concert review | Sparkle and Shine

se….she’s a little bit of heaven with a wild side.

Yes, I’m sure that from just the title of this post you could tell what this post was going to be about – Love and Theft! (And if you didn’t know from that, you probably knew about it from this past Monday’s Monday Musts). After going through another knee injury, I had to put blogging this week on hold. Now that I am back at school, I am excited to get right back to “Sparkle and Shine.” What better way to get you all excited for all the upcoming posts, then telling you about seeing Love and Theft live and meeting them!

I’m going to jump right into the photos of my friends, Amber (who happens to my little diamond sister in Alpha Delta Pi!), Kelly, and I meeting Stephen Barker Liles and Eric Gunderson themselves because hey, it was one of the greatest moments of my life so I need to share it with you right away.

Annnnnd I’m also going to show you my signed phone case from Eric (as if I couldn’t love my J.Crew Cheetah phone case more – that happened):

but now about the concert itself, readers…

Two weekends ago, my school hosted a fall fest country concert, where Love and Theft came and performed. As a huge country fan, I couldn’t wait to see the country duo live. I have been loving their recent hit “If You Ever Get Lonely,” so I couldn’t wait to hear it!

The duo performed for about an hour – and it was just as amazing as I thought they would be! They really knew how to get into the college aged crowd, had a great line up of songs, invited a few students on stage, and even threw up the Alpha Delta Pi diamond’s hand sign (you know me, I’m a total sucker for anything ADPi related – so country cuties diamonding on stage was perfect!).

Another highlight of the concert – the two singing Uncle Kracker’s “Drift Away.” The group also did a mash up of “Born in the USA” by Jersey boy Brice Springsteen and Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down.” The two then had a little guys verse girls competition from the audience, having the two sexes belt out the lyrics. At the end of the set, the two ended with their hit “Angel Eyes” which had everyone in the crowd singing along.

The concert also included Canaan Smith, Sara Haze, and Eric Paisley. Though I hadn’t heard of these three prior to the event, they each were able to draw in the crowd with their talent and stage presences. Country 92.5’s radio personality, Broadway, introduced all of the performers to the crowd.

Besides meeting the boys of Love and Theft, I was also able to meet Canaan Smith with my little diamond sister, Amber! He decided to diamond with us (hello phone background for the next few months!):

So thankful for this awesome experience thanks to Quinnipiac!

Taylor Swift told her concert goers at her July 13 MetLife Stadium performance, apart of her RED tour, that she just had to perform somewhere where she knew the fans would be absolutely out of control on July 13th. Swift continued to tell her fans, as any Swift fan would know, that 13 is her lucky number and July is her favorite month. When Taylor explained this, the fans in the crowd went wild.

One of those screaming Swift fans, who spent their night belting out the lyrics to their favorite songs was myself. I was the concert with two of my friends, Kate and Tori. Every single one of the performers of the evening proved how talented they truly are, making it one of the best concerts I have been to.

One of the first opening acts was up-and-coming country singer Joel Crouse. All of the girls in the audience instantly started swooning over the country cutie when he came on stage. I’ve been to concerts when the first opening act comes on stage and barely gets any attention. However, it was much different for Crouse. He was able to catch the attention of everyone in the audience with his singing, including his recently debuted on iTunes song “If You Want Some.” I look forward to what Crouse will do in the future. He’s definitely going to be famous and I will be telling everyone I heard him in concert first (just like I did when I first heard the Jonas Brothers at an Aly&AJ concert in 2005).

After Crouse came on, seventeen year old Austin Mahone performed. I was so excited for Mahone’s opening act performance. His songs are just so catchy and upbeat, I often find myself listening to them, singing them, and then knowing all of the words. Mahone, just like Crouse, is definitely an up-and-coming star! Not only was Mahone super talented as a singer, he also is an extremely talented dancer! Mahone was able to put on a good show for the little bit of time he was on stage. Not to mention, he performed Jesse McCartney’s “Beautiful Soul” which had every girl in the audience wanting more!

