Written by Jordan Hanson
When my roommate asked me if I wanted to go to a Niall Horan concert with her, I had no idea what I was getting into. The concert was on Nov. 4 in Silver Springs, Maryland, as part of the Flicker Sessions tour. I had been a fan of One Direction back in the day (just like every other middle school girl), and I also knew some of Niall’s newer songs, like “Slow Hands” and “This Town”. I was excited, but I was really just along for the ride.
After 4 hours of driving and listening to his album on repeat, we made it to Silver Springs. We were staying about a block from the venue, and as we approached the theater, we realized that the line to get in wrapped all the way around the block. We stood in the rain (which had evolved from a heavy drizzle to a light downpour) for a little over an hour. When we finally reached the doors, partially soaked and ready to go inside, we had to go through airport-like security. I even witnessed a girl being hauled out as I was waiting for my bag to be checked.
It was a standing room only concert, so we were decently close to where, in about an hour, Niall Horan would be standing. I was elbow-to-elbow with the people around me, but I didn’t care. The lights dimmed and the crowd (made up of middle school girls and their mothers to teens and college girls, with a few guys here and there) screamed as the opener, Irish singer Gavin James, took the stage. This guy was amazing; he played the guitar and hit high notes like nobody’s business.
He played five or six songs, and he ended with a rendition of “What a Wonderful World.”
After James’s performance, the excited crowd was buzzing in anticipation for Horan. He came out onstage to the shrieks of all of our 13-year-old selves. He immediately jokingly pointed out the exits of the theater, and shouted “But we aren’t leaving!”. Throughout the whole show, he cracked jokes, thanked the audience, and even shushed the crowd a few times. Everyone around me was singing along and moving to the beat. Horan played every song on his new album, and added in a One Direction throwback in the form of an acoustic version of “Fool’s Gold”. By the end of Horan’s concert, I was no longer just along for the ride, I was completely invested.
Overall, the concert was amazing. Horan is an incredible performer, the venue was great, and the music was awesome. It was worth every hour in the car and every minute in the rain.
