Chloe Gilligan – FIRST CONCERT EVER

In this First Concert Ever segment, the pop singer, Chloe Gilligan, talks about the story of her first experience with live music. You can check out the story, after the break.

Though most people at the time wouldn’t be impressed, to 12-year-old Chloe, I might as well have been front row at a Beatles concert. For me, this was the peak of my life thus far. My first concert was The Jonas Brothers.

The year was 2008. Gauchos were in their glory days and so were the Jonas Brothers. With that, I myself was in my peak Jo-Bros phase. Joe was my favorite, and I was completely infatuated with this Disney Channel boy band. My bedroom walls were covered (I would say 85%) with posters of the band I had ripped out from Tiger Beat Magazine. I would sit in front of my TV in my typical suburban home swooning over their swooshy hair.

I am embarrassed to admit it, but yes, I did cry when Nick shared with the world that he had Diabetes. Laugh all you want, but I was absolutely one of the thousands of girls who sobbed over his heart-wrenching ballad about the disease, “A Little Bit Longer.”

One day at school, I got invited to go to the Jonas Brothers concert with my friend Emily – but it wasn’t just any Jonas Brothers’ performance. The boys were set to perform after the NHL All-Star teams practiced at Philips Arena in Atlanta. Yes, it was just as confusing as it sounds. I don’t know who sat there and said, “What band pairs well with the hockey, beer, and mostly old men? Ah yes! the Jonas Brothers, of course!”

Needless to say, the crowd filling the arena had a very noticeable split in its dynamic: 75% of the people there were tween girls, and 25% dudes in NHL jerseys. My friend and I sat eagerly in our pink homemade t-shirts on which we had ironed on “Nick/Joe CALL ME!” (with our phone numbers on the back, of course). We were CONVINCED we were going to meet them after the show, or at least get a sweet “thank you” text for coming to see them perform.

We probably deserved a “thank you” considering we sat through not one, but TWO hours of hockey players being announced one by one as they made a loop around the ice. As soon as the hockey portion of the evening concluded (I am still just as confused as you are), the shrill screams of teenage girls quickly pushed out any member of the audience who was there to see a bunch of bearded grown men on skates whack a puck around some ice. The show was epic. Alas, I did not get a call from my dearest Joe, but to me, crying while imagining he was singing “When You Look Me in the Eyes” directly to me from the stage was enough.

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