The next performer of the evening was Ed Sheeran. I’ll be honest, I’m not really a Sheeran fan. I know “Lego House” and “The A Team” from singing along to in the car because they came on the radio, but I’ve never heard another song other than those. I really just know him because of those two songs, and since he has written a few One Direction songs. One thing is for sure, however – Sheeran is a performer! Any member of the crowd could tell that Sheeran was putting his heart and soul into the performance (he even broke a guitar!) which really drew in the attention. When talking to the crowd, he really knew how to gauge his audience’s attention. Though I did not walk away a newly obsessed Sheeran fan, I did walk away knowing that he is extremely talented and a great performer live.

After all the opening acts were over, that meant one thing and one thing only, Taylor Swift was set to perform next. With this being my second concert of hers, I was so excited to see the amazing performance Swift would put on this time. I had originally saw her in 2010 during her Speak Now tour. She blew me away with her performance last time, that I knew that she was going to do a phenomenal job this time, as well.

Swift opened up the show with “State of Grace.” The music played on for a while, with Swift’s silhouette hidden behind a red curtain., hyping up the crowd. Finally, the red curtain fell to the ground, causing Swift to appear. The crowd busted out in screams, cheers, and applause before everyone started singing along to the first song of the night.

Swift continued the show singing, in order, “Holy Ground,” “Red,” and “You Belong With Me.” Swift then sat down on the front of the stage, and started to discuss her days of being bullied. She spoke words of empowerment for those in the audience who face any form of bully, or someone who is mean. One of my favorite parts of Swift’s concerts is when she talks to the crowd because she really knows how to connect with them. Each word she picks comes out powerful and strong. Swift talked for a few minutes before singing “Mean.”

Then, before singing “Stay,” Swift threw in a sassy comment, saying how though she is known for break up songs and songs about the guy leaving, she sometimes writes songs for the guy to stay. Swift then combined the song with Lumineer’s “Ho Hey.”

Swift then sang “22,” one of the hit’s from her “RED” album. During this song, Swift was transported by her dancers to the B stage, a smaller stage situated at the opposite end of the stadium. After “22,” Swift then sang one of my all time faves, “Should’ve Said No.” Swift told the audience that a girl during her meet and greet had requested her to perform this. I freaked out. Like I said, this is one of my all time favorite songs ever since I saw Swift perform it last at her 2010 concert. I have to admit, I think I scream/sang along the most to this song during the entire concert. I absolutely love Taylor Swift throwback songs!

Ed Sheehran then came back out to help Swift sing, “Everything has Changed.” Swift then continued to sing “Begin Again” and my “Speak Now” favorite, “Sparks Fly.”

Swift then told the audience that she had a surprise guest! Patrick Stump, from Fall Out Boy, then came out! Swift and Stump then sang FOB’s recent hit “My Songs Know What You Did in The Dark (Light ‘Em Up).”

Swift then asked all audience members to hold their phones up in the air. With thousands upon thousands of audience members doing so, it was such an incredible experience to see. It was really cool to see so many strangers join in something all together. Swift and Stump both tweeted about the experience later that evening.

Swift then had another customer change and came out singing, “I Knew You Were Trouble.”

Taylor Swift then sat down at her piano to sing “Begin Again” and “Treacherous.” Another aspect of Swift performances that make them so great is the emotion that Swift puts in. She puts her all into each song – this is especially noticeable when Swift sings as she plays piano. Each facial expression is magnified so closely on the video screens so every audience member can see Swift’s expressions.

With another costume change, Swift sang the old time hit, “Love Story.”

As the final song of the night, Taylor Swift sang “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” Swift came out in a sequined ring-leader like costume, singing her heart out. Part of Swift’s stage raised into the area while fireworks exploded from the sides of the stage. In true Taylor Swift concert fashion, the ending of the concert was over the top.