally one of my favorite albums so I could never imagine missing any of it.
The surprise songs we got were also amazing. She performed “The Prophecy”/”This Love” and “Maroon”/”cowboy like me”. Personally, I don’t know a lot of TTPD that well, so I couldn’t really sing along to “The Prophecy” that well, but it still made me like the song more. “cowboy like me” is one of my faves from evermore, so that was super exciting!
Overall, the concert was super amazing and it was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime event. I truly believe that The Eras Tour will go down in history for being one of the quickest and most sold-out, most extravagant tours ever done. It was an honor to see it and witness history go down in front of my eyes.